This is the final installment in our series on engagement photography.
Deciding on what to wear to your engagement photography session is the final piece of the puzzle to creating an Enchanted Engagement Session, and has many considerations.
Style
Just like your location, your outfits should reflect your personalities. It’s important to feel comfortable and confident in them, and this will show in the quality of your pictures.
Flowing white shirts and khakis on the beach. Formal attire in jewel tones (rich color tones which resemble well-know gemstones and which have a high level of color saturation). You simply can’t go wrong with these tried and true looks. If you are looking to showcase your personality, feel encouraged to be your most stylish self! The cardinal rule of dressing for portraits is simple: choose items for the couple as if you were creating one outfit. If all of your choices were somehow on one person, would the result be pleasing, colour-wise? A handy trick for those who are hesitant to break away from the monochrome method is to choose one patterned item of clothing (e.g., a print dress for the woman) and then select the rest of the outfits from colours within that pattern. For more formal portraits, we recommend following the classics: simple solids never go out of style! The choice is entirely up to you.
Now that you know some basic tips, how do you out it all together? A good place to start is by defining the style sensibility you want your engagement session to reflect. Do you want to capture your typical style, or perhaps a more formal or casual version of that? Look at the furniture around your home, or notice the magazine spreads to which you are drawn. Chances are that these preferences have everything to do with your clothing style and can point you in the right direction for your engagement session wardrobe choices.
Accessories
A good rule of thumb is to think about creating simple and clean lines. However, if you have a piece of jewellery that has sentimental value, is a fashion statement, or something you just love, go ahead and wear it! If you are a person who likes to wear prominent jewellery with an understated outfit, this would look great on camera. Keeping one of either the clothes or jewellery understated is always the best look for the camera so that you don’t get lost in the picture.
Hair & Make-Up
A good recommendation is to coordinate your bridal makeup trial to be on the same day as your engagement session. This way you can have your glamorous wedding day look in your engagement photos. Professional makeup artists will know how to apply makeup differently for the camera. You’ll want a bit more drama and glamour to your makeup than usual, as it appears lighter in camera. Emphasize your best feature, bring your lipstick to reapply during the session, and you’ll love the final results! For your hair, it is always best to bring along any bobby pins, hairspray and combs, that you might need to retouch throughout the shoot in case a gust of wind hits or you feel your hair coming out of place.
If you normally don’t wear makeup, a good recommendation is to get a light application for the camera to bring out your features and even out skin tone. It’s a very good idea that you apply mascara or lipstick for the shoot to emphasize your features on camera more. If you have great eyes, a little brown liner and mascara will help to emphasize their beauty, and gives more structure to the way you appear on camera.
Playing with Color
Don’t be afraid to play with colour if it suits your personality. Bold, deep, rich jewel tones look amazing on camera. If you know you can wear pinks, then a bright fuchsia can work. If you wear oranges, a hot auburn tangerine color will make your pictures pop. A good idea is to wear something that compliments your skin tone: Warm or Cool. A test to see which skin tone you are is to first hold something gold next to your skin, then something silver, and see which one looks better on you. Gold means that you are warm toned, and silver means that you are cool toned. Find a colour palette that compliments your natural skin tone and have fun with the colour choice you make. Or, maybe you want just a small tint of colour and opt for purple heels or yellow shoes with a black dress? It’s all up to you! If colour is not your preference, then a structured black pant with a neutral top can work just as well. A final parting tip: vibrant colours that set off eyes and hair are always in fashion. Try red-heads in emerald solids, and blue shirts to make blue eyes sparkle.
Your Enchanted Engagement Photography Session!
If you follow the above tips, you are well on your way to creating an enchanted engagement photo session which will capture the special moments that make up your love story! Grayson Lee Photography is a professional wedding photography service which offers Timeless, Elegant and Romantic wedding and engagement photography. Please visit our website at http://www.byGrayson.com or contact us at 416-301-2750 or by e-mail at info@byGrayson.com to see how we may best serve you wedding and engagement photography needs. We would love to hear from you!