Bringing Your Pet To Your Engagement Session | Minneapolis Wedding Photography | Tips for Brides

I LOVE animals and I know I am not the only one! I love cuddling with my two cats who I swear have two goals everyday : one- must eat the moment their humans wake up and two- keep their humans lap warm! No complaints from me!(said human)  

Pets are part of the family! So I understand when you want to have them in your engagement photos; I have a couple of tips to make your fur babies photography experience great!

Bring a third party to look after your animal once they are done with photos! Majority of the time  your animal will only be in 1/3 of your totally engagment session. The other 2/3 of the time you want to focus on just you too and nothing with take up more time and attention then a cute distracted bored animal! To keep your focus on you having a third person their will keep everything running smoothly! 

It doesnt just have to be your dog in the photos. Dogs are the most common for sessions but you are welcome to bring any pet that you want to incorporate into your photos ! For bigger animals like horses it may be easiest to plan on going where they are housed over bringing them to your engagement spot ! 

Have treats at the ready. A photo session is exciting for even the most well behaved of animals. Having their favorite treat will help keep them motivated and help me to get their attention when he is the star of the photo!  

Bring a leash for all animals! Nothing would be more horrifying than losing an animal during the session! When we are out shooting in public, it is new territory for your pet and that can be intense for any animal. To make sure their fears and uncertainties don't cause them to flee , play on the safe side and put them on a leash or a harness to grab them at a moments notice if they get too overwhelmed.  If your pet is new to the harness definitely have them wear it a couple of times around the house to get used to it before the shoot! It is one less thing to trigger stress on the day of the shoot!

Same Tips Apply for the Wedding Day! <3

Do you have any helpful tips to add? Please leave a comment below to fill us in on things I over looked!  

Lebanon Hills Park Engagement Photography | Katelyn & Ethan

Katelyn and Ethan meet through various lunches with mutual friends at Marantha Baptist University! It took some smooth moves but Ethan eventually asked for Katelyn's number.  After talking and getting to know each other Ethan came to realize that he was enjoying his time with Katelyn more and more. He chalks it up to witchcraft! 

 During their last Christmas break, Ethan was visiting Katelyn. Not only would they be celebrating Katelyn's Birthday (Dec. 31st) but also their 1 year anniversary! (Jan.1st) Between Christmas and new years Riverside Park in La crosse, WI annually hosts a large Christmas display. Due to Katelyn's strong love of Christmas lights, they decided they would go on her birthday! In the warm glow of twinkle lights, they walked around reminiscing over their favorite parts of the year. As midnight approached they made their way over to the light house display ( Katelyn loves lighthouses). The clock was just about to welcome a new year, when Ethan got down on one knee and asked Katelyn to marry him. Katelyn said "he timed it just right so he could tell people he had to wait until the next year for his answer!"  She of course said yes!

They are looking forward to a fall wedding this year! Until then please enjoy Katelyn and Ethan's sun soaked engagement session at Lebanon Hills Regional Park!!!