Congrats on being engaged! I’m so dang excited for you!
The biggest thing is out of the way. You have the person that you are madly in love with and you want to spend the rest of your life with! Now to move onto the stuff that will make your day awesome. P.S. We know some pretty awesome photographers, Check them out {HERE}
Wedding planning can be pretty crazy and stressful, the good thing is that there are a couple of things that makes the planning fun. We are a little bias, but we think that the engagement session is the most fun! But cake and food tastings aren’t far behind!
Here are some tips to take full advantage of your session!
1) Be Yourself!
There is nothing more awkward than thinking you have to be someone you are not, especially when a camera is around. Trust us, we know that even the thought of getting your pictures taken instantly makes you want to run away or turn into someone else, but we promise, the best thing for you to do is to just be yourself!
The first couple of minutes always feel un-natural because let’s be honest, a lot of us aren’t professional models and don’t spend most of our time in front of the camera. But after a while, you get used to it and then you’ll feel like a natural 😉
Being yourself helps to ensure that you make the best pictures of YOU! You can look back years later and know that the images are authentically you!
This is why we ALWAYS recommend not just going to a park and having a picnic if that isn’t you! We have done sessions all over the world in amazing locations that our clients absolutely love and feel connected to, after all, you want to look back on these images years down the road and remember this season in life!
2) Have Fun
The engagement session is probably the most fun the both of you will have together during this season in life. It is a great 2 hour time where the both of you get to laugh, skip, hold hands and cuddle in front of a camera, and it isn’t weird at all!
We do everything we can to make sure you are having the most fun possible! When you’re having fun, that means you are doing the first thing: Being Yourself! Those are the images we look for because those are the moments we want to capture, not just posed pictures.
3) Posing
We work hard to make sure you don’t feel awkward during the session. A lot of times the awkward moments come when you don’t know what to do. We have a unique posing philosophy that creates moments and not poses. Although it all starts with a pose, we work to make sure it ends with a perfect moment.
4) Lighting
This is extremely important! Because we LOVE to take advantage of the natural light we ask for everyone to be on-time because the sun dictates how long the session will last. The sessions usually occur and hour and a half before the sun sets or as the sun rises. This is what is called “The Golden Hour”. The light is nice and soft as it hits the skin. It is the perfect light for shooting romantic, emotional and fun images! You will notice that the perfect light creates a B-E-A-U-tiful glow in the images!
5) Location
Location is important because the photos have to be taken somewhere! We suggest picking a place (or places!) that has some sentimental value. We have photographed sessions all over the world because our couples have either LOVED to travel, have a spot that is sentimental to them or jjust think its awesome! There is no reason to have your session at the park if that isnt what you REALLY want. Treat yourself and have amazing photos somewhere that you would absolutely love to be!
6) Treat Yourself!
Some girls will have their practice run regarding hair, makeup, and nails for the engagement shoot. This helps them feel a little more ‘done-up’ for the shoot and boosts their confidence. We are not saying you should do this AT ALL!! However, what we can say is that in our experience shooting engagement sessions, girls want to feel pretty and confident…and sometimes spending a little extra time getting ready achieves just that. So get all dolled up and go ahead and Treat Yo’ Self (yes this is a Parks & Rec reference).
Here is a great post by someone who knows a lot more about make up than I (Devin) do. Check it out  by (Clicking HERE)
8) Last but not least, Dress up!
We have another blog dedicated to this topic alone, check out What to Wear during an Engagement Session!!
We hope that this is prepared you for your engagement session! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know!
If you want to learn more for prepping your engagement session, you can check out our two other posts!
3 Tips on including your pets into your engagement session!
What to wear during your engagement session!
Until Next Time
– Anchor & Veil
