Wondering what to wear for your engagement photos?

One of the ways we LOVE to help our couples is that when they book with us, we share an entire guide on how to prepare for an amazing engagement session. It’s filled with tips on how to choose outfits, locations, and more!

Today we wanted to share four of the tips from our guide. Micaela also had a little fun window shopping online for some PERFECT dresses you can pick up to wear for your session! Read on to see them!

Tip #1: What to Wear

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For your session, we highly highly recommend dressing up! This means long, flowy dresses or skirts for the ladies… And gentlemen, suit up!!

Why do we say this?

Well, first of all, a lot of our couples are just like us: they LOVE dressing up to go out, even though they jump into comfy PJs as soon as they get home. So they’re excited for a fun excuse to get all fancy!

Second of all, there’s a reason why the red carpet is filled with dresses and suits—they are SO flattering on everybody!!

Plus, you’re only engaged once! And you probably don’t get your photos taken very often—it’s a special occasion. So this is an opportunity to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime season by looking 🔥👌🏻

Tip #2: Choosing Colors

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Our main goal for your outfits is making sure that you not only look good, but that your outfit isn’t drawing attention away from your face! This is because our favorite photos are filled with laughter and emotion, and certain colors and patterns can draw the eye away from that and onto your clothing.

(In fact, that’s why many photographers turn their emotional photos to black and white, so that color won’t distract from the emotion!)

So when choosing colors, we recommend soft, light tones such as blush pink, dusty blue, lavender, cream, soft gray, et cetera.

You don’t have to completely avoid darker tones, though! We LOVE navy for example, especially on the gents! But when choosing darker colors, we recommend going for deeper jewel tones. A dark burgundy, for example, rather than red. Or a deep navy rather than royal blue.

Whatever you do, just stay away from bright, neon colors! Shades of hot pink, lime green, and vibrant orange could look amazing in person, but they reflect colored light back onto your skin tones in a way that will be super noticeable on camera. No one wants to look hot pink!

Tip #3: Choosing Patterns

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Often the best outfits have solid colors so they are as non-distracting as possible… But patterns and prints can be gorgeous too, if chosen correctly!

The key with patterns is to make sure they’re subtle. Choose a soft, subtle pattern without too many colors (following the color guidelines above!), and make sure it doesn’t look too busy.

Patterns smaller than a quarter can look busy and distracting, but patterns smaller than a dime are even worse! Because they’re so small, they can actually create a strange effect in camera called chromatic aberration that messes with how the colors look and makes your photo look more blurry.

Tip #4: Choosing Materials

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You can choose any material you like for your outfits, but when choosing a dress, keep in mind that flowy fabrics like tulle and chiffon look incredible on camera!! They bring so much movement to your photos and make them look alive! Plus, they are generally very light and breathable for warm session days!

Satin is not our personal favorite fabric for photos, as it is highly reflective and the color can end up looking different on camera than in person. And other fabrics, like wool, for example, might make you super uncomfortable during your session, which is not ideal!

The best fabrics will be the ones that make you feel comfortable and free to move around!

So without further ado…

Here are Micaela’s picks for some dresses that will make you look amaaaazing at your session!

From Morning Lavender

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Morning Lavender: Elise ivory floral dress (blue) | Charlotte wrap maxi dress (pink)

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Morning Lavender: Cassidy Grey Flowy Maxi Dress | Emma Light Blue Flowy Maxi Dress

Lulus

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Lulus: Romantic Possibilities white maxi dress | Take You There ivory maxi dress

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Lulus: All About Love slate blue maxi dress | Dance the Night Away dusty purple backless maxi dress

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Flutter sleeves like these can be super flattering! And can you tell I am obsessed with wrap dresses? I feel like that soft v-neck and flowy skirt is the most universally flattering silhouette! BUT, note that wrap dresses can be tricky when there’s wind, so you may want to wear something like a slip or shorts underneath! 🙂

Lulus: Crescendo blush wrap maxi dress | Heart of Marigold denim blue wrap maxi dress

Asos

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Asos: Navy pleated crop top maxi dress | Missguided satin cowl neck maxi dress in blue

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Asos: Embroidered floral and sequin mesh maxi dress |Needle & Thread embroidered bodice maxi dress in vintage navy

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Asos: Maya v neck maxi tulle dress with tonal delicate sequins in soft gray |Maya bardot maxi tulle dress with tonal delicate sequins in taupe blush

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Asos: Tulle One Shoulder Maxi Dress | Halter Pleated Waisted Maxi Dress

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Asos: Maya V Neck Maxi Tulle Dress with Tonal Delicate Sequins in navy | Maya long sleeve wrap front maxi dress with delicate sequin and tulle skirt in charcoal

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And, I mean, who says you can’t go ahead and wear a white dress to your engagement session, too? (Orrrr change into one of these stunners for your reception?)

Asos: White sequin cami dress | Ruched halter neck maxi dress

That’s all for now…

But for more inspiration, check out our Pinterest boards for outfit ideas and unique session locations!

And let us know in the comments below if you liked our tips on what to wear for your engagement photos⁠—we can keep the outfit ideas coming!

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