Engagement photography

The location should hint at the wedding. A row of vines in the Valle de Uco suits a bodega wedding in Mendoza; a dirt track and an old gate near San Antonio de Areco suits an estancia wedding in the pampas; the streets of Recoleta or San Telmo suit a wedding in a Buenos Aires palace or hotel; a lakeshore near Bariloche suits a wedding in the lakes. Private venues decide whether an outside photographer may work on their land, so ask the wedding venue whether it will host the engagement session too — many couples find it is the easiest place to start.

Timing matters at both ends. Save-the-dates usually go out six to twelve months before the wedding, so the session is booked early enough to design and print. Couples who live abroad and are marrying in Argentina often book the engagement session during the trip to visit venues, combining two jobs in one flight. Remember the Southern Hemisphere calendar when planning: a session in July is a winter session, with early sunsets, and a session in January is high summer, with late ones.

Tell the photographer the print format before the day. A square invitation, a folded card and a phone-sized digital save-the-date need different framings, and it is far easier to shoot for them than to crop for them afterwards. Bring two outfits that sit well together on screen and on paper — one more formal, one closer to how you actually dress — and the 30 minutes will cover both. If there is no wedding planned yet, the couple session is the simpler booking.