Hi babes! We’re back this week with another Wedding Wednesday and we’re so excited to talk about engagement photos and everything that goes into those! Personally, engagement photos are probably one of the most memorable experiences throughout the entire planning process. It’s a special moment with just you and your husband (and of course the photographer LOL), and they are photos you’ll use for your Save the Dates, bridal showers, etc. You will literally have the photos for the rest of your life! With that being said, today I’m going to go over a few important details you should keep in mind while preparing for your session!

LOCATION

I feel like this is something everyone struggles with… do you want a beach/coastal vibe, mountains, open field, etc! Picking the location can be tough, but try to stick to what you and your fiancé love and where you’ll feel the most comfortable. For us, our actual engagement was at the beach so I knew I didn’t want beach pics since we already had them. Plus, the vibe for our wedding was “garden formal” so we really wanted a fun scene with mountains, trees and greenery, which is why we picked Malibu. The location was prime and if you’re ever in that area you should stop to take a couple of pictures. You definitely won’t regret it. Our session took place at sunset so we got amazing pictures that I will cherish forever!

POSES

This can be challenging. I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but I actually made Jesse and I practice a few poses in front of our mirror the week leading up to our session. LOL it was so funny and I think he wanted to kill me because I was taking it so serious! When we arrived for our shoot, all of our poses got thrown out the window and we didn’t even think of them because our photographer was AMAZING. He posed us in such natural ways, we didn’t feel awkward at all. I do think practicing was helpful, but at the end of the day, your photographer should be extremely talented and will know what poses look best based off of your location, outfits, etc.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Choosing the right photographer is so important. You want someone who has similar style to you…are their photos bright and airy? Dark and moody? Fun and colorful? Of course, each couple will have their own personal style that their looking for. I found my photographer by looking at The Knot and on Instagram to find exactly the style we were looking for. We used Lucas Rossi and he was amazing! He not only made us feel super comfortable, but the photos turned out exactly how we wanted. He also photographed our wedding!

BE YOURSELF

This is so important, I cannot stress it enough! BE YOURSELF! I feel like it’s so easy to compare yourself to other couples while looking on Instagram and you think you want to look exactly like them, but in reality, those people aren’t you! Don’t try to be someone you’re not. You and your fiancé obviously have chemistry, otherwise you wouldn’t be getting married, so just act natural! If you guys love to laugh, then laugh at each other and into the camera. If you are typically ghost white (like myself) don’t get a spray tan because you will most likely feel awkward and uncomfortable. At the end of the day, these pictures will be yours to cherish forever and you don’t want to look like anyone but yourself.

OUTFITS

Now onto the good stuff! This was the most fun and most stressful part of planning my engagement shoot. I remember texting Makenzie almost every second asking her what she thought about certain dresses, and she would scan the web and send me countless options. It was so nice to have someone to bounce your outfit ideas off of because your fiancé could care less!

I knew I wanted to do a few outfits changes, and during our session I did three. Honestly, I could have stuck with two and I would have been super happy, the third might have been unnecessary. I also knew I wanted a few options; a bright colored dress, a white dress, and a muted floral dress. When I tell you I tried on every dress and romper under the sun, I am not lying. Everything I tried would have been a great option, but I was being so picky which usually isn’t like me. I put so much pressure on myself to find the perfect outfits, which I ended up loving, but at the end of the day wear something that makes you feel YOU and feel fun, flirty and comfortable.

I found the perfect three dresses probably one week leading up to my shoot. I was stressing trying to find the perfect options! I ended up wearing a red floral mini dress and a white midi dress from Show Me Your Mumu, and a pink maxi dress from Nordstrom! These are all sold out (we took our photos in the summer of 2018,) but we linked other options for you girlies in the LTK app!!! Click here to check them out!

If you are planning your own wedding or are helping a friend and need advice, please reach out to us! I would love to offer some help throughout the process. We hope you all enjoyed this #WeddingWednesday and we can’t wait to keep sharing our insights throughout the coming weeks. 

As always, be sure to follow us on Instagram @tallglassoffashion. We’ll see you there!

XOXO Kell & Mak