Tips on How to Plan Your Engagement Session

We could never tire of seeing the photo galleries from our couple's engagement sessions, we love to see a glimpse into their relationship and their style. Pinterest has definitely stepped up the bar for engagement photos, but it is important to be yourselves and plan a shoot that is comfortable for you. Here are our top tips with a few of our favorite engagement shots!

Location Location!

Choosing the location for your engagement session is super important, because it is part of the story that your images are going to tell. Do you see yourself on a mountainside or maybe by the ocean? What about sipping coffee together downtown in your favorite coffee shop or bookstore?

Lighting is Everything

Once you've settled on a location with your photographer, consider the lighting/time of day that you have envisioned. Typically sunrise or just before sunset lends itself to ideal lighting for outdoor sessions. Above is one of our favorite shots by Matthew Lim that just captures the essence of Dara & Nick with amazing lighting!

Planning Your Wardrobe

We recommend asking your photographer for advise on what to wear based on your location, lighting and style. Wearing stripes can be tricky for example, or making sure that your straps on your gown or undergarments are secure so that you don't go back later and wish you had adjusted your strap etc. Statement necklaces or fun pieces like colorful shoes or accessories can make your photos pop!

Your wedding day timeline isn't just a piece of paper, it is a compilation of all of the details that you have selected throughout your planning process all rolled into one. Everything from where you are getting ready in the morning, who is bringing you coffee, what time the flowers are getting delivered, the ceremony processional order and much more.

You can easily google a wedding day timeline, that's the easy part. But to personalize the timeline so that it not only flows smoothly but for you to also get to maximize the hours in your day. If you have selected a 6 hour photography package you will need to really streamline those six hours.

In order to make your day truly memorable for you, try to see the big picture. How many hours will you be getting ready? Are you making time to see your mom, your sister? Are you getting photos of these intimate moments before you put your dress on?

Catch Part One: Contracts and Two: Photography Coverage of our Timeline Series!

Build in enough time into your day to be able to reasonably have time to take it all in! We can't emphasize enough how quickly your day will go by, and if you don't allow yourself to have a few moments alone together to just breathe it won't happen on it's own. You will have 100+ guests wanting your attention (rightfully so, since they came there for you!) We put a very basic order of events here for you, you can download the free pdf here.

Have you heard of a First Look? This is somewhat of a newer trend but has become popular for a few different reasons. If you aren't overly traditional about not seeing your future other half before the wedding, the first look photos give you a little more flexibility in your timeline because you are getting to ensure you have ample time for your formal portraits which will also help reduce the amount of time you are in photos during the cocktail hour (that means you get to actually hang out with your guests longer!)

Rather than re-create the wheel, we wanted to show you a great comparison of a timeline with and without a first look. Check out Stephanie's blog post on Pinterest:

Have timeline questions: You know you can always speed date with a wedding planner and shoot us an email!

~ Happy Planning!~