I often get a lot of questions from my bride and grooms about their engagement session and what to expect. Here’s a fun little blog post which can help you in preparation for you engagement photos!
So you’ve just booked your photographer for your wedding day and now you are preparing for your engagement photos. For some of you this may be your very first time in front of a camera for formal pictures. Others of you may feel a bit uncomfortable or not really sure what to expect. And some of you may be so excited and can’t wait for your photos to be captured! My best piece of advice (which I’ll elaborate on a bit later!) would be to just be you. Be yourselves, have fun and enjoy the time that you will have together in the session. My priority for you is to make you feel comfortable and confident so that we can have a blast together and then you can look back at those memories together and smile.
Here are some other tips and suggestions!
- Dress – One or Two outfits changes are what I recommend for my couples. Some like to have a part of the session dress more formal outfits and then switch up to a more casual style of dress. But again, dress in what you are comfortable wearing. Make sure your outfits compliment each other. There are some great inspiration boards on Pinterest and here’s a link to one that I have curated.
- Hair & Make Up – Ladies if you are having some formal photos taken, why not take the opportunity to get a little formal yourself? Book an afternoon of pampering and treat yourself to hair and makeup. A lot of brides tend to book their trial runs of hair and makeup the same time that they are going to do their engagement photos. I think its a great idea! And for the guys, making an appointment to get a hair cut a week before the session would be a great way to prepare for your photoshoot.
- Location Preparation – This is one of the first questions that is asked of me. Where should we do our engagement photos? I always suggest first to pick a spot that is most meaningful to you. Your home, a cottage, a favourite park or a coffee shop. It could be whatever. If you are very stuck- I can suggest some of my favourite pretty places. But I want this session to be the most comfortable to you! I do have some dream locations (a horse farm, the mountains, a lavender field & many others, lol) in mind so if anyone wants to take me up on some of them let me know!
- Posing – some of my couples tell me that they feel awkward in front of the camera. And for some of you, it is your first time getting your pictures taken. I totally understand. My job is to make you feel comfortable so much so that you have fun during this session. I will walk you through a series of poses with you- teach them to you and by the end of the session you will be pros at this- you are going to rock it!
- Rings – I always make sure to get a close up engagement ring shot. Either on your hand or styled in a pretty way. This is a great time to bring it back to the ring shop and get it polished up nice and shiny! And while you are getting your hair and makeup done, get your nails done too!
- Pets – I love incorporating your fur babies into sessions. The one thing that I do suggest to all my bride + grooms to wait to incorporate our furry friends into the session until we are about halfway to three quarters the way through the session. This way you have time to get comfortable and have fun and then we can incorporate them into some photos. Having someone else (a maid of honour or best man!) come along to take care of your pets while we are capturing photos is also a great time and stress saver!
- Date Night – Treat your session as a night out together. And better yet, when the session is over spend some more time together! Head to a favourite spot after your session and just spend time together!
- Getting to Know You – I want to know you! So don’t be surprised if I ask you lots of questions about you! It is a great honour to me to be a part of one of the biggest days of your lives. And since we’ll be spending a lot of time together on your wedding day, I want to know what’s important to you. Do you have a special grandmother, a bestie or have spent a lot of time creating the decorations at your wedding? Do you want to spend a few moments together during a First Look? Knowing who you are and what you love are all important things and I want to be able to make sure those things are captured for you.
- Finally, Be You! – Have fun! This session is about capturing you together. Remember what first attracted you to one another. Was it a beautiful smile? Was it a twinkle in their eyes that you saw across that room? Was it a long and warm embrace? Was it kind words? Was it something that he/she did for you? I want you to bring yourselves back to those first feelings those first loves. Connect with one another and have fun doing it- and I say kiss often! Because who doesn’t love a good kiss shot?!
And if you have any other tips or suggestions I’d love to hear them! If you are interested in a custom engagement session, I would love to hear from you!! Please contact me here and I’ll be in touch with you shortly! For more information about my Wedding Photography coverage head on over to my Wedding Gallery. And to hear what my clients are saying about working with Kristin Peereboom Photography check out this link.