Today is all about the Brides (and Grooms)! As engagement session (e-shoot) season quickly approaches, I wanted to educate all brides and grooms on ways to prepare for your e-shoot!

When you’re prepping for your engagement session, there are a few things to keep in mind. This is supposed to be a day full of fun!!! This day is for stress free portraits of you two in love!  On the wedding day we’ll be crunched for time, your dress won’t be able to get dirty and there won’t be time to chat and get to know one another.  Your engagement session is your chance to get to know me, get comfortable with how I work and have FUN in front of the camera. Now don’t get me wrong, your wedding day will be a BLAST! But I have found that my couples love the engagement session because they learn so much! My couples that have an engagement session are PROS by the wedding day and it shows!

Once you have booked your photographer, whether its me or someone else, you should decide when you would like to have your session done! I find that most couples like to do their session during the season opposite to their wedding (i.e. spring/fall or summer/winter). Once this is decided, you should also take your photographer’s schedule into consideration. For AK Brides, we typically book 2 months out! That means that if you want a session done in April, you should book no later than February! Last but not least, if you are an AK Bride, you should know that we typically only schedule e-shoots on weekdays due to our crazy weekend schedule!

Ok, so here are some steps to take to make sure that you’re 100% prepared for your engagement session! :

1. Outfits : It’s typical for couples to have two outfits, a casual look and a more formal outfit! My biggest word of advice is to remember to coordinate with your groom and not try to match too much! Also, avoid wearing small print as is hard to see. Last but not least, remember that bold jewelry, scarves, and colorful shoes photograph beautifully!

2. Preparing your Groom: This part is HUGE for brides to see! If I were a betting woman, my guess would be that you know your man better than anyone else! Which mean you probably know whether or not he’ll be much into having his picture taken! For most men, I can also guess the answer to that question. To add fuel to the fire, he probably has no idea what this kind of session looks like. He may assume that we will take a ew photos of the two of you looking at the camera and smiling and maybe a few of the ring and that’s all. So when I ask him to pull you in real close and “nuzzle” the top or your head or maybe go “nose to nose” with you and share a sweet kiss he may be completely thrown! BUT we can work together to help ease your fiancé’s mind! I want you to sit down with your man and share with him a few your favorite engagement sessions from your photographer! This will help him know exactly what he is walking in to!

3. Relax & Trust Your Photographer : When you begin to prepare for your e-shoot, remember that no-one expects you to be a pro! In fact, we hope you aren’t! It allows us to teach you exactly what it is that we are looking for! I work with real, everyday people all the time, hardly ever models! It’s completely normal for the first 20 minutes to be solely for warming up in front of the camera! So don’t be nervous, don’t over think things and HAVE FUN! You are going to do great and you both will look stunning! Trust your photographer and their creative eye to create beautiful portraits that you will cherish for years to come!

4. Be on Time: This is really important. What most couples don’t realize is that natural light photographers are 100% dependent on the sun and if their couples show up late, they will lose that amount of time during their session due to the lack of light. Now I realize that things happen beyond our control like massive amounts of traffic and accidents.  If at all possible, try to be on time so that you don’t lose any of your shooting time and pretty sunlight!

5. Location and Time: The best time to shoot any portraits is normally 2 hours after sunrise or 2 hours before sunset. This rule of thumb can be applied to any time of the year. When it comes to picking the location for your portraits, I love shooting engagements in locations that mean something to my clients! I understand that this isn’t always possible but I like to throw it out there just in case!

6. Hair, Makeup & Ring Cleaner: I have seen several brides opt to have their hair and makeup down for the engagement session as a test run for the big day! While it isn’t necessary, it gives you a good idea of what photographs well! If you want to do your own makeup, make sure you apply your eye makeup a little heavier than normal for your pictures. Last but not least, I will be taking a ring shot! So if your diamond could use a little cleaning, that would make it really SHINE!

I hope those tips were helpful! We can’t wait to photograph your engagement session and if you haven’t booked with AKP we so look forward to seeing your portraits!