Engagement photos are a way to celebrate your engagement, have photos to share on Save The Dates and Invitations, and make memories!
In this blog, we’re diving into some of the most common questions and decision points in planning an engagement session. Even sharing my own personal experience in making decisions for our own engagement photos!
Your engagement session may be the first time you and your almost spouse get in front of the camera with a professional photographer. Some couples aren’t sure if an engagement session is necessary, but there are lots of reasons to plan one!
From keepsake memories, photos to decorate your home with, to use for wedding decor and invitations – your engagement session is also a great time to start getting comfortable in front of the camera!
Your session is also a time to get comfortable with your photographer and learn some posing before your wedding day. I’ve also had plenty of brides tell me that they practiced some of the posing they learned on their engagement session at home before their wedding!
My favorite part about engagement sessions personally, is that it’s a break from the stress of wedding planning. Post photo taking, you can go out on a fancy date while you’re all dressed up! And it really gives you time to giggle with your partner and just have fun (while still “working” on wedding stuff).
What season you choose to plan an engagement session is totally up to you! Keep in mind things like: “Do I want to use these on our Save the Dates/Invitations?” or “What colors would go best with our wedding?”
As far as time of day, we are HUGE fans of this magical thing called: Golden Hour. This is the first hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset. This is the most ideal and dreamy lighting to make your photos picture perfect!
Depending on the season you choose to have your engagement session, your location color may be different! So keep that in mind for choosing your engagement outfits, as well as any layers you may need to keep you warm.
Picking a location that shows your personality as a couple can be a major part in narrowing down engagement session locations. It can be a meaningful place in your relationship, a date favorite, or somewhere that has as many quirks as you do!
One of my couples even chose to start off their engagement session at a local coffee shop! It matched with their story perfectly as they frequented many coffee shops during their long distance relationship. Plus it made for the snuggliest photos!
Other locations can even include your wedding venue, local parks, or even the top level of a parking garage!
And you can also include fun activities in your engagement session to make it unique. One of my first engagement shoots that I ever did as a photographer included a full on paint war!
Expressing your personal style through your outfit choices is another big decision point when planning an engagement session. Depending on your photographer and package, you may even want to try out two outfit choices: formal and casual!
Though if you only choose one outfit, I always recommend going more formal attire. Long dresses and suits are flattering on so many body types and you can get some incredible posing!
All Danni Lea Brides receive an Engagement Session Style Guide as part of the Danni Lea Photography experience! This guide is helpful for everything from choosing a location to choosing outfits, and even a section about getting your groom excited!
Choose outfits that are flattering and make you feel confident! When you feel great your photos look great!
One of the best pieces of advice I can give (and have said earlier, but I think it needs it’s own point) is to make your engagement session part of a date!
Having been through the season of engagement myself, I know first hand that it can be HARD. It’s stressful planning a wedding and it can be difficult to prioritize your relationship.
So I always recommend that my couples take the time after their session to head out to a restaurant and continue to enjoy each other!
I don’t want to brag, but I loved our engagement photos! We took a work-cation trip with one of the photographers I’ve shot for to Las Vegas, Nevada and got to do our engagement session in Red Rock Canyon!
Rob (Square 8 Studio) has been one of my mentors since I moved to Texas. He has taught me so many things about lighting and enhancing my client experience. And he’s become a great friend too!
We chose Rob because: from an aesthetic perspective, his style is close to my own. And he’s taught me a lot about posing couples and my lovely husband REALLY struggles with feeling lost on photoshoots. I knew that working with Rob would help him feel more confident in front of the camera.
And even though we found out that I’m totally allergic to everything in Las Vegas (and downed 2 packs of cough drops while I was there), Rob delivered some of my favorite photos of all time.
Plus, afterwards we went out for Ramen at a cute little restaurant by the casino we were staying at! (And then of course got a daquiri from Fat Tuesday and watched the latest Marvel TV episode in our hotel room)
Eli & Trey’s Prairie Creek Engagement Session
Pooja & Dev’s Adriatica Village Engagement Session
Jessica & Jason’s Fort Worth Coffee Shop Engagement Session
Tom & Rose’s Valley Forge Engagement Session
And more!