How to Prepare for Your Winter Engagement Session

Coming off of Christmas with shinny bling on your ring figure? With the pure excitement of the love of your life promising forever and a wedding on the horizon this summer, I wanted to share with you tips as you begin planing for your winter engagement session. 
A couple of weeks ago I had a brave couple who ROCKED their session. But here's the thing it was -12 degrees (Not including the wind chill). We planned on having a warm place to sit and literally thaw out. There was a local Dun Brothers that was willing for us to spend some time in their cute shop downtown before we went back out for photos. I wanted to share with you somethings to help you stay warm during your own winter engagement shoot!!

Plan on wearing layers. Layers will help you feel cozy and make you more comfortable as you and your love bear the cold together.

Bring a big jacket to wear in between locations. During your session there will be some down time when you and your photographer are walking around going from spot to spot. During this time having jacket that will give you the extra warmth you need will keep your engagement session more enjoyable. It will be easy to take off once the photos start clicking.

Pack something warm to hold in between. Bring hand warmers to sneak into your gloves or bring some hot coffee or hot chocolate to hold onto. It will add a little bit of fun detail to your session but also keep you warm.

Plan for the cold, embrace these tips to make your winter session more enjoyable by staying warmer!

What to Wear to Your Engagement Shoot

I have previously written 3 Ways to ROCK Your Engagement Shoot! here on the blog. Check it out for further tips to prepare you and your fiancé for your engagement shoot.
A common question to ask yourself before an engagement session is: "What should I wear?" To answer that I have written out a outline of things that your clothes should fit to make it a little easier to choose!
My MW couples can expect an average engagement session to last 1 to 1.5 hrs on average.  In that time plan on having two outfits. A clothing change eats into your overall shoot time, which in turn eats into valuable sunlight hours; changing into a different outfit takes up to 15- 20 minutes on average. Limiting the amount of changes gets you more time in your session, which gives you more photos!

Dress in something that makes you comfortable and confident!  You can visually see when someone is wearing something that it comfortable and likewise see when it's uncomfortable. The goal of your engagement session is to enjoy time with your love not be worrying about what you're wearing. Make sure that shirt you have kept a hold on to that hugs you in the wrong way stays at home.

When picking out your outfits keep your shoot location in mind. Dressing according to your location will help to choose clothes that carries on the photo story of  the day.  An example of this would be both of you wear cowboy attire in the middle of the city. Those two ideas clash and distracts.  You want to stand out from your background but not so much so that it takes away from your love story.  Keep the colors and patterns your style but subtle.  You want your love to pop in the photos not being drowned out by overly bright colors and patterns. Thinking of you location will also help which shoes to take. Nothing is more trying than walking through grass in your gorgeous stiletto heels! If you want to shoot in fields, grassy areas, or hike over rocks bring an extra pair of shoes to get to point A and B then change when you get there. This way you can still have picture perfect shoes in your photos.   

Hair and makeup tip: Try out your hair and makeup for your wedding at your engagement session.  This extra step will enable you to see the makeup and hair stylist skill at achieving your vision as well as seeing how well it photographs!

3 Tips to ROCK Your Engagement Shoot!

I am going to share with you a recipe that if done correctly your engagement session will go off without a hitch for both you and your photographer.

Be Comfortable : When you are uncomfortable in front of the camera, it shows BEHIND the camera. To help your session be pleasant, here are a couple of things that I promise will help. Choose your location of the E-session. If it is someplace that is familiar it will help you feel right at home. In some cases that may be your home, back yard, park nearby. If you both enjoy that location as a couple it will make it that much more special looking back at your photos. Choose clothing you know won’t make you self-conscious. We all have those pair of jeans that are not as forgiving around the midsection or you are constantly pulling up with every new pose. During your session, the last thing you want to be doing is constantly adjusting to feel more comfortable. On the same thought as clothing, let’s also address shoes. If you love your heels (a common love affair I share) make sure to pack a pair of flats to help walk from spot to spot. Know what works in your location! Heels are horrible in grassy fields, but in pictures you will work it! If you come prepared your feet won’t be killing you be the end of your session.

Be Confident: The best way to be confident is to be yourself. An Engagement session is all about you and your fiance, there is no one that has the same love story  as you two. Know that when worse comes to worse you will have each other! If all else fails have confidence in your love.

Have Fun: Stepping into a session can be a little awkward at first when you’re letting a stranger take over. Take a deep breath and give the reigns over to the photographer. The moment this is done you will be able to fully enjoy your time with your fiancé. For a lifestyle photographer, it is so important to capture a couple’s natural reactions. Another way to achieve a good time is going into your session with a good attitude and determination of having fun as a couple. Now, I know this sounds really obvious, but when you purpose in your heart to have a fun time, you will! This goes for your fiancé too.

One last tip to help your session run more smoothly, arrive on time. Being respecctful of your photographer's time is important and will help you both to start off on the right foot.

I hope that even in a small way this helps you to get ready for your photos!