Spring is here! My home is currently filled with tulips from our Sunday adventure and I’m pretty happy about it! Spring, besides tulips, also means engagement session season is upon us! And with all of those engagement photos being delivered to brides and grooms, couples are starting to think about designing invitations in time for summer weddings! Today, I want to walk photographers through some tips for capturing great engagement portraits for their couples and brides, some tips for choosing an engagement photo for your invitation after you’ve received your gallery.

Tips for Photographers

1. Capture a wide variety of poses! Make sure you’re consciously thinking throughout the engagement session about ways your brides would like to use their photos. Aim to get a variety of full-body (both horizontal and vertical crops) as well as head and shoulders and a few quite close up. In a similar fashion, make sure you always have a few key “portrait” shots in a session. It’s nice to have both the bride and the groom looking at the camera as an easily frame-able shot. (Of course the candids are really nice, too! And that’s what I lean more towards, but don’t miss the portraits.)

2. Find two different locations close together. When photographing a session, I like to have my couples bring an outfit change. After the outfit change, we can also change up the background. It doesn’t have to mean driving across town, it can be as simple as finding a new corner of the neighbourhood you’re in. It provides variety for the bride and groom’s gallery.

3. One last tip! When framing engagement photos, try to leave a few with some negative space above or to the side. For brides who may want to design invitations with text above a photo – they’ll find this so helpful!

Tips for Brides

1. When you’re delivered your gallery of close to one hundred images, it can feel overwhelming to choose just one for your invitation! When I was in your shoes, I narrowed down the gallery to my personal favourites and had about 10 images. Then I compared them with my groom. The beauty of marriage is… you have two different opinions often. ;) We quickly narrowed down to the 3 images we both were happy with.

2. Start your design! Whether you’re using an online company like Paperless Post, or you’re designing your own in Photoshop – try out your favourite images with your invitation design. You may find one that “pops!” 

3. If you’re still undecided, ask both sides of your family which of the 3 designs/photos they like the best. But ultimately – go with your gut! It’s your wedding day, your invitation and you can choose a photo you love. ;)

P.S. If you’d like to see my own wedding invitations, click here! We used a photo from our engagement session and loved it.
P.P.S. I’m blogging this full engagement session soon! My blog calendar has been so full! So much good stuff to share.