How to Prepare for Your Engagement Session

Your engagement session is more than just another task to check off of the to-do list. It is a time to get to know your wedding photographer, experience the feeling of being in front of the camera together, learn what photos/angles/poses you do or don’t like, AND most importantly you get to spend quality time with the person you’re going to marry!

Here are some of the first things I’d recommend that you do before your engagement session.

Relax

Being in front of a camera is a source of anxiety of a lot of people, even for photographers! Trust your photographer and remember to focus on your partner not on the camera. The best photos come from just the two of you interacting and loving each other. Go into the shoot with the mindset of “this is time I get to spend unplugged with the person I love most” instead of “we need to look perfect in front of the camera”.

Plan

Think of some things that the two of you love to do together and ask your photographer if you can incorporate that into your session!

Even the simplest things can turn into beautiful memories and beautiful photos. Does your partner play the guitar? Bring it! Is one of you an artist? Bring your art supplies. Enjoy fishing, flying kites, cooking, making coffee, reading, picking flowers? Whatever it is and no matter how “cheesy” you think it is, DO IT! Make your engagement session unique to YOU.

Outfits

My best advice is to NEVER wear brand new clothes to your session! If you want a new outfit, buy it a couple weeks in advance and wear it a couple times before your shoot. This is especially true for the girls! Find all the little things that bother you before the day of your shoot—that little tag that keeps poking you, the places it feels too tight, etc.

Here are some other outfit tips:

COLORS: Plan your colors based off of where your session is going to be and the time of year. If it’s in the middle of the summer and everything is green, it probably isn’t a good idea to wear green to your session. If your session is at a pretty blue lake, maybe don’t wear blue. Don’t blend into the background is the gist of it! I’m always a fan of neutrals or very subtle pops of color.
FIT: What do I mean by fit? Well, the way I explain the “fit” of an outfit is simply its silhouette and literally how it fits you! For example, a tight mini dress probably isn’t what you want to wear to a mountain session and a western style outfit probably isn’t what you’d want to wear to a urban session.
COMFORT: Make sure that you’re comfortable in your outfits! If there’s something bothering you about your outfit it will only get worse in front of a camera and it’ll distract you from being able to enjoy your session.
COORDINATION: You and your partner’s outfits should coordinate rather than match! Try and find colors that aren’t the same but work well together. And when in doubt, just go for what is SIMPLE! Avoid loud patterns, bright or too many colors, or pure black.

Day Of

Don’t go into the shoot hungry! Bring a couple light snacks for the drive there if you start getting hungry. When we’re hungry it makes us grumpy and if you’re grumpy you and your partner will most likely not interact the same!

Bring water! If your photographer has you doing prompts like dancing, running, twirling around, etc. You’ll get very thirsty very fast!

Focus on truly loving your partner. It’s easy to get overwhelmed before a shoot, but remember that stress can easily translate into tension and frustration, even over the little things. Plan ahead, be intentional about showing kindness and affection, and if things don’t go exactly as planned—like running late—just take a deep breath, stay relaxed, and communicate openly with your photographer. Enjoy the moment, and let the love you share be your focus.

Don’t stress about perfection. The goal is to capture the love and joy between you two, not to worry about every little detail!

Enjoy the time together. Engagement sessions are about celebrating your relationship, so keep the mood light and playful!!