What to wear at your engagement shoot - Planning your perfect wedding experience

The thought of being in front of a camera can be intimidating or a frightening prospect if you aren’t used to having your picture taken, especially with a professional. With engagement photo shoots, whether you think you are photogenic or not, or, you are not sure how to look or pose on camera you’ll have a professional to guide you every step of the way!

The key for these photos is for them to appear as natural as possible but in a sleeker and more refined way and to show the love you both share. No doubt these will be photos that you will cherish years down the line. You may even be considering breaking the news of your engagement in this way!

Having an engagement photo shoot helps couples who may not be the most comfortable having their photograph taken, it exposes you to what it’s likely to be like on the wedding day meaning with a bit of luck and a friendly photographer, you’ll be relaxed come your wedding day.

These are my top tips to ensure you look your best and can be confident in front of the camera for your engagement shoot:

Be you, Be comfortable

Talking openly about your fears and worries with your photographer is great for you to get to know and be comfortable with the photographer. Your photographer wants you to love your photographs and will be happy to discuss any fears you have and tailor their style to your needs and comfort levels.

The more relaxed and chilled you can be around your photographer, the better your engagement photos will turn out and wearing clothing that feels like you will help bring across your true self. You will want to select clothing that will look nice and fit your body, looks great on camera but most importantly that is very much…..you! The clothing you wear for your shoot should have some consideration of the location and mood too.

Complementary but don’t clash

Having both you and your partner wearing matching outfits, or the same colour isn’t as cute as you may think, and sometimes it just doesn’t translate well on camera, unless you are thinking of wearing Christmas jumpers! However, at your engagement shoot it’s likely you’ll be taking a different approach.

Bold and striking colours like neon green or orange and big patterns or other distracting clothing aren’t ideal, so opting for more neutral colours is a better approach. The focus of your pictures will be on how happy you both are but looking your best certainly helps. Considering a colour scheme prior to your shoot is helpful for you to consider what colours work together and will translate well. Consider where you’ll be having your pictures too – if it’s in a park around wintertime you’ll probably look out of place in a cocktail dress! Similarly having pictures done in a professional studio with a white background, you may want to consider steering clear of white so as not to blend too much into the background. Your photographer will be happy to give some suggestions and show you past engagement shoots for inspiration. Check out Pinterest too – there will be lots of couple inspiration there. And yes, feel free to steer clear of matching outfits….David and Victoria are so 90s!

Timeless over some fad trend

This is a great tip for your wedding theme and photos too. These are memories and pictures you are going to look back on in years to come so try and steer clear of items of clothing and looks that are in trend. When you pick out clothing that is timeless you’ll ensure that even in 10 or 20 years you pictures aren’t dated. Fads come and go so be sure to pick out clothing that is well fitting and not particularly trend heavy and it will always look classic.

Create some interest and intrigue

When it comes down to the engagement photos having an outfit that you can work with, can do wonders and having detailing and textures is perfect for creating more depth to the images taken. Incorporating textures such as faux fur and leather. As well as incorporating items such as scarves, hats, gloves and other accessories can help elevate the photographs. It also means that you can get a few looks on the day – pictures with your jacket on, and jacket off, more cosy pictures with your hats and scarves and then it looks like a completely new shoot when you remove those layers. Don’t go too overboard with the accessories and make sure they don’t clash.

Outfits and Style Direction

Wondering how many outfits you need or what types of clothing you should possibly wear? Firstly ask your photographer. It’s likely they have you booked for a set amount of time and will know how best to utilise that time. You don’t want to eat into your photography time by getting changed too many times. My advice is to have two different outfits planned out and one more for backup, just in case.

Having your hair and make-up done can be a great treat to have before your big shoot and gets you ready to go through that treatment again on your wedding day. Your engagement ring is going to be pictured a lot – make sure you have a manicure so you can show it off with confidence.

Have fun!

Finally, and most importantly, trust your photographer! This is your photo shoot, and it is a time to have fun, let loose and enjoy the moment. Believing that you are about to have a good time will come across on camera!

I hope this blog post gives you useful advice and inspiration. Please get in contact if you haven’t found your wedding photographer yet.

Love and light, Victoria Louise.