Happy Monday! It’s the first blog of the new year and, given the popularity of holiday engagements, I figured I would start off with a post for you newly engaged folks who are thinking about engagement sessions 🙂 Keep reading for my top 5 tips for a successful engagement session!

Make it Meaningful

Whether you accomplish this by choosing a location that means a lot to you, bringing your pets, or wearing a family heirloom, there are a lot of ways to really infuse yourself in your session and make it go a bit deeper than “just a pretty session”.

Incorporate Variety

Even if you don’t want to deal with fully changing your outfit, simply having another layer (think jackets, hats, scarves, wraps, etc.) to put on for a portion of your photos can help mix up your images a bit more.

Another way to give your session variety is to pick 2 distinctly different locations. Maybe do half indoors and half outdoors or do part of your session in a garden and part by some murals.

Embrace the Season

Don’t try to force your “dream engagement outfit” if it doesn’t fit the season. You will be so much happier with your images (and not to mention, you’ll be far more comfortable during your session) if you embrace the season you’ve chosen and find a new dream outfit to fit it.

Get Your Hair and Makeup Done

If you’ve never had professional photos done I highly recommend having a pro do your hair and makeup before your session. Your makeup needs to be done a bit differently than your every day look in order to show up properly in camera. And, for your hair, you need to find that perfect balance between looking natural but having enough hold to stay in place throughout your session.

DIY hair and makeup can cause a lot of stress ahead of your session and I want you to feel relaxed and excited! There are budget friendly ways to do this so don’t let the thought of this scare you off. I promise you it’s worth it!

Be Comfortable

If you are uncomfortable in any way, it WILL show on camera. So make sure you are comfy from head to toe. Make sure you’re comfy with how your hair is. Are you going to be bothered with every gust of wind and want to fix it? Maybe consider wearing your hair up to eliminate that discomfort.

Make sure you’re comfortable temperature-wise. If it’s winter and you really want to rock a gown, pack a jacket for in-between as well as hand warmers. If it’s the dead of summer, make sure you’re wearing something breathable and pack some water. Be sure your shoes fit. If they hurt to walk in but you really want to show them off, bring a pair of flip flops for transitioning.

You get the idea.

Do a mental checklist and identify if there’s anything about your look that you are not comfortable with and then do what you can to adjust it. Comfort will lead to confidence on camera!

Film photos scanned by The FIND Lab

see more wedding planning tips here