You hired your Seattle Engagement Photographer, your portrait session is scheduled, and now you’re at the point of trying to find out what the heck you’re going to wear. Do not worry, you’re in the right place! I’ve put together a few guidelines so you can be sure that you and your fiance will look amazing while making sure your images is focused on your love for your Seattle Engagement session!
Full disclaimer, I’m not the biggest fashionista. If I could, I would probably wear jeans and a hoodie all day so there’s a pretty good chance you’ve got better style than I do. These tips are just what I’ve found to work best from trial and error from past shoots. They are only guidelines and not rules!
In the end you want your photos to look and feel like yourselves. Don’t feel like if you don’t follow these guidelines that your photos are going to suck. The most important thing is that you’re comfortable. If you’re comfortable, your photos will turn out AMAZING.
See below for tips on what to wear for your
Seattle Engagement Session!
- Bring Options: I always recommend this. Typically my couples and I discuss the options beforehand and they bring them to the session location. I’ll pick and pull from what you bring to change into for each location we shoot at. This way I can make sure that the outfits compliment the environment so that the focus is on you two.
- Make Sure It Makes Sense: Think about the conditions and locations we are going to be shooting in and plan around it. If we are going to be hiking around the mountains, bring shoes with good grip so that we steer away from the possibility of you twisting your ankles. We for sure don’t want that to happen. If we’re shooting on a sandy beach, it would look weird if you’re wearing heels because let’s be honest, it’d be pretty difficult to walk in them on the sand!
- Movement: It’s important that the materials you wear will keep you comfortable during the shoot not only for temperatures but also for being able to move around. When shooting with me, I have my couples move around quite a bit, so if you’re in brand new jeans that are stiff and tight you might be distracted during the shoot to make sure everything stays in place.
- Colors: Like I said before, you do not have to follow this guideline completely. You can totally wear hot pink to your session if you want to! But as I’ve experienced from previous sessions, I found that neutrals and earthy tones work the best. Neutrals doesn’t mean just grays and browns, there’s neutrals of every color: mustard yellow, forest green, navy blue, burnt orange, etc.
- Patterns: Avoid big, loud, chunky, crazy patterns. The smaller or more subtle, the better! If the pattern is too loud, it will distract from your faces. I usually try to avoid pairing too many patterns together because, you guessed it, it makes the photos feel a little hectic and distracting from your faces and the location. Also, be sure to iron your clothes before so there’s not huge wrinkles distracting from your faces either!
- Props: When I think “props”, my mind flashes through all of the cringe-worthy Pinterest photos I’ve seen of cheesy chalkboards and Hobby Lobby props. But props don’t have to be cheesy! Props could be a picnic, your cute dog (if you have a dog and don’t bring them to your session, I will be upset), a truck/car, a campfire, etc.
- Hair & Make-Up: A lot of my brides ask me whether or not they should get their hair and make up done for their session, and my answer is always “whatever will make you feel best, do that.” If you want your make up done, definitely do that. It’s also the perfect opportunity for you to do a trial session with your HMUA. But (there’s always a but) I’ve had sessions where my brides are wiping off their makeup and taking out 500 bobby pins because it didn’t feel like them. Whichever route you take, just remember that it’s important that you feel confident like Beyonce always.
I hope these tips helped give you an idea about what to wear for your Seattle Engagement Session! Remember, these are just tips and not rules! The most important thing is that you feel comfortable and confident!
If you have any questions, please feel free to send a quick email to my inbox! And if you’re wanting to book a session, head on over to my contact page. I would love to be your Seattle Engagement Photographer!
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