5 Tips for Stunning Engagement Session Outfits | Utah Wedding Photographers

One of the biggest stresses for our couples when they are preparing for their engagement session is the question of what to wear? Engagement session outfits add a lot to a picture and they can really enhance an image or take away from an image. But choosing outfits doesn’t have to be stressful at all! Here are a few tips to help!

1. One or Two, It’s up to you!

Most of our brides that choose two engagement session outfits will bring one “wow” dress and, and then another shorter sun dress or cute outfit with pants for a more casual “us on a date” look. But if you want to bring two “wow” dresses and forgo the more casual look altogether, give yourself permission to do it! The camera loves more formal apparel and so do we!

Remember, though, you don’t have to bring two looks if it’s too stressful or you’d rather just stick to one fabulous look. If you go for just one outfit, aim for a classy dressier outfit rather than casual jeans. So, one or two outfits? It’s really up to you!

2. Choosing the rights colors or patterns

When you’re thinking about the colors you want to choose for your engagement session outfits we recommend selecting lighter tones and more muted shades. By avoiding ultra-bright, bold colors, it will help bring all the attention to your faces and let the eye focus on the way you feel about each other. The camera loves shades of soft pink and muted blues, mixed with sophisticated light neutrals like heather gray, creams, gold, leather brown and white. That softer color palette fits beautifully into almost all natural outdoor environments, and especially complements the mountains and fields in Utah.

If you are looking at button up shirts for your fiancé that have a pattern, larger patterns photograph better than tiny checkered patterns do. There’s a thing called chromatic aberration that happens when a camera takes a picture of patterns that are small and close together. It’s a photographer’s nightmare to try to fix. It’s always better to go with a solid color button up than one with tiny square patterns.

3. Coordinating outfits

As your putting together and coordinating  your outfit with your fiance’s, keep in mind that your outfits will look the best and most consistent on camera when the color palettes coordinate, but don’t necessarily “match.” For example we wouldn’t recommend both of you trying to find the exact same color of shirt; rather maybe you wear a cream colored skirt while your fiancé has a cream colored tie.

 

4. Accessorize, Accessorize!

Scarves, necklaces, earrings, or fun shoes are all super cute, and add a lot to your pictures! They photograph well and layering is always a win and a great look!

5. Flattering and Your Style

This is something that is so easy to forget, but make sure you find colors and styles that are flattering to your figure and your skin tones. If you don’t like the way you look normally in a strapless dress or in polka dots, then you aren’t going to like the way you look in your pictures. For example, I wouldn’t personally feel comfortable in a mini skirt because I’m so pale that it would take weeks of tanning lotion to make sure that my legs weren’t translucent! It’s just something I know and have come to terms with in life. Make sure you are comfortable and that you feel like yourself!

Honestly, choosing engagement session outfits should be fun and not something to stress about for your session. We have more advice about what to wear and what to expect in the engagement session style guide that we gift to our couples. After our couples choose their outfits, their job is pretty much done and the rest of the work is up to us! Engagement sessions are one of our favorite portions of the wedding experience and we like to have a lot of fun! So just take these tips and see what you can come up with!