One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “What should we wear to our engagement session?” Whether you are planning on a DC engagement session or an engagement session out in a rural area, there are a few tips we like to pass along to help you plan.
Outfits – Let your style shine!
- Plan on wearing two outfits each. You want your two outfits to be different so that you have a good variety in your photos. You can wear one casual and one dressy outfit or one dressy and one edgy outfit. Really, it just depends on what kind of look and style you are going for. Some people are very casual and want to do two casual outfits, or the opposite and they want to do two formal outfits. Our suggestion is just to try to vary your first and second look from each other either by color or by style. Most importantly we want you to be you, so find clothes you feel good in, that’s the best place to start.
- You want to coordinate your outfits, but not be too matchy matchy. For example, if you are wearing blue & yellow, your fiancé could wear a yellow top to tie your outfits together. When one person is in a vivid pattern, put the other person in something more subtle or more solid in color.
- Stay away from clothing that has logos or words on them, they tend to be distracting.
- Here is something funny, solid white is not the best color to wear. Obviously we photograph white wedding gowns regularly but it isn’t the optimal color for photos. Solid black on the other hand photographs really well. Adding something small like a brightly colored necklace or a belt instantly pops on an all black outfit.
- Don’t neglect your feet! Shoes and socks are important in completing an outfit.
- Don’t neglect your hands! A manicure goes a long way in close up photos that show your hands.
- Feel free to bring a prop if it will help personalize your shoot, but you don’t want to be too prop heavy or the shoot will start feeling kitchy. For example, some couples love sports teams and they can certainly bring hats for a quick shot but I wouldn’t bring baseballs, basketballs, footballs, multiple hats, multiple jerseys, and chalkboard scoreboards. You catch my drift. 🙂
Hair & Makeup – Well worth the effort
- I highly recommend having your hair and makeup professionally done for the shoot. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it!
- Even if you want a more natural look, your eyes still need more emphasis than you would think. Fake lashes or lash extensions are really fantastic in photo shoots. For some reason professional cameras dull out makeup and professional makeup artists know this. They know to amp up the look a little more than they normally would if it is for professional photography. Do not be worried if your makeup is a little more dramatic than you would like. Once you are on camera, the makeup will be dulled out and so the extra emphasis on makeup ends up looking a lot more natural than you would think.
- Modeling is hard work and you may even work up a sweat! Be sure to bring your compact or loose powder to touch up shiny skin throughout the shoot. If you are having airbrush foundation, ask your makeup professional but I don’t think they will recommend having additional loose powder for touchups. Spray foundation keeps skin pretty shine free. If it is going to be hot out, bring a towel as well to dab sweat.
- If you have a glossy lip, bring additional gloss to reapply throughout the session. If you have a matte lip, you will likely not need touch up color but ask your makeup professional to be sure.
- I have a list the of top hair and makeup professionals that we love to work with. These stylists travel to your home or wherever is convenient for you to have your styling done. These stylists provide consistently excellent work and we highly recommend them. If you haven’t received an email from us with these vendors, just ask and we will send that over to you.
Before your engagement session we will also chat on the phone to go over any questions you may have, we talk about what you can expect, and I will also go over these tips again to make sure you are prepared. We will talk soon and happy planning for your engagement session!
