You’re excited about your engagement session, getting some fun and pretty pictures of you and your fiance, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t feel a little overwhelming to plan, right? I’ve been on the other side of the camera, and I understand what it feels like! My brides frequently request recommendations of what to wear for their engagement session, so I’m compiling all my best tips in this post.
How to choose and coordinate colors for your engagement session outfits
I recommend selecting lighter colors in muted tones because they are so flattering. As a general rule, super bright colors can be distracting from your face, and can also reflect colored light on your skin in the sunlight.
Instead of trying to match each other, focus on coordinating your outfit colors. Pick a color scheme and stick with it. For example, perhaps your fiance is wearing khaki pants with a navy blue chambray shirt, so you wear a floral print dress that contains some of that blue color in the flowers. You’ll want to avoid wearing clashing patterns. One way to add interest to solid fabrics instead of introducing a print is to have different texture fabrics. A muslin dress or shirt is absolutely my favorite because of the interest it adds with its texture.
You can check out my board of outfit inspiration here!
How many outfits to bring for your engagement session
Most of my couples bring two different outfits to their engagement session. This can be great especially if we use two different style locations. I recommend one outfit being your “cute but casual date night” outfit, and the other being a little more dressed up. Dressing up for your photos will take them to the next level! I would especially recommend long, flowy dresses and skirts because they bring extra movement to the photos and look amazing on camera. (Great places to shop for dresses: Rent the Runway, Morning Lavender, Lulus, Bella Ella Boutique) I know sometimes one of you enjoys dressing up more than the other, so just make sure you are matching each other in levels of formality.
Example of two different possible outfits:
First Outfit:
Him: Button-up dress shirt, sport coat, dress pants, dress shoes
Her: Dress with a long, flowing skirt, heels, and a statement piece necklace.
Second Outfit:
Him: nice jeans or khaki pants with a relaxed top
Her: Shorter casual dress, heels or wedges OR jeans with dressy top
Pro tip: this might be a great time to try out your makeup for the wedding!
A few more thoughts
- If you need some inspiration on locations, check out this list!
- When selecting your shoes, keep in mind your heights when standing next to each other. Choose shoes that make you most comfortable (if you do plan to bring heels, you might want to also throw in some comfy slip-on shoes as we tend to do a lot of walking)
- Be creative with layers and accessories–a sport coat for him, a cute hat for her, a vest, etc.
- Don’t forget to clean your ring! It’s going to get special attention in your pictures!
- Be creative if you want! This could be as simple as bringing a flower bouquet or picnic basket filled with chick-fil-a, or more extravagant like planning a sunrise session on the water in a rowboat, an apple picking session in an orchard, coffee shop pictures…..
My goal is that this will be a fun time to create a memory together as you’re in this engagement season. If you want, make it into a date night! Don’t stress about your outfits–the most important thing is for you to feel comfortable and like the way you look in your outfits, so realize that these are just recommendations. As always, if you’re a current client, I’m here to answer any questions and talk through anything with you, so just text or email me. If you’re interested in booking a session, let’s talk!
