Let me paint a picture for you: You just got engaged and you are so excited. Wedding planning is going pretty smoothly and you are quickly checking vendors off your booking list, picking out your wedding party, and making all those early decisions that make the wedding vision start to come to life. Now you start to create a wedding website and preparing to send out Save the Date cards and you need some photos for it. You start scrolling through old Facebook photos and the Instagram posts you put up celebrating your engagement. The photos are okay, but they don’t really capture the love and emotion that would be perfect for your website or that perfect Save the Date card that you want to send to family and friends.

Sounds like it is time for an engagement session! So you book your session with your photographer (shameless plug: all Samantha Coyle Photography wedding packages come with an engagement session included) and then you turn to your fiance and think “what the heck are we going to wear?” So you start digging through your closet and scrolling thru websites trying to find the perfect outfit. Okay….don’t panic!! Here are my tips for picking out that perfect outfit!

Tip #1: Location, Location, Location!

Indoors or outdoors makes a difference as well as the weather when determining your outfits. Consider things like the terrain of the location. If your location has a lot of stairs or traveling over rough terrain, you may want to do a shoe that is easier to walk in or bring a back up pair for in between shots.

Tip #2: What’s your favorite season?

Warm and romantic spring and summer engagement portraits are awesome, but winter shots can be just as fun too. If you want those cozy and cuddly winter portraits, think warm sweaters and long flowing skirts or warm pants. Also, be sure to pack a warm jacket that you can easily put on and take off between photos to stay warm. You can also add a blanket that you can use for images to get close and snuggle with your love.

Tip #3: Embrace your unique love story!

I always recommend that couples plan two outfits. One that is a more formal to give them the romantic and luxurious photos and one that is more casual and fun that tells their love story. Think about all those awesome things that the two of you have in common. Did you fall in love over your mutual love of a band and catch all their concerts? Maybe incorporate your favorite t-shirt from the last concert you went to together. Are you hard-core sports fans and plan your life around catching every game? Get matching jerseys with your new last name or “Save” and “The Date” as the names on the back with your wedding date as the number. Did you both meet in college and want to show off your school pride? Dig up that old team jacket or club shirt and rock those for some goofy and fun poses. Adding these personal elements makes your images that much more unique and perfectly describes your love story.

Tip #4: Think about coordinating outfits, but not matching outfits.

It can be very tempting to wear the exact same thing as each other to make sure there is no clashing and it makes decisions easier, but having outfits that are too matching can look strange in engagement photos. Decide on your color palate and build your your first outfit, then compliment it with the second outfit. Also, don’t forget to deck out that awesome furry friend.

Tip #5: Take hints from your past.

You two have been together for a while and have taken lots of photos together. You also probably have a lot of images that make you smile because of how fantastic you look and feel in a certain outfit. Find all the times when you were the most happy and the most confident and bust those outfits out or use them as a springboard for ideas to find the perfect look.

Tip #6: Themed Wedding? Themed Engagement Session!

Are you having a cool theme for your wedding? Getting married on a specific date that leads to an awesome theme? Are you busting out your American spirit for 4th of July or embracing your inner princess for a Disney themed wedding? Bring that theme into your engagement photos. Not only will this help with consistency throughout your wedding process, but it will make it easy to make an awesome save the date card with your images that will fit in perfectly with your invitations, wedding, and more.

Everyone has their own unique style that makes them feel confident and fabulous. I hope these tips help you nail your engagement outfits and if you ever need extra help, my inbox and phone are always open! Happy planning!