Picking the perfect engagement photo session outfit can feel like a daunting task, but with these handy tips, it’ll be a breeze!
Your engagement photo session should be a light-hearted little intro to your wedding day photography experience. An opportunity to capture a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and get some possibly much needed practice in front of a professional camera. But however less formal, or fun your engagement session is, your outfit should still demand careful consideration.
The pictures taken during your shoot will inevitably be used for invitations, wedding day stationery, and save-the-date cards. Therefore, choosing the perfect outfit/s for your engagement session should be high on your agenda right now. Whether that means throwing on a cosy old sweater you’ve worn and loved for years. Or heading to the mall to shop something new. It’s important to find an outfit that feels like you.
Before you climb into your closet or head for the car, consider my expert photographer tips on what to wear (and what not to wear) for your upcoming engagement session.
How to Choose an Outfit for Your Engagement Session
Wear Something that Feels Like You
If you are not comfortable in your outfit during your engagement session, you won’t have a successful experience. Your discomfort will come across on camera and create awkward looking photos. Not what you want.
Some people feel at ease in their sneakers and a T-shirt, while others love to get dressed up. Don’t force yourself to wear something that doesn’t feel right, and make sure your partner knows that too.
Complement, Don’t Match
Unless you’re going for some kind of cute, kitsch vibe, matching outfits is never a good idea. Wearing the same colour or print typically looks really posed, and not relaxed at all. Obviously, there are exceptions, especially if you want more of a formal look. But in general, it’s best to work with your partner to find an engagement session outfit that complements one another.
Maybe look for a colour that both of you can accent your outfits with. Or simply try to find a coherent theme.
Don’t Wear Overpowering Colours
Wearing bright oranges, greens, and blues will often create quite a distracting look. Not ideal when you want all the focus to be on your engagement, not some garish outfits.
Instead, opt for neutral colours and tones that can be easily coordinated further down the line, for instance, on your save the dates. As I mentioned, photos from an engagement session are great for wedding stationery, and your wedding website. So choose colours and patterns that will go with your future theme for the big day. Or at least pick tones that are neutral enough to go with anything. If you want to wear something bright, go for an accent accessory, rather than a whole item of clothing.
Think Timeless, Not On-trend
Don’t look back on your engagement session outfit in years to come, and think, why? Fashion is constantly involving, and what you think is cool right now, might not even be on-trend by the time you tie the knot! Choose styles, cuts, and garments that you know will not look dated in a few years time.
Choose More Than One Outfit for Your Engagement Session, But No More Than Two
Some couples treat their engagement session as more of a fashion show than a celebration of their love. Often arriving with an entire rail of garments to change into. Avoid being a Lady Gaga, and stick to just two outfits. That way, you’ll have one that’s maybe more casual, and one that’s a little smarter. But equally, they can be whatever kind of outfit style you want.
Having two outfits should be more than enough to work with, and it’ll stop you from wasting time changing, when we should be capturing your love story!
Coordinate Your Makeup Trial with Your Engagement Shoot
If you’re getting married locally, then it’s a great idea to combine your beauty trial with your engagement session – killing two birds with one stone! You’ll get a professional look for your photos, and you’ll get to test out whether your hair and/or makeup artist is right for you.
It may feel weird at first to wear so much makeup etc, if you’re not used to it. But your hair and beauty artist will be adept at creating a look for camera, which will be different from your everyday look. Don’t reject it out of hand straight away, wait until you see the finished photographs. Then you’ll see how the makeup photographs, and why they do what they do. Show them your engagement session outfit choices too, as they’ll keep the style of them in mind when creating your look.
You might not like the look your hair and makeup artist creates for your engagement shot, and that’s OK. Because you can do another session if you’d like, but you can’t get married all over again. That’s why it’s important to know you love the look.
I hope this quick guide has inspired, and maybe helped you pick out the perfect outfit for your engagement session. It would be an honour to continue guiding you, and actually become a part of your wedding team. As a wedding photographer, I have shot over 300 weddings, not just in Kitchener/Waterloo, but all over the world. And every photograph I’ve taken was with the upmost care for my couples, and enormous pride at being able to capture such a timeless memory for them.
You are welcome to browse my various portfolios, and if you like what you see, please take a look at my packages page, where you’ll find a breakdown of my investment services. For any questions, or queries about pricing, or anything at all, feel free to get in touch via my contact page.
Picking an engagement session outfit can feel like a daunting task, but with my years of photographer experience, I hope to make it feel like a breeze!
