What to Wear for Your Engagement Photos

If you are like most of our clients, figuring out what to wear for your engagement photo shoot can be difficult. You want to look good and not clash with your partner, but you still have no clue. We completely understand. We’ve compiled some tips on what to wear for your engagement photos and hope this will help you in the process of choosing the perfect outfits. You’ll find some tips on what to wear, what NOT to wear, and some other fun tips and tricks that we’ve acquired over the years. It’s something that we share with all of our couples and they’ve found it so helpful, we thought we’d write about it here and share it with others!

To Wear

1. Wear something you feel comfortable in. The most important thing is to feel comfortable! When you’re comfortable, you’re more relaxed and that means more natural looking photos.
2. Bring two outfits for both you and your partner.
 This will add a lot of variety to your photos. We suggest you bring one casual outfit, and one dressy outfit.

*Example: For women, your first outfit could be your favorite jeans and a cute top, and your second outfit a cute dress. For Men, jeans and a nice t-shirt and for the second outfit, a button up dress shirt (or nice sweater) and dress pants.

1. Coordinate your outfits, but don’t wear matching ones (this isn’t the 80’s anymore;) You want your outfits to complement each other. We recommend staying with complementary colors or palettes. Earth tones, jewel tones, pastels, etc.

*Example: If you’re planning on wearing a floral design, have your fiancé wear a solid shirt in one of the colors in the print you are wearing. If you’re both in prints, it will look too busy.

1. Don’t be afraid to layer and accessorize. Layers add depth and character to your photograph. Don’t be afraid of necklaces, earrings, or bracelets either! Bring a variety of necklaces, scarfs, sunglasses, hats, whatever you love to wear. It should represent you!
2. Bring some flats to walk around in. 
If you’re planning on wearing heels, definitely bring flats or flip flops with you so you can easily walk around when we’re moving locations.

What NOT to wear:

1. Don’t wear bright white or black matching shirts or matching khakis
 (unless you are layering with those colors) You don’t want parts of your body to blend with those of your significant other!
2. Stay away from large prints and large stripes. They will take away from the photograph and we want to focus on you. Large stripes (especially horizontal ones) make you look bigger than you are.
3. Tops with big logos or text of any kind
4. Shirts with short hemlines and mid-rifts showing. Dress for your body shape.
5. Super short skirts or shorts
6. Exact matching outfits. Look coordinated, not matching.
7. Baggy clothes. Make sure your clothes aren’t too baggy or too tight. If your clothes are too baggy, you’ll look bigger than you really are and messy or sloppy. When things are too tight, undergarment lines will show up extra in photos!

Embrace

1. Jeans. Jeans tend to photograph really, really well
, plus they are comfortable!
2. Cute dresses. Ones with small tight-knit patterns, lace, and stripes photograph well so do long, flowy dresses!
3. Bright, solid colors. Rich colors can really separate you from the background, especially if we’ve discussed shooting in any very green, outdoorsy locations
. (i.e. a golf course or green mountain meadow)
4. Accessories. This is the perfect time to play with coordinating your jewelry with your outfits so add some fun and bring what you love!
5. Layers (did I mention layers?) Scarves, jackets, sweaters, etc., all really pull an outfit together and help make a photo more interesting and compelling to look at.

Other Tips

1. Make sure you have your outfits picked out at least a week before your shoot. This ensures you’re not stressing out at the last minute and that have time to make a run to the store for anything that you may need.
2. Try on all the clothes. Make sure your partner tries on his or her clothes too so they are comfortable with what they are wearing, everything fits, and you can see that the outfits go together.
3. Always bring a cardigan or cute jacket. For tighter tops (or sleeveless tops/dresses), always bring a cardigan or cute jacket for layering. Layers always win!
4. Hire a professional to do your makeup. Many of our clients do their own makeup, but having a professional do it will make sure that you are camera ready. If you are having your engagement photos done, try to have your makeup trial the day of your shoot!

We hope these tips on what to wear for your engagement photos are helpful in your quest for the perfect engagement photo outfits! If you have questions or concerns, contact your photographer or even that fashion forward friend who knows your style to a tee. Be yourself and you can’t go wrong. (Unless you live in yoga pants or sweats, then maybe have someone help you) Happy styling!!

Makeup Artists I recommend (most travel anywhere):

Breckenridge: Majestic Mountain Beauty, Weemala Breck

Denver Area: Beauty On Location Studio, Kim J Beauty, Divine Beauty Artists

Vail: Kacee Picot