With spring just around the corner, I wanted to share with you this month some of our super snowy engagement photos! If you had looked at my Pinterest board you could clearly see I was hoping for some sort of winter wonderland type of photos. Our wedding will be in the fall, but I figured winter would be a great time to take our photos. Did you take engagement photos before your wedding? Here are a couple reasons we decided to and what our experience was like.
First of all, I’m very big on photography. I’ve taken courses for film and digital photography throughout high school and college and use it daily in my graphic design. Taking photos may not be the top priority for everyone, but for me, I knew I wanted to capture us at this point in our lives. I wanted these photos to be something we could look back on during the planning process and beyond, to remind us of how lucky we are. It also gave us an opportunity to have a little bit more control than we will on our wedding day to take photos and also more time to play around.
We decided to have my dad take our engagement photos. My dad is an amateur photographer who at every family/friend function snaps away or shoots with his video camera. I never once felt embarrassed or awkward about this or having a camera in my face because I truly enjoy looking at the photographs and remembering all the amazing things we have done. Some people don’t like to have their picture taken and of course some aren’t always flattering, but it’s still a nice way to look back on good times. I never considered anyone else to take our engagement photos, even though we will be having another photographer on our wedding day, (dad can’t be in every place at once!)
After pinning on Pinterest for hours (okay maybe days and weeks . . . who am I kidding, months) I had a pretty good idea of what I envisioned for our shoot. I picked a date over Christmas break where we would have the whole day to devote to it if we needed. I recruited my mom, who is an interior designer, and asked if she would help style/assist the shoot. With the team in place and a date set I focused on the prep work.
We shopped for a few outfit choices, even though I ended up only wearing one! Kevin did change into a couple different shirts but I used accessories to change up the look. We like to dress up, but since our wedding photos are obviously going to be very formal, we wanted our engagement photos to look more like us on a normal day. This meant jeans for a start, Ugg boots, and comfy tops. Our wedding colors include what I call “sea colors;” light blues, greens, seafoam, and teal. We found things that either included or complimented these colors. This brings me to what exactly we planned to do with these photos afterwards.
The save the dates, wedding website, Facebook, rehearsal dinner reel, and the guest book were where I wanted to use these photos. I didn’t want to just take the photos and never really have anyone see them. I designed our save the dates using our “sea” colors and had the layout ready to go before we even took the photos. After we took the photos I put them on our wedding website for guests to see, Facebook, and I made a photo guest book on Shutterfly so that when guests would sign notes for us at the wedding, they could see all the photos too. I only put 10 or so up on the website and Facebook so I could save some funny (and cute) ones for the guest book. I also plan to print out a few and get them framed or on a canvas. Every time I walk by I can smile to myself and remember how lucky I am.
After I had figured out the clothing, what I was going to use them for, and props, it was time to pick a location. I had a few ideas in mind but we ultimately picked three places. I would recommend getting shots in a few different locations because it allows you to use different lighting, backgrounds, and you can pick and choose from a larger selection. Our motto was to take more and then we could narrow it down. I think my dad did end up taking over 200 photos and I narrowed it down to 50 that I edited and used for our book. We knew we wanted to take them in Annapolis since that’s where the wedding is being held and it offers up some really great and diverse locations. We also shot in my parent’s backyard because it’s beautiful and open. We even considered having the wedding there, but decided it would be easier to have it at a place that would take care of everything.
Aside from my parent’s home, we shot in Quiet Waters Park and on the Annapolis City Dock. It was a cloudy, and for a time, rainy Sunday morning. When I woke up and saw that is was sprinkling, I thought we might have to postpone, but it stopped soon after. I actually hadn’t planned on having the snow on the ground because I picked the shoot date beforehand, but having snow on the ground to use in our shots was the absolute best prop for us! It also makes for amazing lighting!
We started at my parent’s house and took some shots inside while the rain was ending. We had to include a couple with my super cute puppy, Chandler. We also took some photos on the front porch, back yard, and front yard. One thing we needed a little direction on was posing. Everyone looks so natural and polished on Pinterest but trying to look like that in real life can be tough! We take the worst kissing photos ever which is why I didn’t choose any to use! Our best shots came from laughing and just goofing around. Make sure you are both relaxed and just think of it as fun and the rest will work out.
With the rain completely stopped, we drove to Quiet Waters Park. We started down at my favorite spot, the South River Overlook. It was a little bit of a walk especially with snow covered sidewalks, but it was worth it. We stood in front of the water and let my dad do his thing. We were even able to get a shot of the four of us from two men who were there watching ducks. You never know who you will run into on a shoot! From there we went to the gazebo and bridge for some wide angle shots. The snowy park was just so beautiful! We took the opportunity to take some of my parents as well and then moved in closer to the ice skating rink. Use your surroundings to your advantage. The people on the rink added a nice element to some of our shots. Feeling satisfied with our shots here, we moved onto City Dock.
Kevin proposed on a dock near the Naval Academy and we knew we had to start there. We only have 2 photos (that we took ourselves and were very dark) from the actual day he proposed. This gave us an opportunity to take better photos in a spot that was special to us. If you have a place that is a part of your history as a couple, like a first date, or just a great day, think about taking some photos there.
We slipped on some snow, but it made for some great shots. We just danced, laughed, looked out onto the water and had fun. If you are having fun, that will come across in the photos. I felt comfortable and that made it easy. After we finished the photos we went to lunch downtown and that afternoon we had several copies of our photos ready to be gone through and edited. I spent the next few days narrowing down the photos and edited the best 50 that I liked. If you don’t feel comfortable editing on your own, your photographer can do that. Having these photos makes me even more excited for our photos we will be taking on our wedding day. When the days are long and the stress is piling up, I can always take a moment to breathe, look at one of these photos, and smile.
