11 tips to prepare for your engagement session | Eagle Creek Park and Coat Check Coffee Engagement Session
I get it — having your photo taken can feel awkward or make you feel really nervous. Here’s some tips & tricks to help your session go smoothly and have some fun.
Do something you two would normally do on a date. What’s something that you and your partner normally do for fun? For Annah and Trevor, that’s getting coffee at Coat Check Coffee. They also like hiking (Trent and I loveee hiking and outdoor photos, so we almost always do some part of the shoot outdoors!) so we went over to Eagle Creek Park and they braved the cold for some pretty wintery photos. I’ve done engagement sessions with picnics, record store shopping, swimming in a creek or dancing in a water fountain, climbing mountains or just chilling at home on the couch. You can incorporate something that’s just fun or something really sentimental or familiar. Trevor and Annah chose to end their session at the library where Trevor proposed and they came on many of their dates, so the place was dear to them.
Wear something you’re comfortable in. Shopping for new things is fun and feel free to purchase a new outfit for your engagement photos, just make sure you try everything on and feel really comfortable in it first. That being said, you totally don’t have to go out and buy new outfits! Wearing something you’re familiar with can help you feel more comfortable and also make your photos more special. Feel free to bring multiple outfits.
I do recommend is to wear comfortable shoes. We will probably be walking a lot during our sessions. Especially for ones where we’re hiking, please wear hiking shoes or boots since you never know how muddy the trails will be!
If you want to be extra fancy, get a manicure and your ring cleaned before the session!
Have a drink beforehand. This could be how you start your session or something you do before you meet up with your photographer. It helps calm the jitters. (: And if you start the photoshoot at a bar or coffeeshop, you’ll have something to do with your hands.
Include your pets! I love capturing couples with their pets. I suggest starting with the photos of you and your pets, then having a friend pick them up while we focus on the rest of the session. That way your pet isn’t distracting from the rest of the photo session. If there’s anything else that’s “you” then bring that along! Ideas: picnic photos in the back of your truck, canoeing in the spot where he proposed or just walking in a park that’s familiar to you.
Start a Pinterest Board just for fun! A lot of couples use Pinterest for wedding planning, but you can use it for engagement photos, too. Feel free to pin photos that are the vibe that you like and use it to help coordinate outfits with your partner. If you hire me and make a Pinterest board, I want to see it! :) Check out my couples Pinterest board with what past clients have worn.
Be on time (or better yet, early). This will help calm your nerves even more and is a trick that I use myself to help me not me nervous for things. Leave earlier than you think you need to add extra time for traffic. If you’re late, it can cut into the photoshoot time when the light is pretty and you don’t want to miss pretty light.
Narrow down your outfits at least the day before. I’m terrible at this myself, but it helps so much to already know what you’re going to wear, that way you aren’t scrambling the day of and adding extra unnecessary stress.
Decide whether or not you want a morning or evening session. I typically only do engagement sessions on weekday mornings or evenings, but it’s different for every photographer. I like photographing either 30 minutes before sunrise and into the morning or an hour and a half before sunset and taking photos until dusk. Figure out what works best for your schedule & for you. For example, if you’re not a morning person at all, you probably don’t want to do the sunrise session!
Decide if you have a season preference. I do most sessions in spring and fall, but I definitely still do some in the summer and winter! If you really dig the fall leaves look, then make sure you talk to your photographer about scheduling in advance. If you love neutrals and don’t mind being cold, then choose a winter session like Annah and Trevor did!
Bonus Tip:
Leave your phone and purse locked in the car! That way you’re not wondering where to put them when it’s time to take photos.
Hope those tips help and don’t ever hesitate to ask your photographer questions about your session! And feel free to check out the wintery photos from Annah & Trevor below. :)
