Aug16
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Newly engaged! Here’s what to wear for spring engagement pictures!
Hi there A Foodie Stays Fit readers–– Hannah here, Teri’s assistant! Today I’m popping on to write a guest post that I’m really excited about: what to wear for spring engagement pictures.
I got engaged on Christmas Eve this past year (I know, so sweet) and immediately started planning my wedding. And when I say immediately, I mean we had a date, photographer, and venue before NYE and I had my dress the next week. I’m the girl that’s been planning her wedding since she was 12 and watches wedding videos on YouTube in my free time just for fun.
We’re getting married in October, so we have a good bit of time left to go, but one of my favorite things about this season of life so far is that I get to stretch the celebrations out for almost a full year! I’m a sucker for milking this season for all that it’s worth. That brings me to today’s topic: engagement photos. And this post is coming at an ideal time since we got our gallery back last week!
Another thing you should know is that I do a little photography on the side, and that meant I had big visions for my own engagement photos. These are also the tips I give my clients! Okay, enough backstory –– let’s jump in!
His shirt | His pants | His shoes
His shirt | His pants | His shoes
What To Wear For Spring Engagement Pictures
First of all, you simply can’t beat spring photos. The lighting is so beautiful and the colors are SO vibrant which make spring photos the best option in my opinion. Lots of people like to use engagement photos for their save the dates as well, so if you’re getting married in the fall like us, spring is right on par with when you’d be sending those out. We opted not to use our photos for save the dates, but spring was still when we wanted to take them. (Teri has told me she wished her engagement photos were in spring since she was super sweaty during hers – ha! But they turned out beautiful still!)
Here’s what to think about when choosing your outfits:
Bring two outfits: one formal, one casual
Talk to your photographer about your options for outfit changes. I recommend at least two outfits and two locations, if not a few more. Plan one formal and one casual outfit. For formal, think along the lines of a suit for him and dress for you. For casual, take it down a notch. Either khakis or nice jeans for him and jeans or a more casual dress for you. Having both options gives you a fun range of photos. It’s almost like two separate photoshoots, but you’re knocking them out at once.
My Formal Outfit Picks for Her
My Casual Outfit Picks for Her
My Formal Outfit Picks for Him
My Casual Outfit Picks for Him
Wear a color that makes you glow
Colors are important for photos. You want to choose colors that make your eyes light up and that make you “glow”. There is nothing –– I repeat, NOTHING –– worse than looking washed out because you’re in a bad color for your skin tone. If you aren’t sure what colors look good on you, get an honest friend to shop with you. You want the colors that are going to be up near your face to make you pop. Save the other colors for your shoes or pants, but don’t wear them near your face.
Once you know what color you’re wearing, help your fiancé pick something to compliment it. I found my dress (from an Instagram ad, believe it or not) and that was the catalyst for the whole photoshoot. My dress was light blue so I knew I wanted him to wear a navy suit. If you’re wearing a dress with a pattern on it, make sure his outfit is simple and clean to complement it.
For our second outfits, I wore a white top with fun bows on the shoulders and blue jeans. He wore khakis and a blue button down.
Stick with classy, not trendy
It’s tempting wear a trendy, fun outfit, but since these are photos you’ll love for a lifetime, you’ll be glad you chose classic outfits instead of something that will date your photos. My goal was to have photos that were hard to date –– meaning I want to look at them and think about how sweet that time was, not how silly my outfit looked.
Save your cheetah print and headbands for your everyday outfits instead of engagement photos.
Stick to things that feel like “you”
Make sure you wear something you feel beautiful in. Don’t wear something that’s complicated to keep in place or you’re always having to adjust and fix. You’ll be in lots of different poses, so don’t wear something you have to think about the whole time.
We knew we’d be getting into a stream for some photos, so I was careful about wearing cheap and easy slide sandals for those. I wore my dream shoes for the formal photos. I had been wanting them for a few years and Teri actually surprised me with them a few weeks prior. She’s the best boss and friend of all time.
His shirt | His pants | His shoes
Use two different locations
Similar to my tip about bringing two different outfits, plan with your photographer to shoot in two different locations. For your formal outfit, think about downtown in a city, a rooftop, a restaurant, etc. Mason and I wouldn’t normally wear a suit and dress in an open field, so that wouldn’t have made sense for photos. However, Mason loves to fly-fish and that’s how he asked me to be his girlfriend, so we wanted to include a “nature-y” with our casual outfit! Looking back, our session was sort of “his and hers”. (Another fun location example, Teri and Tommy considered doing some of their photos on the golf course since they love playing together, but the timing didn’t work out! )
We did the formal part of our session in a wine bar and then did photos in the woods and in a stream in our casual outfits. I’m completely obsessed with both looks.
His shirt | His pants | His shoes
Bonus Tip: Make fun plans for after your photos
Since you’re already dressed up and you’ve been all lovey-dovey for your photos, make sure to do something special after! Make a reservation at a nice restaurant or plan a special date. Typically the guy is a little less excited about taking engagement photos, so a little bribery never hurts.
Our photographer was Holly Schumpert and she’s crazy talented. You can see more of her work here and contact her here! Be sure to tell her you found her through this post 🙂
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