Where the wedding day is all about the celebration, the time before you gear into full-on bride mode is a wonderful period of excitement all surrounding your love for each other. You’re simply focused on your recent engagement and your hopes and dreams together for the future. That’s one of the reasons I LOVE capturing couples in engagement sessions and couples sessions — it’s just the two of them, so I get to see their relationship and love for each other from front row seats.

For most of my clients, their engagement session pictures are their first time getting professional photos taken, so the unknown can make people a little nervous. I do my best to help every client feel at ease through our communication to the point where my engagement sessions are strictly fun and love and lots of natural posing.

One thing you can do to feel more comfortable and make sure your engagement photos turn out amazing is to intentionally plan your outfits before your engagement session. Today I wanted to share a few ideas to help you nail down the right things to wear so that you’re able to fully enjoy our time together and so you love the way your pictures turn out.

Before you start shopping, it’s important to remember the location of your shoot. I almost always shoot outdoors, so it’s likely that at some point we’re going to be running around a mountain or climbing something, so your outfit should be able to accommodate those frequent actions. To that point, I recommend you find good shoes for walking. Avoid high heels, and avoid wearing brand new shoes so you don’t ache with blisters and sore feet the next day.

Also, since we’re shooting outdoors, you’ll find that your pictures look best when you’re photographed in neutral clothing that complements the surrounding nature and environment. Avoid bright colors (hot pink, bright red) and stick to more “plain” colors (black, white, gray, brown, olive, navy, etc.). I promise you won’t be looking plain once you receive your photos! Neutral tones photograph the best, and they don’t distract or draw the eye, which allows your personalities and faces to shine as the thing viewers are most drawn to.

I love photographing movement, so not only should your clothing be comfortable and able to accommodate running around, climbing things, or hopping on one another’s shoulders, but you might be interested in wearing something flowy so the movement is further documented in the photos. Flowy dresses, wearing your hair down long, and loose sleeves are a great way for the movement and emotion of your engagement session to be captured through the photos.

Beyond that, I have just a few things to particularly avoid:

Patterns — a subtle floral design or simple pattern can be a nice element to include when planning your outfits, but avoid big or bright patterns or anything with too many colors in the design.
Matching — you want to coordinate, not match. Dressing in different neutral tones is a great way to make sure you’re all coordinated without wearing identical colors or outfits. If you do choose a colorful ensemble, make sure one of you is in a lighter or darker version of the same color scheme so you’re both cohesive and your outfits complement each other.
Dressing outside your comfort zone — while you definitely want to look nice for your session, you still want to look like you. Many of the clothes my couples wear come right from their own closets rather than buying something new, which I actually encourage if you can make it work! You’ll feel much more confident in clothes that you’re familiar and comfortable with.

If these tips were helpful and you’re in the market for an adventurous engagement photographer for your Utah engagement session, I’d love to be considered! I love to shoot all over northern and southern Utah and I have plenty of great locations in mind. I specialize in natural posing and prompts so my clients feel comfortable and relaxed the entire session and we always have a blast. Send me a message today to get on my calendar!