If you’re a new reader then you may not be aware so I wanted to announce: I’m getting married! Not only am I blessed and grateful to be marrying this lovely man that God has placed in my life as my soulmate, I am super excited to be planning our union!
Our wedding is soon approaching & I know I have pretty quiet about it. If you have been a part of a union then you know everything is typically on the hush hush because you want to save it as a surprise until your big day! Although I won’t give up too many details I def want to share with you all how the process has been so far, what you should plan for if you are a bride to be (or if you just love weddings), and various fun things like DIYs.
Today’s focus will be on prepping for your engagement pictures and how I set mine up. We took our pictures pretty late but I wanted to ensure our wedding photographer would take them so it worked out perfectly!
1. Find your Bomb Photographer
The key to having banging engagement pictures is definitely choosing the right photographer. I personally recommend having your wedding photographer take your engagement photos for you because not only does it build trust/confidence in their skills, it also allows the three of you to build a connection that is essential for your wedding day. Choosing our photographer for the wedding quickly became a very important task for me because I wanted to make sure that they could properly capture our union. Brandon and I were incredibly happy with how our engagement pictures turned out so now I’m super stoked to see what else is produced by our awesome photographer Ashley from Ashley Canay Videography and Photography.
I also recommend choosing a photographer who is great at editing and is stress free. Thankfully, Ashley excels at both so we are good to go! Also, being able to work hand in hand with your photographer is important because regardless of the weather or location change, they will be able to think quick on their feet and ensure your session is still smooth.
2. Plan a Creative Vision for Your Shoot
So you have your photographer and scheduled your shoot. The next step would be to start getting your creative juices flowing and plan out exactly what story you want your pictures to portray. I believe that your engagement photos set the tone for your wedding so it’s best to have your shoot reflect that style. So let’s say you absolutely love all things vintage and can’t imagine your engagement pictures looking any other way. I would first recommend letting your photographer know so the two of you could collaborate to find the perfect location.
Pinterest will be your best friend throughout your wedding planning process so be sure to use it as a tool to help select your props, choose your poses, and get tons of inspiration. Brandon and I both wanted our pictures to showcase our love and not really have a “staged” look. Most of our photos are either candid or us embracing other which is exactly what I pictured!
3. Choose Your Looks Together
To coordinate or not to coordinate? That is the question!
After deciding which creative direction you two would like to go, it’s time to choose your outfits. Taking our pictures a little late allowed us to be able to coordinate our looks based on our wedding colors. I knew I really wanted to do this because I plan on incorporating these photos in our wedding venue and our website. It was pretty easy to choose our outfits because we knew semi-formal was the way to go and represents us pretty well. If you are choosing the outfit for your Fiance’ as well be sure to take into account his style. The wedding planning process is for the both of you guys so having him uncomfortable is a no no!
Ladies I would also recommend bringing a pair of flats along with you to the photoshoot if you plan on wearing heels. You may be walking a little bit to find your desired spot and you don’t want your ankles to give out on you!
4. Take your Pictures & Have Fun!
Please, please, please remember to have fun! Being super stressed out, whether it’s prior or during your photoshoot, will definitely show in your pictures. Brandon and I were laughing basically the whole time so luckily it was a breeze! You’ll be looking back on these photos God willingly for years to come so make sure you are able to see your love radiate throughout your pictures.
As I stated earlier, I will be using these photos for both our wedding venue and website. We already created our Save the Date cards, but if you’re wondering how else you could use them then that is also a perfect route to go! As I stated earlier in the post, I’ll be creating more content focused on my wedding planning process so be sure to stay tuned!
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