Congratulations on your engagement! This is a really exciting time in your life. It’s also probably going to be a bit stressful.
During this next year, I want to walk through this process with you. I’ll give you a 12 Month Guide to planning your wedding and explain things along the way. You can start from the beginning here (click). Come back to this blog each week for the next installment.
Week 22 – Engagement Photos
Hope you’ve learned a lot about your history and whether there are any traditions you wanted to include! This week we’re going to talk about engagement photos.
Here are seven reasons to get engagement photos:
- It’s practice for smiling for the camera for long periods of time (like on your wedding day).
- It’s a chance to get used to and comfortable with your photographer. They’ll be there all day long on the wedding day, make sure you mix well together.
- You can use photos for save-the-dates. This is a great opportunity to show people how happy you are and let them know you’re wanting them to come to your wedding.
- You can use the photos for a newspaper announcement.
- You can use them on a wedding website for all your friends and family to see, no matter how far away they are.
- You can show off prints of your engagement photos at the wedding reception. Your friends and family will love to look through them.
- This is a special time in your life, don’t you want to document it well?
Some photographers include the engagement session in their wedding packages, others have it as a separate option. Ask you photographer about an engagement session and if they have any helpful tips. There are three things I want to address concerning engagement sessions: the setting, what to wear and what the photos will be used for.
The Setting
There are many gorgeous areas in the world, some natural and others man-made. Find places that are meaningful to you or ask your photographer if they have any recommendations. If you and your fiancé loved hiking or sailing, find a place in nature where you can capture some gorgeous natural light. If you like cozy evenings by the fire or sipping coffee in a coffee shop, ask the store owners if you can take photos there. They often don’t mind as long as it’s not busy and the photographer tags them in the photos on social media. Find a few places that represent who you are and will make you comfortable.
What to Wear
This one can be a tough one because of the difference in everyone’s shapes and styles, but many photographers have some guidelines they can offer. You can also find some options on Pinterest.
Basic guidelines on what to wear:
1. Don’t wear large, bold prints. They don’t always photograph well.
2. Wear shirts with sleeves and bottoms that go at least to mid thigh. Shorts and spaghetti straps don’t always photograph well.
3. Wear accessories. Create interest with jewelry, scarves, hats, belts, etc. Guys can wear layers, belts, watches, etc.
4. Don’t wear baggy outfits. Make sure what you wear is flattering to your shape and doesn’t add extra bulk.
Color combinations:
What Photos Are Used For
While the photos themselves may be great, it’s important to know how you’re going to use them. This will help the photographer know how to shoot certain images. Do you want to use them in save-the-dates? Perhaps you want a large canvas to hang up in your new home. Maybe you even want a book for your coffee table or for wedding guests to sign. Digital images are great in that they don’t take up much space, but how often are you going to take them out and look at them? People are much more likely to ooh and ahh over your printed images that you display in your home.
Hope these tips are helpful as you prepare for the engagement session. Where did you decide to take your photos?
Next week we’ll look at putting together a wedding website!
Katelyn is a certified wedding planner. She is available for consultations.
She will even meet with you on Skype to help you work through part of your wedding planning.
Click here for more information.