I am SO excited to finally get to share our engagement photoshoot with you all! We had so much fun shooting with Shiloe Osborne and I am thrilled with how our Downtown Dallas photoshoot turned out! 
In preparation for these photos, I spent a good amount of time researching “engagement photo outfit ideas” on social media and found so much inspiration. But truly the one thing that I learned while doing research is that there are so many routes that you can take with these photos, but the most important thing to remember is that these photos are for Y’ALL and should directly represent you both as a couple over anything else!
Here is some advice when it comes to planning and preparing for your engagement shoot:
TALK WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
It is SO important to make sure that you schedule time up front with your photographer (whether over the phone or in person) to discuss your vision. Even if it is difficult for you to put into words exactly what you are wanting, sending in photos as “inspiration” can do wonders as well. You can find so much inspiration by searching “engagement photo outfits” on Pinterest- that’s what I did! By discussing your vision, you will also help put into words the look you will be going for outfit wise. If you truly cannot decide on what to wear, it never hurts to ask your photographer what they think shoots well in your location (i.e. flowy maxi dresses, jeans and a tee, etc.)
When you discuss shooting location, your photographer should also let you know around what time works with the location of choice. For example, if you are shooting lifestyle shots in a grocery store with your fiancé, you wouldn’t go on a Sunday evening with the rest of America, you’d go on a less- busy weekday most likely. You will want to figure out the date, time, and amount of shooting time you will get. The amount of shooting time is extremely important, and you should probably get it in writing before signing with any photographers because you will need to know how many outfits you will have time for. Most shoots are about 2 hours long and so most people select 2-3 outfits.
DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST SECOND TO PICK YOUR OUTFITS
I wish I could say I followed this rule, but I did not (oopsie haha) luckily it worked out for us but this is not always the case! I would aim to have your outfits picked out at least two weeks beforehand. This gives you time to make sure they fit appropriately/ get it tailored if it doesn’t/ etc. For me, I ALWAYS shop online. It’s quite rare for me to go shopping in-store because I seem to have such better look finding things online that in person thanks to the capability of filtering/ sorting products online. Stores truly give me anxiety haha. If you choose to online shop like I do, I recommend selecting stores that have easy return policies. Stores like ASOS are awesome at this- they even include a re-useable bag and return label in every purchase which is SO handy! That way, if you aren’t sure something will work for you, you can select to order several outfits, try them on when you get them, and return the items you dislike for a full refund. I do this all the time in my everyday life.
COORDINATE WITH YOUR PARTNER
I don’t care what anyone says, you should always coordinate your outfits for engagement shoots. Now you do not need to completely MATCH- just coordinate. There are two easy ways to do this. 1. Pick colors that you know look good together and that fit the season you are shooting in. 2. If one of you is wearing a pattern, have the other person select a color within that pattern to match and wear a solid. You don’t want too many patterns in a photo anyway because this can take away from the image itself. For us, I knew Zach would be wearing a navy and white gingham print button up, so I opted for a white (color in the print on his shirt) linen dress. I also knew he would have on khakis so I chose to wear nude heels to match that. You never want to look too matchy-matchy or else it will start to look cheesy in my opinion. Also- never wear super loud patterns or neon to your shoots, I learned this from our photographer!
DO ONE DRESSIER LOOK + ONE CASUAL LOOK
Obviously this can go many ways- you can choose to wear formal attire, semi-formal, etc. But I think its important to have at least half of your photos taken in nicer clothing (if you don’t personally want to do them, do them for your mother and your grandmother who will love them). The other look can be as casual as a t-shirt and jeans (like us!) or even a nice blouse and jeans. It’s all in what vibe you want your pics to have!
Our first photo shooting location we wore semi-formal attire but for our second outfits, we knew we wanted to stray a little out of the norm and go for ultra-casual attire. I knew ripped jeans and black on black probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea for engagement outfits, but I wanted the photos to reflect us. We are laid-back, easy-going people and I wanted some of our pics to show that about us so Zach wore an Untuckit tee and jeans and I wore a black tee, black-gray distressed jeans, and snake print sandals because that’s 100% us!
Make sure you are comfortable too in whatever outfits you choose because the last thing you want to worry about is having to pose in a certain way because you don’t like how your legs look in the dress you picked out or constantly pulling up you top that keeps draping too far down. Wear what makes you feel good.
HAVE FUN WITH IT
I see/hear so often couples that settle for studio style/ prom posing photos. This is great if you are into that kind of thing, but I highly recommend having FUN with it. You will keep these photos forever and odds are they will probably be used for your save-the-dates/ will be featured at your wedding. You want people to say, “wow these are so fun and creative- I love this idea!” and sometimes that comes with taking risks. The first people I told that Zach and I took engagement photos on top of a parking garage were so confused lol… because it DOES sound weird, but they turned out SO COOL in my opinion. Your photos, as I said before, should reflect who you are as a couple and that’s exactly what Zach and I went for.
Zach and I spent some time discussing where we would want our photos taken. We played around with the idea of doing it out in nature as well as some other options but we knew that we wanted to feature Dallas (aka the first place we have called HOME TOGETHER) and so that’s how we picked the first location (with help from our amazing photographer too of course). The second location was chosen by our photographer and she did a great job. It was very plain and industrial, but dang did it make for some good pics!
There’s plenty of ways that you can make a location/ outfit reflect you. Wear college jerseys of the college you both attended, take pics at the location of your first date- just have FUN WITH IT!
LAST PIECE OF ADVICE
If you didn’t listen to anything else I said above, I hope you at least hear me out on this… enjoy this time together. You don’t want to look back at your photos and think “wow this day was awful” or “what were we thinking?” Plus if you aren’t having a good time/ aren’t happy to be there it WILL reflect in your photos. You will look stiff and unhappy and that’s not what you want to achieve after spending so much money on professional photos. This is your day, live it up and laugh it off, and enjoy each other because you are going to remember this day for the rest of your life!
Let me know your ideal engagement shoot below and any other advice you have for others when planning an engagement shoot!
Xox- Lauryn