A photographer is essential when you want to capture every moment of your engagement party. You can have a friend or family member do the honors, or you can hire a professional to take high quality pictures while the rest of your guests enjoy the party. A professional photographer is much more likely to get the shots you want and he'll have much better equipment to work with.
Ask for recommendations from your friends and family. You're sure to get at least a starting list of photographers who you can schedule appointments with.
2
Look through the photo albums of your newly married friends to find a style you like. Even when you can't hire the same photographer, it may help to have a good idea of what you want and expect from your pictures so you can tell the photographer you do end up using.
3
Think about whether you want all color, only black and whites or a mixture. You may even decide you want black and white photographs with a touch of color highlighting important aspects of the pictures.
4
Meet the photographer and view teeir portfolio to see whether you like both the pictures and the presentation of the album. Since you're probably paying good money to have your photographer put together some sort of display, you'll want to make sure you like their work--even if you can always move your pictures to another album later.
5
Ask about package deals. Sometimes you can get a fantastic discount on wedding portraits when you decide to hire the same person to do your wedding photos, your engagement portraits and your party pictures.
6
Finalize the details of the photography session ahead of time. You'll want to make sure you get everything in writing, including the time and date of the session, the price of the pictures and an itemization of any included extras.
Tips & Warnings
Think of the engagement party shoot as a rehearsal for the wedding. This way, you can see whether the photographer's style will mix with your own, without it disrupting the most important day of your life.
Search for photographers who have great artistic vision, but who also offer consistently high quality work. Sometimes you'll find professionals with no vision, but overall good work, while other times you may end up with someone who has incredible vision but somewhat shoddy pictures.
