10 Tips for Nailing Your Engagement Session | Vancouver Photog

Booking your Engagement Session and Why You Should!

Wanting to Nail Your Engagement Session? Most likely you are here because you are officially engaged!! AMAZING! I’m so excited that you are here and you are looking for tips on how to nail your engagement photos. I’m here to give you every ounce of information I can to prepare you for your session. Booking your engagement session is the best way to get to know your wedding photographer, print images for your save the dates or your guestbook. Having this time with your photographer can be a great way to get comfortable in front of the lens. Practice makes perfect, right?!

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Here are 10 tips to nail your engagement session!

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Hire a Professional Photographer

Nailing Your Engagement Session is going to start with hiring a photographer. This has to be my number one tip! Hiring a professional photographer can make or break your engagement session. This is the only time in your life that you are engaged and a lot of the time it is a short chapter in your life. Celebrate it with a fun session together. Plus you can share these images with your friends and family to celebrate this time in your life!!

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Consider Booking Hair and Makeup

If you want to make your photos stand out, I suggest that you consider a professional to assist you with your hair and makeup. There are so many benefits to hiring someone to glam you up. Whether it is full glam or subtle glam, having your hair and makeup done up for a session can uplevel your images! I am happy to recommend some local artists that I have worked with in the past!

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Plan Ahead and Book the Best Time of Day

The best way to Nail Your Engagement Session is by picking the best time of day. A lot of people don’t realize that there are better times of the day to book your session. Try to avoid a mid-afternoon sunny day and book your session 1-2 hours before sunset for the best photos!! You’d be surprised at how light can change your images. Feel free to connect with your photographer at the best time of day for optimal images.

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Dress like Yourselves for your Engagement Session

When it comes to booking your engagement session, I recommend that you dress like yourselves. Don’t feel like you have to dress up in something you’ve never worn before. Some sessions include the option to have two outfits. I suggest that you do a casual and formal option. Wear something that you’ve worn before.

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Get to Know Your Photographer

I cannot stress this enough! Getting to know your photographer and vice versa is so important. Connection is key to great images! If you are wanting the most authentic and candid moments captured between you and your partner, spend some time getting to know the person capturing it. Most likely your photographer will send out a questionnaire before your session, spend some time filling it out. Sit down with a coffee or glass of wine together and have fun filling it out. The more information you share, the better your photographer will be able to learn about you as a couple. Trust me when I say that we are in this TOGETHER. 

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Get Creative, Bring Props!

One of the best ways to nail your engagement session is to bring Props. Props don’t have to scream ‘PROP!” Have fun with this one and bring out your personality as a couple to tell your story. Consider bringing your furbaby, a bicycle, craft beer, a pizza or skateboards. Skys the limit when it comes to accessorizing your engagement session.

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Footwear Is Important for any Engagement Session

Your girl knows how important shoes are and how they can literally make or break an outfit. Plan your footwear around your location. If you are going to be doing an outdoor session but still want to rock heels, bring an extra pair of shoes to walk around in. You can always change your shoes once we arrive at our spot. You don’t want to be tracking in heels when you have to climb over rocks or stumps. If you want to nail your engagement session, let’s start with the proper footwear!

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Colours are Important

Are you wanting tot nail your engagement session photos? When choosing the colours for your outfits, I recommend selecting softer, lighter tones and more muted or earthy shades. Avoiding ultra-bright, bold colours, will help bring all the attention to your face and let the eye focus on the way you feel about each other. The camera loves soft pastel colours mixed with light neutrals like heather gray, creams, browns, and white.

That softer colour palette fits beautifully into almost all natural outdoor environments.

Remember the colour wheel from the 6th-grade art class? Maybe you’ve gladly left your middle school days in the past, but the colour wheel comes in handy when making good colour decisions (aka planning what to wear). The colour wheel is a great reference point when trying to figure out what colours look a bit weird together and what colours are a match made in heaven.

These colours, the ones that look incredible together, are called complementary colours. They complement each other and create visual harmony. They’re salt and pepper, Bonnie and Clyde, and peanut butter and jelly. Complementary colours sit across from one another on the colour wheel (i.e. blue and orange, red and green, yellow and purple).

Choosing the right colours will help you nail your engagement session.

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Make it a Date

This is when you know that you’ve nailed your engagement session. This session will likely be at least an hour out of your day, plus you’ve likely booked hair and makeup to celebrate this session together. Plan ahead and make it a date!! Bringing props to the session can help make it feel like a date, or bring champagne to pop. Additionally, you could also make a reservation at your favourite restaurant in town after your session to talk about all the fun moments that you share at your session together!

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Take it Easy, and Have Fun!

In order to take it easy and have fun, you’re going to want to take a few things into consideration when nailing your engagement session. Engagement sessions are meant to be fun! The most common thing I hear from couples before a session is this, “because of a bad experience in the past, they don’t like taking photos or don’t think they’ll be good at it.” By the time we’re done, they can’t believe how fast it went and just how much fun they had!

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Need some engagement outfit inspiration? Check out my Pinterest Board

Want to hear from other couples: Check them out here!

Interested in booking your wedding and want more information: Contact Me Here

For even more resources: Check out the Blog