So you're recently engaged? Planning your engagement session out will help ease the stress!? Here are some tips to help everything run smoothly so you get photos you LOVE!

Choose Your Photographer

This is an important first step! You want to choose a photographer who's style you love! This way you know you will love your photographs too. A lot of photographers (myself included) will include an engagement shoot within their wedding package. Ask your potential photographer what is included in their wedding packages. 

Plan your Outfits and Location ahead of time

Location is a key factor for your engagement photos! I always recommend choosing a location that fits your vibe as a couple. Are you two nature enthusiasts who love hiking? Maybe a park with some great wooded areas is the spot. Did you two meet at a coffee shop? Why not revisit that spot for your engagement photos!?

Choosing outfits that fit who you are and your personality as well as the location you choose is also important. You probably would not wear a fall sweater to a beach shoot so plan accordingly! :) I always recommend having two outfits. One that is more casual and one that is a little more dressy. This gives you more options when choosing your photos after your session.

Create A Vision Board on Pinterest

Pinterest is a great tool for helping you figure out what your style is and how you want to use that style in your engagement photos. I love scrolling Pinterest myself for posing ideas. It's a great search engine. You can search locations, outfit choices, and even photographer styles right off their site. This will help you find the perfect photographer based on a style you already know you love and it will help you choose clothing that will fit your personality. Win/Win! Showing your photographer what style you are thinking will help them find you the perfect location to make your engagement dreams come true. I personally am a sunset in a field kinda girl so that is what I gravitate towards!

Pinterest will also help you will posing. Posing does not come natural to many of us so this will help ease any worries about looking silly! Your photographer should have some tips to give you too.

Hair and Makeup

Hiring someone for hair and makeup is a great idea. You likely will hire someone for your wedding anyways so you can use your engagement shoot as a trial run for your wedding day makeup! Your hair will likely be different then the day of your wedding but at least you can get an idea if you love who you have chosen for your beauty needs! You can also opt to do your own hair and makeup. Make sure you take photos to see if you like how it looks on camera. Going a little heavier on makeup tends to look good in photographs. There are ample tutorials on Youtube. I recommend Carli Bybel. Her makeup tutorials are fantastic!

You want to feel your most confident during your engagement pictures (because it shows on camera, it really does!), so putting in some extra work the week leading up is so worth it. First, eat CLEAN! Cut back on sodium, up your fruits and veggies, and especially if you’re acne-prone, try to limit dairy. This will help decrease bloating, give you a natural glow and make you feel your very best while shooting!? 

You can choose to get a spray tan if you want a little extra glow too!

And lastly, HYDRATE! Drink up, girl, and your hair, skin and nails will thank you. And when you feel your best, you look your best; when you look your best, your confidence SHOWS. And you only get your engagement pictures once, so make the most of it!?

As you can see below Nina and James chose an early fall engagement shoot and decided on fall neutrals. I think it fit perfectly will the location they chose!