Location

Whether you want to shoot inside the city or somewhere in nature, I have tons of suggestions for your engagement session. I also shoot in-home sessions and am totally down to shoot at the location of your choice. Some things to consider when choosing your location are accessibility, light, traffic, fees for shooting, and how it feels to you. I believe that every single aspect of this comes down to what feels right to who you are as a couple.

Timing

Engagement sessions can happen whenever you want them to, but typically take place between 5-8 months before the wedding date. Engagement sessions are perfect for sending out save-the-dates, your wedding website, announcing your engagement, and displaying at your wedding reception. If you’re getting married in the spring you may consider an engagement session in the fall to have some diversity in your images.

Light wise, I like to plan my sessions around the sun. My very favorite time to shoot is during the golden hour leading to sunset. Sunrise is cool, too, but I am not a morning person so you may have to bribe me with coffee. 😉

Wardrobe Tips

I looooove showcasing personality so bring yours 100%. I recommend dressing in whatever makes you feel like the best version of yourself. Don’t ever wear something because you feel like you’re “supposed to”. Be yourself. Otherwise you’re gonna be super uncomfortable. *shrug emoji*

Dress for the location and the vibe. If you’re wanting photos at a bar, maybe dress more in a date night look. If we’re hiking, keep that in mind especially with your footwear (bring a change of shoes along if you’d like, but hiking boots can also be fun).

Being too matchy-matchy with your partner doesn’t look great. Try to mix it up. Go easy on the patterns, stripes almost never photograph well but floral is always dreamy! I recommend wearing complementary colors and pieces. I can offer some ideas based on your color choices.

I wouldn’t recommend planning for more than one or two outfits. Two is great for mixing things up, but even just one works well for a lot of folks. Any more than this just becomes a logistical issue and you end up wasting time (and magical light) changing.

Other things to note

I love dogs (and cats) and am totally down for including your fur babies in your session!

Engagement sessions last about an hour and a half. If we’re moving from one location to another, I’ll give more time for travel so it won’t eat into shooting time.

I love to give diversity to the images, so choosing more than one location is totally cool with me as long as they are pretty close to one another.

Showing up ready to be sweet and vulnerable with your partner is the best way to approach your engagement session. I recommend spending the day together and not planning your engagement session after work or some other stressful event. You want to come into the session on the same page, so a day of self care and rest beforehand is ideal. Maybe even spend your drive over talking about your first date and what you love most about each other.