Choosing Your Outfits

You can wear just about any color under the sun! You might pull in your wedding colors if you plan on using your photos at your wedding, choose colors that work with your home decor if you plan to hang them on your walls, stick with colors you naturally wear, or simply pick colors you absolutely love.

One thing to keep in mind is how your outfit colors will look against your location. You want to stand out from the background, not blend into it. If we're heading to the desert, be careful with lots of tans and beige. For red rock locations like Papago Park or Sedona, too much dusty pink or rust can start to blend into the landscape.

You don't need to perfectly contrast the background, but choosing colors that stand out from your surroundings will help keep the focus on you.

There is no rule for how dressed up you need to be for your engagement session. If you love an excuse to get fancy, go for it! If a suit or cocktail dress is not your vibe, you absolutely do not need to wear one.

Think about taking your normal style up a notch or two. If you usually live in jeans and band tees, that might mean your favorite jeans with a nicer top, a button-up shirt, or a casual dress. If you already love dressing up, your version might be a suit or a fancy dress.

Most importantly, choose something you feel good in and that still feels like you.

Patterns can look great in photos, but some photograph better than others. Simple patterns usually work best, while very small, busy, or high-contrast patterns can be distracting or photograph strangely. Tiny vertical stripes, for example, can do some seriously weird things on camera!

Keep your location in mind when thinking about patterns. If we are photographing somewhere with a lot going on (colorful murals or busy architecture), a bold pattern may compete with the background. Natural backdrops like the desert or forest typically have simpler backgrounds, giving us more room to play with patterns.

If you're not sure how a pattern will photograph, send me a picture, and I am happy to take a look!

Focus on coordinating your outfits instead of matching them. Think about both color and the overall style of your outfits. If one of you is wearing a sundress, the other might wear a button-up shirt, a cute flowy blouse, or a different style sundress.

For colors, choose pieces that work well together without wearing the exact same thing. You can pull a color from one person's outfit into the other person's accessories, choose different shades from the same color palette, or pair colors that complement each other.

Basically, you don't need to dress alike, but your outfits should feel like they go together.

Don't feel like you need to dress a certain way just because that is what you see in engagement photos on social media. Wear something that feels like you!

If you and your partner have different styles, you have a couple of options. You can each stick with your own style and find outfits that work well together, or meet somewhere in the middle and choose a look you both like.

Most importantly, choose clothes you feel comfortable and confident wearing.  When you feel good in what you're wearing, it is much easier to relax, have fun, and let your personality come through in your photos.

Figuring out what to wear can easily become one of the most stressful parts of planning your engagement session, but it doesn't have to be! You do not need to go out and buy a whole new outfit (or two!) just for your photos. Take a look in your closet and you might be surprised by what you already have hidden in the back. Or, if you want an excuse to pick up something new, go for it!

The tips below will help you put together outfits that photograph well and still feel like you. If you're stuck between a few options or aren't sure how something will photograph, send me a photo! I am always happy to weigh in.