Spring is just around the corner, so that means it’s almost time for engagement session season! After you book your wedding photographer, the next step is planning your engagement session! Your engagement session is a chance to capture your relationship exactly how it is in this season of your life! It’s important that your engagement session be unique to you and your relationship. You don’t want a cookie cutter Pinterest engagement session that says nothing about your relationship! As the photographer, it’s my job to capture your dynamic and personalities in a genuine and authentic way! But there are also a few things that you can do when planning your engagement session to ensure it is unique to you!

Pick a special location. Picking the location for your engagement session can be one of the most daunting parts of planning your engagement session, aside from picking your outfits! It’s important that you pick a location that is special to you and reflects your relationship! If you are big beach goers, then your favorite beach spot would be perfect! If you love hiking or walking trails, then a local park would be a great fit! Even better, maybe you have a particular local spot that is special to you. Where he proposed, where you met, where you’ll be getting married, etc.

Paul proposed to Kelly at this very spot at The National Arboretum! Click here to see their session!

Catie and Erik met at ODU while Catie was a cheerleader and Eric was a football player. They have many memories at the ODU football stadium, so it was the perfect spot for their sunrise engagement session! They even both wore Eric’s jersey! So sweet! Kelsie and Josh spend a lot of time in this little boat on the water in their backyard AND it is where he proposed to Kelsie! So sweet! Click here to see their session! Alex and Sherm love to spend time at the beach, so this beachy engagement session was the perfect fit for them! Choosing your outfits. Just like your location, you want your outfits to reflect you and your personalities! You want to feel comfortable and like yourself, so be sure to pick outfits that you would actually wear in your everyday life! If you aren’t the type to dress fancy, then don’t feel the need to have a super fancy outfit for your engagements! You want to wear clothes that are true to you and your style! A bonus would be to pick an outfit that goes with your wedding colors and style!

Catie and Erik’s wedding colors are rose and gold, so Catie sported this cute little pink skirt to go with their colors! AND she wore this on a very chilly and windy morning at the beach! I’d say it was totally worth it! Choosing a theme. If your wedding has a unique or particular theme, incorporating it into your engagement session can be a great way to tie you engagement and wedding photos together! You will probably have some of your engagement photos on display at your wedding, so this is a great way to ensure that it ties in with your wedding theme! If you are having a beachy coastal wedding, then doing your session at the beach would be a great idea! Or if you are having a glitzy and glamorous wedding will gold sparkle details throughout, perhaps you could don a gold sparkle dress for one of your outfits!

Megan and Jason had a New Years Eve wedding, so they embraced the black tie theme for their engagement session! Bring your pup. If you’re anything like me, then if you have dog, he is probably like your child! So if you have a dog with your fiance, chances are that that dog is a big part of your life! So if they are reasonably well-trained, you could consider bringing them to your engagement session! A shot with your pup also makes for a great Christmas card! If you do plan to bring your pup to your session, you’ll want to make sure that you bring someone else with you to be in charge of the dog for when they are not in the photo. It actually works out great when that person can take the dog home after we get them in a few shots at the beginning of the session.

Sarah and Chauncey LOVE their pup, Gunner! And the location for their engagement session was both were Chauncey proposed AND where they are getting married this fall! Win win!