Engagement sessions are SO much fun! When in the middle of planning for your wedding, prepping for your engagement session should be the least stressful part and a moment to just enjoy each other’s company. On the wedding day, there’s a bit of a time crunch, emotions are high, and there are so many other things going on. This is your time to truly enjoy the pictures and have a blast while doing it!

During the engagement session, this our time to get to know each other! It gives an opportunity to feel relaxed and get used to being in front of the camera. I’ll teach you all the core poses so that on your wedding day it will feel completely natural and be a breeze for you! I love it when my couples just naturally fall into a pose because they remember it from their engagement session. It really does take the stress out of picture taking on your big day!

There can be a lot that goes into planning your engagement session, but it does not have to stressful if you trust your photographer. This blog post is going to walk you through a few ideas and tips for planning and prepping for your engagement session!!

1. Where And When Should We Take Them?!

Some couples choose to take them opposite of the season they are getting married in. For example, if you’re getting married in the summer at the beach, you might want to take them in the fall in the mountains. It’s a great way to get the best of both worlds! This isn’t a must thing to do, but personally think it’s a great way to have it all if you just can’t decide where or when to do it! However, the timeline between your e-session and wedding mixed with your photographer’s availability will obviously come into play here as well, but it’s a great way to start!

2. Outfit Choices

Your outfit choices can honestly make or break your session. I’ve seen it been done way too many times which is why I make it such a big priority when prepping my couples before their session. You are investing a LOT of money and time into these photos, so why show up in leggings and a t-shirt? This is your opportunity to have professional photographs taken of you and your soon-to-be spouse. Essentially, this is the beginning of your legacy being documented. I have another blog post going deeper into specifics about what to wear, so I won’t go too much into detail, but you can check it out here!

Opt for two outfits, one dressy (heels, dress/khakis, button down), and one casual (jeans, heels, blouse/jeans untucked button down). When pairing the outfits, be sure that they coordinate with each and not necessarily match each other. By this I mean no matching jeans and white t-shirt while you walk down the beach! (I know we’ve all been there!) Be sure you feel comfortable and confident in your choices and it will be GREAT!!

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3. Clean Your Ring

Probably one of the most often things I see that brides forget about is cleaning their ring before their session! I LOVE to take close up detail shots of your new bling, and my fancy, macro lens picks up every little detail. So just be sure you give it a little love to ensure it’s nice and sparkly for your photos. Even in photos where it isn’t necessarily the focus, having a clean vs. dirty ring does actually make a big difference! I suggest having this ring cleaner handy!

4. Hair and Makeup

Choosing to have professional hair and makeup done before your session is a great way to ensure you are looking and feeling your best for your session! Nothing wild and extravagant is necessary, but the professionals are trained to putting on makeup to be sure it looks great in photos and enhance your natural beauty! A great thing to think about too is checking in with your HMU artist that will be with you for your wedding day and use this as an opportunity to have a trial run before the big day! Double whammy here!

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5. Preparing Your Groom

If you have never had professional photos of the two of you done before, or even just if your groom isn’t the biggest fan of taking pictures, it’s a good idea to prep him before showing up to the shoot! He probably is assuming you two are going to show up take some pictures smiling at the camera and feel super uncomfortable. I believe it’s a great idea to show him some blog posts from your photographer just so he has a better understanding of what is about to happen and that this isn’t going to be a stiff and awkward experience. It’s going to be FUN! Most groom’s leave the shoot saying that they had a great time, but it is important to explain to them beforehand that you LOVE this style of photography and that there is nothing to feel weird about.

6. Be on Time

This point is SO important. Being a natural light photographer means that I shoot with the sun. That’s the only light source I use. So if you show up 10, even 15 minutes late, it is going to give you less time for taking photos – aka you’re also going to receive less photos! Of course, things happen and I understand, but give yourself a few extra minutes of travel time in case of traffic or if you forget something.

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7. Relax and Trust Your Photographer

Like I mentioned earlier, this should be a FUN experience for you!!! So relax, take off any pressure you’re feeling for your session and give it to your photographer. I understand that it can feel overwhelming going into this, but when you give full trust to your photographer, I promise that it will turn out great!! We do not expect you to be a pro – not one bit! Every. single. session. starts off feeling a little silly. It takes about 15-20 minutes for us both to warm up, so if you’re feeling awkward in the beginning, that is completely normal! You’re going to do great! I promise! So have fun, be yourself, and enjoy it!

I hope these tips were helpful for you as you’re prepping for your engagement!!! I always love to answer questions if you have them or if you need help choosing outfits, so hit me up!! I would LOVE to take off any stress you may be feeling for your engagement session!

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If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

Richmond Engagement Session | Fall at Maymont | Colby + Mary

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