Engaged? Here is the Best Way to Prepare for your Engagement Photos

Engaged? Congratulations! Today we are going to talk about the Best Way to Prepare for your Engagement Photos. Wanna know the best way to celebrate an engagement? Engagement photos, obviously. Today I thought I would share some tips to help you prepare for your photo shoot.

Before, I begin, did you hear the news? I am ENGAGED! Cue the confetti, pop the champagne, and do a little dance of joy because I am celebrating by sharing tips with you and featuring my personal engagement photos throughout. Take the tour of the photos and take some notes from my special day.

Before I start, I wanted to let you know that you can check out my YouTube Video – How to Prepare for your Engagement Photos | My Photos + 8 Tips & What To Wear about this blog post as well:

We’re Engaged – Here is Our Love Story

How did Robbie and I meet?

Robbie and I met in high school, 11 years ago. Yes, you read that correctly, we meet nearly a decade ago. I can tell you the exact moment that I saw him in grade 10, he was in my drama class for a short time before he switched classes. He was a jokester and what I could say a class clown. We didn’t cross paths fully until one day he was with my friends outside of the school office and we introduce ourselves. His first words were “I have a cousin named Shanice” and he never left our friend group since.

Fast forward to becoming friends, dating, going to prom, graduating high school, and then having a son together. We navigated through highs and lows and definitely have come a long way. We filled many pages of our life filled with many memories.

Our Proposal Story

The highlight? March 14, 2021, when our covid version of our dating anniversary turned into a sunset proposal on my balcony. He gave me a beautifully written card that ended with a dot, dot, dot which brought him to his knee to ask me to marry him.

How do I feel? In complete disbelief. I’ll be honest, I played my version of that scene over and over in my head for years, but to have that actually happen was such a shock. Thankfully I dressed nicely just in case. It felt like a dream. I’m serious, I couldn’t stop staring and smiling.

The rest is still unwritten but what I can tell you is that my engagement photos turned out amazing. Our photographer Chia from Blue Aspen Photography was such a blast to work with and I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to capture our story.

This brings me to these engagement photos tips that I promised you.

The Best Way to Prepare for your Engagement Photos

1. Create a Pinterest Engagement Photo Board

I highly recommend using Pinterest to plan your wedding. It has been such a huge help for me to plan my wedding and even to choose engagement photo pose ideas. You can check out my Engagement Photo Pinterest Board here. Of course, I got more inspiration than that in this Dreamy Engagement Photography Pinterest Board.

Wondering How do you create a Pinterest Board?

1- Create a Board

2 – Choose a Title

A box will pop up. Next, use the pop-up box to enter the name you want for your board. Since we are talking about engagement photos. You can name it that. Then, Click create.

Once you have created your board, Pinterest is going to recommend some Pins that you can add to it. Feel free to explore and start pinning what you like from their suggestions.

3 – Search for your pins.

4 – Pin a photo.

Although this may not be your first time on Pinterest, to pin a photo, you will see a big red button that says Save. After you click it you can choose what board you want it in. There you have it, now you can keep the pinning cycle going.

Once you have a selected a bunch of photos, you can use this board to show or send your board URL link to your photographer. This is great if you want to give your photographer an idea of what you are looking for.

Personally for me, even though I had a Pinterest board filled with ideas, I wanted to give the power to my photographer and go in without any expectations. I know as organized as I am, this was a challenge I wanted to put on myself and it worked wonderfully for us.

Want more inspiration to pin from? Check out – 79 Engagement Photo Ideas to Steal From Couples Who Totally Nailed It by Brides. I loved all their ideas!

2. Find Photographer Using Social Media

Who says you can’t use social media to help you plan your wedding? I am on team social media all the way. In fact, I used Instagram to help plan my wedding and that is also how I met my photographer Chia from Blue Aspen Photography. I was instantly captured by the way she shows her client’s stories with a click of her camera. It was the style that I was going for and messaged her that very day.

Here is how to looking for a photographer for your engagement photos:

1. Search photographers in your local area by using hashtags. There are plenty of hashtags out there so make sure are searching for ones in your city like #torontoweddingphotographer or #NYCweddingphotographer.
2. View their portfolio through their social media feed. Do you like their style? Look for what you like about their photo styles but also their personality behind the scenes. It is extra bonus points if they put their personality in their captions or even with videos behind the scenes. You will want a photographer that brings the best out of you and that you can feel comfortable with.
3. See how active they are on their account. If they haven’t posted in a long time, they aren’t active. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are a bad photographer, it just means you would have to meet them in person to really get to know them or they may be fully booked and not taking clients at this time.
4. Judge by the quality of their photos and not by followers. At the end of the day, you are there for the photos and not their followers. The number of followers does not imply a bad rating. Getting organic real followers is not easy and it takes time. Remember many photographers are handling their own social media, that doesn’t mean they are social media experts so they may not know how to get more followers with top social media strategies out there.

3. Book your Dream Photographer

You found your photographer, now what? Now you get to message them. You can send them a DM if they are an active person on their social media page and you think they will see your direct message.

Personally, for me, I am a classic email kind of person. I am all about going on their website to further check out their portfolio. As well as see if their pricing is in my budget and then messaging them.

Here is what you want to include in your message to your dream photographer:

• Compliments of what you love about their work. Why do you want to work with them? (optional – but I think it is always a nice thing to do)
• What do you need them for? In this case, your engagement photos.
• When you need your photos do by or date/month on when you are available.
• If they have photos packages, let them know which one you are interested in.

4. Look for a Location

There are really three options to choose from, outdoors, indoors or studio. Are there any locations in your city or town that you would like to take pictures at? For me, I really wanted to be near the water and near the city. That is my comfort zone and it tied in with my wedding theme.

What is one location that you think will be great for your engagement photos? Use Google maps to take a virtual tour of locations you love then start making a list of them. Of course, don’t hesitate to ask your photographer if he or she has any recommendations too. That is how we landed on our photo location at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto Ontario. Here are some ideas to get you started:

26 Genius Indoor Locations Ideas for your Engagement Photos:

27 Stunning Outdoor Locations Ideas for your Engagement Photos:

5. Book a Photo Session Date

Next, you and your photographer will book a date that works for both of you. Depending on when you choose, your photographer will pick a time that has the best light for what you are going for. If you haven’t been to the location before, feel free to check out prior to your photo session.

Remember that if you are capturing pictures in an outdoor setting that your photo session date may be moved a few times depending on the weather condition. Don’t let that discourage you, you will find an alternate day that works best for you, your photographer and the weather!

6. What to Wear to Engagement Photo Shoot?

One of the questions that I had was what are we going to wear for our engagement photos? I am far from being stylish but I knew that I needed to prepare. I actually choose the exact jumpsuit that I was proposed to in. It was a jumpsuit that I bought from Ardene a while back and thought it would add an extra special touch to our photos. We bought my fiance’s outfit from Urban Planet the day of the photoshoot to match each other.

So what are some tips on what to wear for your engagement photoshoot:

• Choose bright colours like pastels, cool colours, and neutral tones.
• Decide on outfits with solid colours. Avoid clothing with slogans, pictures or emblems on it.
• Avoid too much black unless that is a theme you are going for. (My friend, Kimberly from The Chic Confidential knocked it out of the park in here engagement photos here!)
• Have outfits that complement each other with a colour scheme.
• Wear an outfit that makes you feel good about yourself and feel like you!
• Wear (or bring) shoes that are comfortable.
• Bring along a jacket or scarf for chilly days.
• Add a pop with Accessories! – Watches, rings, jewelry, scarves, hats, glasses, ect.

5. What to Bring to Engagement PhotoShoot Session?

Now you got the outfit planned and you know what you are going to wear. Now what? Wondering what to bring to an engagement photoshoot? That is a great question. What we ended up bring was two wine glasses and a can of ginger ale as a substitute for champagne.

However, here are some more ideas of what you can bring to your photoshoot session:

• A Bag – to put your belongings in that way it is all in one spot when you are moving around the location.
• Two or three outfits (if you are planning to change your outfits and make sure to put them in a garment bag)
• Jackets – in case you get cold.
• Props – such as a bottle of champagne (or a non-alcoholic drink) and two champagne glasses.
• Ring Box – for those proposal shots.
• A Blanket – for shots of you two sitting down.
• Cute Signs – optional, but very cute to add some personality to your photos.
• Bouquet of Flowers – if you would like, you can always have some flowers instead of a cute sign.
• A Hat – nothing too dramatic but a hat can really add something unique to your photos.
• Bike – for a more playful photo you can consider adding your bike.
• Family Pet – having your furry friends will really make your photos shine!
• Your Child or Children – this is great if you want to include your children or stepchildren in the engagement announcement.

6. Enjoy the Moment

Now that the day has come, you need to enjoy the moment. This is something that you will always look back at and it is such a great way to celebrate this big moment in your life. Look into each other’s eyes and allow the photographer to do his or her job. It is going to look fantastic so don’t stress, allow yourself to be in the moment. Make jokes to each other, have fun conversations or even put on some music to loosen yourself up. Most importantly have a blast!

What Should I Do With My Engagement Photos?

Got your engagement photos back? Yes! There are plenty of things you can do with your engagement photos. We have decided to use our engagement photos for our wedding invitations and wedding website. However, there are more ways in which you can use them for yourself as well.

Let me give you 12 ideas of what you should do with your engagement photos:

 Final Thoughts

Congratulations on your engagement! Hope these tips and engagement photos inspired you and helped you prepare for your engagement photo session. I know that I jam-packed a lot of information in here so save this blog post for each step that you are taking. You know what? I am going to make it even easier for you, I got you a little gift – a Slay Your Engagement Photo Session Checklist that you can find in my free resource library! Yes, now you can print your very own copy of this and have it accessible to you at any time. Enjoy your engagement photo session!

Vendors & Credits:

• Photography: Blue Aspen Photography

More on my Wedding Planning:

• 7 Must-Have Tips To Organize The Best Bridesmaid Proposal Box Ever
• The Best Anime Gifts for Him: How to Make The Ultimate Groomsmen Proposal Gift

Related:

• What Are the Best Days to Get Engaged?
• How to Make Your Engagement Photos Fun
• Ultimate Engagement Party Planning Checklists
• How to Plan an Engagement Party? & Planning 101 Advice (Video)   
• The Ultimate Guide to Planning your Wedding with Success
• Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist

 

What’s your take? I welcome you to share yours below!

 

*This post contains no affiliate links. Opinions are 100% my own. For more information, see my disclosures page.* 

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