Wedding

Planning The Perfect Engagement Photoshoot

One of the top things that I’ve heard a lot of brides say they regret were not doing any engagement photos.

Being engaged is such an exciting time and photos reflecting that time is a must! For me it was just as important as my wedding photos. I knew I would be displaying these pictures forever so I wanted to make sure I planned it perfectly. Also, we planned on having our son who was 6 months old at the time in some of the pictures which made it even better.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

I was originally going back and forth with deciding if I was going to do it in a studio or outside, but every shoot I’ve done is always at a studio. So, I decided to switch it up and do it outside even though it felt like 150 degrees outside. After finding the Vizcaya museum and gardens in Miami, I just knew it was the right place. I mean look at it, it’s gorgeous!!! No matter what area we took pictures at, they literally look timeless.

WHAT TO WEAR?

I wanted the photoshoot to look classic and give a mini-preview of the wedding. So, I knew I wanted to wear white and Nick and Nicky to wear a tux. I chose the most perfect white wrap sleeve gown that I absolutely fell in love with. I did a classic smokey eye and a soft contour and highlight with a nude lip for makeup. For hair, we were originally trying to do the old Hollywood curl look, but the humidity wouldn’t let me be great! It was so hot the day of the shoot that it was impossible for Nicky and Nick to wear their tuxedo jackets, so they went without and I think it actually looked better.

WHAT TO YOU WITH YOUR ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS?

Prior to the photoshoot I knew I was going to hang my engagement pictures in my house, but I ended up using them for multiple different things. First, I decided to use them on my save the dates. Because I was using them for that I refrained from posting them on social media until after everyone got their save the dates because I wanted them to see it for the first time when they opened their envelope. Then, for the wedding I used them for my wedding table numbers. I chose to do them in black and white with a gold frame for the wedding tables with the table number in faded white. It came out super cute!

That’s why it was so important for me to plan this engagement shoot out prior because it gave me the ability to use the pictures in different ways!