How to Prepare for Your Engagement Session
CONGRATS! You’re ENGAGED! That is so exciting… and now you’re going to take some amazing pictures to document this special, tender, and butterfly-inducing period of life. You want to take authentic, emotional, fun pictures of you guys to accurately capture this beautiful season of life. Here are my pointers for making this engagement session a true date and a reflection of your unique love. Read on for
Intentionally setting your mindset
Choosing a special location
Considering props to tell the story
Picking outfits that are true to yourselves
& a final Do/Don’t checklist to make sure you’re dialed
Most Importantly: Set Your Mindset
What are your hopes for this session? While it's perfectly fine if you simply want some pretty pictures, I encourage you to see this as an opportunity to unite, introspect, and revel in the excitement of your upcoming marriage. My goal is for these photos to carry more significance than just a means of announcing your wedding date. I want them to be something you can genuinely connect with when you look back on your life together decades into the future. It’s my hope that these photos capture how you feel right now—all the excitement, expectations, dreams, and giddiness of this season. Prepare yourselves accordingly! My ability to capture the essence of your relationship is dependent on what you put in. Consider how you can make this experience more meaningful… maybe you could read letters to each other, wear something special / meaningful, or bring an activity that holds sentimental value or symbolism for your relationship. If you want these photos to be more than just a photo shoot, you have to approach it that way.
Choosing a Location
The first thing I suggest is that couples ask themselves “what places hold special meaning to our story?”… My husband and I have so many special memories tied to places around the Central Coast. We flirted and got to know each other on many hikes in Poly Canyon Village at Cal Poly. We went on a camping trip as friends in Montana de Oro. HE met my family on Bishop’s Peak. He finally asked me to be his girlfriend on the Cayucos Pier. The list goes on.
So think of it that way — sit down and discuss:
What places have special meaning to our story?
What are our shared interests?
Where do we feel most connected?
Remember that your session shouldn’t just be a photoshoot but a time to connect and bond and enjoy each other. If you love hiking together consider a shoot at the Bishop’s Peak trailhead or somewhere else like that. If you love surfing and going to the beach, consider something like Spooner’s Cove at Montana de Oro or another spot you love. If a morning at a coffee shop is your favorite way to connect, consider a lifestyle shoot at Field Day Coffee in SLO. I want you to look back at your pictures and think “wow this is so us!”. I reccomend picking a location that holds unique meaning to YOUR relationship— not just something that looks cool on Pinterest.
Consdier Props:
As an extension of being true to yourselves, consider bringing something you both love. Some couples have brought in:
Their car or camper (we have a VW bus we’ve integrated on shoots before (-: )
Their fave drink (wine or beer? coffee? so cute!)
Their pet (duh)
That blanket they always bring for adventures
Their sporty hobbies: bikes / motorcycles, surfboards, skateboards
Flowers (bonus points if they’re foraged)
A picnic & basket
Outfits: Be Yourself! Steps for a great outfit combo
COLORS: Step 1 is to pick your color scheme. Maybe this comes from an “inspiration piece” such as a lightly-patterned dress or shirt that has colors you can draw from. Color-wise, I always say earth tones & neutrals are a safe bet—Greens, tans, browns, whites, creams and blacks go with just about everything. However, if you have a color you love on you and it isn’t in those recommendations, wear it!
CLOTHES: I don’t want you to feel like you’re playing dress up. While it’s a fun excuse to go shopping, make sure you feel super true to yourself when buying new things. I always recommend bringing 2-3 outfits; one that’s dressier and another thats’s more everyday. A great place to start is considering what you love wearing that you already own. What kind of vibe does it have? Why do you love it so much? Use those answers to pick your outfits for your shoot.
Great places to shop: Free People, Abercrombie, Anthropologie, Billabong, your local thrift store, ASOS, Poshmark, Depop
Clothing rental: this is my personal favorite thing to do, Nuuly is about $90 and you get to rent 6 pieces from Urban, Free People, and a million other fancy, fun, and unique brands. Use my link here for $10 off! YEWWW~!
COORDINATE: You want what you two wearing to coordinate, not match completely when there's more than one person in your photos. My suggestion? Pick out one person’s outfit first and pull complimentary colors from that for additional outfits! Avoid being too matchy.
COMFORTABLE: The most important thing I tell my couples is to wear clothes that make them feel confident. During your engagement photo shoot, we'll be doing a lot of moving around to capture candid and natural shots. That's why it's important to choose clothes that you can easily move in, and that make you feel good.
If you're not into tight clothing, don't wear it just for the photos. If you don't like wearing dresses, don't feel like you have to wear one for the shoot. These photos are all about you and how you feel, so just be yourself and wear what makes you feel comfortable and confident!
A final do / don’t checklist:
Do:
Clean your ring: Let that thing SPARKLE
Treat your engagement session like a date: Plan on getting a treat or dinner before or afterwards. Enjoy each other and soak it up.
Dress like yourself! So often, the temptation is to dress up like a totally different person. My suggestion is to dress like yourself. If you hate being fancy, don’t be fancy for your pics! A nice henley or clean tee shirt or simple sweater and jeans is great!
Be comfortable: We want everyone to be as comfortable as possible so nothing distracts them from having fun and looking happy.
Keep it classic: Sticking to classics rather than extreme trends is a good call when taking portraits that you will pass down for generations.. or even sooner, you don’t want to regret your outfit just a year or two later.
Avoid:
Avoid busy patterns, loud colors, and logos… all of those things might distract from what’s important… you, your beautiful family, and your connection. A nice floral is fine but leave your cool geometric abstract shirt for your day-to-day.
Avoid visible underwear: this is an obvious one but even a rogue bra strap disrupts a great photo. You will likely be moving around a lot and the last thing you want to worry about is your understuff all over the place
Avoid blending in to the background. For example, if we are at the beach, don’t wear a beige outfit. White is great, even blue… but consider your location and don’t be a chameleon.
The end!!! HOW EXCITING! If you’ve booked with me, thank you so much! I seriously love engagement sessions and all the magic that unfolds. If you haven’t, let’s do it! Inquire with me :)
Always remember — be yourselves!!
