Well, you’ve found the love of your life and you’re ready to take some beautiful photos documenting the love you have for each other! But now you’re wondering–what type of clothes should we wear for engagement pictures? What on earth are we going to wear?

I got you covered boo! This blog post is going to allllll be about what types of clothes to wear for engagement photos and how to ensure that your images a) reflect your personality and love story and b) how to look your very best.

First, let’s talk about why engagement photos are so important and why I offer them with every couple who books me!

During your engagement session, you’ll have the chance to get to know me, experience how I shoot and how I handle posing and lighting. This session will make a HUGE impact on how the wedding day flows. I’ll arrive on your wedding day already knowing how you two interact, what your best poses are and how to photograph you in a genuine way! What I will learn about you during your engagement session is invaluable. You’ll feel like such a pro on your big day because of the great practice you had during your engagement session, and that’s how it should be!

Selecting Your Outfit

Believe it or not, you have so much control over the outcome of your shoot and what it looks and feels like! What you choose to wear is a big decision that often causes a ton of stress for the bride beforehand. However, my hope is that with a little education, you will be able to determine style and feel you desire for your shoot and then that will make your outfit selection so much easier and less complicated! Lets start by de-bunking some very common outfit myths that a lot of people believe about what they should wear to their session!

OUTFIT MYTHS

1. MYTH ONE: Avoid neutrals, they wash you out! Whoever started this myth couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sure, there are some colors that don’t work for some people, but I spent a large majority of my life believing that I could never wear neutrals and I was missing out! The truth is, neutrals are the most photogenic color for portraits.

2. MYTH TWO: Always wear black or you won’t look thin! Sure, black is sliming, but it’s always very heavy in portraits. There is nothing wrong with black but if you’re only wearing it to look thinner and deep down you’re hoping for light and airy portraits, it may not be the best choice.

3. MYTH THREE: You two need to match! Please, for the love of all things beautiful, please don’t try to match your significant other! Instead, try to coordinate! Coordinating is a completely different concept from “matching”. Coordination means you are usually choosing different colors that look good together but are not close to being the same. I have some more tips about this concept in the following pages.

4. MYTH FOUR: Your location determines your style more than your outfit! False! Your outfit has way more impact than your location. Your location is just a setting in the background but you two will still be the main focus of the images.

5. MYTH FIVE: You have to buy something new! False! If you know you look awesome in an outfit that you already have and it fits the style you want for your engagement session, that would be the a great choice!

Now that we’ve talked about some outfit myths, let’s see some examples of beautiful yet simple engagement outfits in action!

Engagement Outfits In Action

Check out Ashley & Quang’s beautiful cherry blossom engagement session! Notice how Ashley complimented Quang’s dark blue dress pants with a light mauve flowy skirt. This combination is perfect because it helps bring out the brightness of the pink cherry blossom trees in the background and lends itself to a spring-time bright and airy vibe to their photos!

Check out Reem and Felipe’s beautiful Princes Island Park engagement session! They decided to do 2 different outfits to switch it up a bit. Notice how Felipe’s dark blue sport’s jacket is offset by the flowy, light colored sundress that Reem is wearing.

If you’d like more outfit ideas, feel free to check out my other engagement blog posts or stalk my Pinterest board here.

Final Thoughts

So to wrap up, here are your key takeaways:

Neutral Colors: Blushes, tans, light pinks, faint blues and light minty teals, creams, grays and whites will always result in more of a light and airy look in your images. These colors photograph softer and more romantically!

Long, Flowy Skirts/Dresses: Dresses and skirts with feminine ruffles, multiple layers of fabric and the ability to blow and move in the wind will always photograph beautifully! You would be amazed at how impactful moving fabric softens an image.

Khakis or Dress Pants vs. Jeans: If you really want your images to be as bright as possible, consider having your groom wear lighter pants instead of dark dress pants or dark jeans.

Colors to avoid: bright reds, bright oranges, neons (they reflect color onto skin and can be difficult to edit!)

Avoid patterns smaller than a quarter: Tiny patterns cause something called “Chromatic Abberation” in digital images. Men’s checkered shirts are fine if the “checks” are on the larger side.

Alternate Heaviness: If one of you is wearing very dark jeans, the other may want to wear lighter pants. If one of you is wearing a navy top, the other shouldn’t wear a dark/heavy colored top. To a certain degree, alternating the “heaviness” of your outfits can make your images look more balanced.

Avoid one of you being casual while the other is more dressy: This can look a bit awkward in photos. If one of you is dressed up and the other is casual, it can look a little odd in your images.

Other things to avoid: Tennis shoes, Cowboy boots/Cowboy hats, Swimming trunks or Basketball shorts, Graphic tees, Bold logos on shirts, Sunglasses & Baseball Hats.

Voila! Your perfect recipe for beautiful engagement photos is almost complete! The last ingredient is just the right photographer to make it all come to life 😉 like….oh…. say moi? 😂

Click on the link here to lock in your engagement session (and your wedding date too!)