How to Plan Engagement Photos: Tips From Our Experience

In September, Josh and I took engagement photos in Central Park with our wedding photographer, Paul Francis. I know we will cherish them forever. If you’re wondering how to plan engagement photos, I wanted to share our experience and tips.

How We Chose Our Engagement Photography Style

We chose Paul as our wedding photographer because he came highly recommended by a close friend of mine. I loved her wedding and engagement photos. In our early discussions, Paul sent me his portfolio, and I saw a Central Park engagement photoshoot that was my “dream” engagement shoot. Our wedding photography package included engagement photos and we quickly scheduled our own Central Park photoshoot. I sent Paul an engagement photoshoot Pinterest board to share the overall feeling I liked. Putting the board together helped us choose our outfits and decide that we wanted a mix of candid and posed photos. I love that most of the photos feel like a date night, not a photoshoot.

How We Chose Our Engagement Shoot Location

As a native New Yorker, Central Park has always been my “happy place.” Josh and I usually take walks in the park every weekend, and it’s my favorite place to run. Since we are getting married in New York, I wanted our engagement photos to have a classic New York feel.

We took our Central Park engagement photos at some of my favorite spots: Conservatory Water, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge, and the Lake, with a great view of the San Remo. If you’re deciding where to take your engagement photos, consider places where you enjoy spending time together.

How We Decided What to Wear for Engagement Photos

I tried on about a dozen white dresses for various wedding-related events and strongly considered wearing one for our engagement photos. I sent our photographer pictures of the top contenders, and he recommended my white Staud Wells dress. I almost wore it but ended up switching at the last minute to my pink Staud Wells dress. (My motto: If you like something, buy it in multiple colors.)

I think pink is better for my skin tone, and I knew we would have lots of photos of me in white dresses throughout our wedding weekend. I wanted to frame a few beautiful photos of us together with me wearing something that truly made me feel confident.

If you’re choosing an engagement photo outfit, I’d start with the colors and styles you already enjoy wearing. You can wear white, but you don’t have to limit your search to white dresses. Our photographer recommended avoiding dark colors, large prints, and busy patterns so our outfits wouldn’t distract from us.

Take a few photos in your outfit and move around so you can see how it looks from different angles and feels when you’re sitting and walking. I showed a few dress options to a friend who had beautiful engagement photos, and she recommended one of the A-line dresses because they move well for walking and dancing shots.

I suggest trying everything on ahead of time, including your shoes and jewelry. I like the look of sleek stiletto heels, but I knew we would be walking around Central Park and wanted to be comfortable. I wore white Stuart Weitzman Nearlynude block-heel sandals. I kept my jewelry simple, wearing my go-to bezel-set diamond earrings, a solitaire diamond necklace, and just my engagement ring instead of pairing it with other rings.

Josh looked handsome in a navy suit jacket, light blue Oxford shirt, and khakis. When you’re planning what to wear for engagement photos, look at both outfits side by side. The colors don’t have to match, but they should work together. You’ll probably want a similar level of formality, too.

Sharing the options with your photographer can also help. They can suggest what makes sense for the location, season, and time of day and offer another perspective on what will photograph well.

Why I’m Glad We Took Engagement Photos

First and foremost, we now have so many beautiful photos together in one of our favorite places. We had never taken professional photos together, and the engagement session helped us practice posing and being photographed before the wedding.

We like candid photos that feel like private moments. I thought spending time getting to know Paul would help us feel more comfortable, especially because he’ll be photographing such intimate moments as our first look and ceremony. There are sure to be some happy tears!

I’m so glad we have these photos from our engagement, and I’m excited to have Paul photograph our wedding in November.