Engagement ceremony & couple portraits
Engagement photography across Nepal — ceremony coverage and couple portrait sessions from NPR 15,000. Fee credited toward your wedding booking. Kathmandu, Pokhara & Butwal.
In Nepal "engagement photography" means two quite different things, and booking the wrong one is the most common mistake couples make. It is either coverage of the engagement ceremony itself — a family event with rituals, guests and a ring exchange — or a private couple portrait session. We shoot both, and this page separates them clearly.
Either way, the engagement fee is credited toward your wedding booking if you book us for the wedding within six months. The session is the least expensive way to find out whether you are comfortable in front of our team before committing to your wedding day.
Prices below are what you pay — there is no separate sitting fee, editing fee or gallery fee. Travel outside Kathmandu and Butwal is quoted before you book.
NPR 15,000
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Engagement dates in Nepal are often set on short notice once families agree, and they cluster in the same auspicious windows as weddings. Booking is genuinely urgent in a way that pre-wedding shoots are not.
| When | What it means |
|---|---|
| As soon as the date is fixed | Engagement dates frequently land on the same auspicious days as weddings, which are our busiest. Same-week enquiries often cannot be filled during peak season. |
| 2–4 weeks before | Comfortable notice for a ceremony booking outside the November–February peak. |
| Any time after the ceremony | A separate couple portrait session, planned around good light and a location you actually like rather than the ceremony venue. |
| 3–6 months before the wedding | The usual timing for a pre-wedding shoot, which is a different booking from engagement coverage. |
A short call to establish whether this is ceremony coverage or a portrait session, since they need different plans, different kit and different amounts of time. Couples often ask for one and describe the other.
For ceremony coverage we ask for the running order and the names of the people who must appear in the family portraits. Rings, tika, exchange of gifts and the elders’ blessings all happen fast and often simultaneously — knowing the sequence in advance is the difference between covering it and chasing it.
For a portrait session we agree a location and a time, usually early morning or the hour before sunset. We direct actively: most couples have never been photographed together and standing unguided produces stiff pictures. You will be given something to do, not told to look natural.
A preview within 7 days and 40+ retouched high-resolution images in a private gallery within 2–4 weeks — early enough to use for save-the-dates and invitations.
Specific, practical, and mostly about planning rather than photography.
They are typically held indoors, midday, in a banquet hall or a home front room with mixed tube lights and a bright window. That combination produces colour casts and harsh shadows. We bring continuous lighting to every ceremony rather than relying on the venue — it is the main reason ceremony images vary so much between photographers.
The family group photographs are the images most likely to be printed and the most likely to be missed, because they happen in a ten-minute scramble after the ceremony. Send us a list of the specific groupings you want. We will run it as a checklist.
Identical colours read as a uniform. Complementary tones in the same tonal family photograph far better. If one of you is in traditional dress and the other is not, tell us — it changes how we light and frame you as a pair.
This is the practical reason to book an engagement session at all. You find out how a team directs you, how they handle your family, how quickly they deliver, and whether you like their editing — all before the wedding, when none of it can be changed. We credit the fee toward a wedding booking made within six months precisely because we would rather you decide this early.
The close-up ring photograph almost every couple wants requires a macro lens and about ten minutes of setup. It cannot be improvised in the middle of a ceremony. We shoot it before the guests arrive or immediately after the exchange — tell us the ring matters and it will exist.
Ceremony coverage happens wherever your families gather — homes, banquet halls and party palaces across Kathmandu, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Pokhara, Chitwan and beyond. Portrait sessions work best at Garden of Dreams and Patan Durbar Square in the valley, Phewa lakeside and Sarangkot in Pokhara, and the riverside and hill viewpoints around Butwal. Heritage sites generally charge a photography permit fee, which we arrange in advance.
Wedding Story Kathmandu StudioKamalpokhari, KathmanduEngagement coverage starts at NPR 15,000 for three hours, covering the ring exchange and family moments, with 40+ retouched high-resolution images in a private gallery. The same rate applies to a dedicated couple portrait session. If you book us for your wedding within six months, this fee is credited toward the wedding package.
No. Engagement photography covers the engagement or ring ceremony — a family event on a date set by your families. A pre-wedding shoot is a styled couple session at a location you choose, usually for save-the-dates and wedding-day displays. They cost and run differently, and many couples do both.
As soon as the date is fixed. Engagement ceremonies often fall on the same auspicious dates as weddings, which are the days our team is most heavily committed. During the November–February peak, short-notice bookings frequently cannot be filled.
The whole ceremony. Three hours covers arrival and preparation, the ring exchange, tika and blessings, family group portraits, and candid guest moments. If your ceremony runs longer, additional hours are NPR 3,000–5,000 each.
Yes. Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square and Garden of Dreams are all popular and all charge a photography permit fee. We arrange the permit in advance rather than negotiating it on the day, and factor the cost into your quote.
A preview within 7 days and the full gallery within 2–4 weeks — deliberately early enough to use for save-the-date cards and wedding invitations.
Tell us the date and what you have in mind. We reply within one working day with availability and a written quote — no obligation.