---

5 Tips to Help Prepare You and Your Fiancé for Your Engagement Session

---

You’re ENGAGED! How freaking exciting is that?! You have found the love of your life, you have this amazing ring on your finger and you haven’t stopped smiling in about three weeks, right? Right. Now it’s time to start thinking about those engagement photos you’re so excited for! Where do you start though? There’s so much to think about for these “photos”. Well, I will tell you, they’re not just “photos”. They’re your memories and they will be perfect. Below are some tips to help you get through your engagement session in one piece! …Both you and your fiancé.

1) It doesn’t matter where the session takes place, it’s about who you’re there with. I think a lot of the time, couples get “lost” when trying to think of a location for their engagement portraits. Usually, I try to suggest a location that most “feel like my clients”. Where did they meet? What do they enjoy doing? Where is their favorite spot? Sometimes that could be the St. Bonaventure University, a backroad in Allegany State Park, in an open field walking through tall grass, or even outside of the coffee shop where they met. The possibilities are endless!

2) Coordinate vs. match. This is a huge, huge tip I always inform my clients of. All of my engagement packages come with one outfit change. That being said, I always encourage my clients to bring a more casual outfit, for example your “jeans look”. Then, your more formal outfit. This is usually the outfit that my clients love using for their Save the Dates. For example, a suit jacket and dress shirt or a dress or flowy skirt. Think neutral colors and tones. Soft browns, blush pinks, muted blues. We want to make sure that you still look like you. So, try to pick outfits that don’t just make you feel amazing, but look amazing too! If you’re wondering what you should wear, I always have my COUPLES PINTEREST BOARD for some examples to browse.

3) Girls, get your hair & make-up done! Have someone in mind for your hair & make-up for your special day? Inform them of the date and time of your engagement session and book them for a trial run beforehand! This way, you’re able to make sure you’re going to love the look on the day of your wedding and all you have to do is get dressed. Literally! Putting a little extra make-up on for your session isn’t a bad thing! It’ll help your eyes stand out more with a little extra mascara or fake eye lashes. Your smile will pop right off the image with a brighter or more bold lip color!

4) The best light is two hours before sunset OR sunrise. Being a natural light photographer and huge lover of the “golden hour glow”, two hours before sunset or right at sunrise is the perfect lighting for us! This time of evening will provide amazing and flattering light for your skin tones and images. On the day of your wedding, we may not be able to get portraits during that “golden hour glow”. So, we definitely should take advantage of it during your engagement session! Please make sure you and your fiancé are on time for your session. We are only able to get that “glow” before the sun goes down. If you two are late, that sadly means less time for me to shoot.

5) Try to relax and be yourself. I know, I know, easier said than done. A lot of my couples that come to me for engagement photos have never gotten professional portraits done. Your High School Yearbook photo does not count! (Haha). That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing! It’s actually a great thing. Why? Because I get to help teach you! I’ll help by telling you where to place your hands, if you should smile or kiss one another, and guys, you’ll be doing a lot of nuzzling. Don’t know what a nuzzle is?! Oh, I cannot wait for you to find out!!

For about the first fifteen to twenty minutes, I always warn my couples that it will probably be a little awkward. I mean, you’ve got a crazy lady running around with her camera, posing you and making these weird noises because she says you guys “look so cute!!”. I’ll probably end up talking about my dog and my favorite restaurant, or how a session is not complete until I fall on my #youknowwhat. (That usually makes my couples laugh, so it’s a win, win for those natural smiles!!) This is not a made up situation. This is really how I am. So, if you’re looking for a photographer, let’s give it a shot! 🙂

Check out some of my favorite Engagement Session images below!

VIEW MORE ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS HERE!

VIEW SWEET WEDDING DAYS HERE!