REFLECTIONS

If you are engaged or getting ready to be engaged, you should prepare yourself for all of the things that you now are 'supposed' to do now that you are on a direct path for marriage. One of these things that will most likely come up quickly is getting your engagement photos taken.

Why get engagement photos taken??(Besides just to document what a good looking couple you are.) Some reasons would be:

-Submit a shot to your local paper with your engagement announcement

-Use them creatively in your wedding day decor, or give framed prints as gifts to your families.

-Finding a photographer that fits your style and establishing a relationship with your photographer long before your wedding will make a difference in the outcome of your wedding images

-Capturing that special moment in your life

-They may be used in your wedding program, invitation, or in a save-the-date card

-Helps get you and your fiance used to being in front of the camera since most people don't get professionally photographed on a regular basis

I’m a sucker for engagement photos shot in unique locations.  Especially ones that have a significant meaning to the bride/groom-to-be. My fiancé is part of the Calgary Fire Department and that is a huge part of our lives so we decided to incorporate that into our photos to reflect us. Just something as simple as that makes your engagement pictures unique to you. It’s just not the typical stand there and hold hands like you love each other HAHA.

 Being in the Calgary, we’re lucky that there are so many beautiful natural spots and amazinglandmarks, which means that many of my couples are (naturally) compelled to make use of these.  However, in doing so, you can also run the risk of having the pictures end up being more about the background or landmark, rather than about the two of you and your love.  When people look at your engagement photos they want to be drawn to you not the backdrop.

By choosing different locations that have some type of connection to your relationship you'll be able to be much more genuine during your shoot andyou're almost guaranteed to appreciate them more in the long run. For my fiancé and I it was Confederation Park in NW Calgary and at the Fire Hall where he works. It was the perfect setting for us as a couple and we got a lot of compliments on how our background of our pictures suited us.

Some great places that could potentially make your list of locations are:

-Where you first met

-Where you had your first date

-A restaurant, coffee shop or any other location that you frequent as a couple

-A really cool looking landscape or skyline that's near by

-A location with lots or bright and vibrant colors

-A location that would be the last place that you would think of getting your engagement photos taken, like an abandoned warehouse or old junkyard

Get creative! Look on pinterest, google and other wedding blogs there are tons of ideas on there to have unique engagement photos that you will look back on ten, twenty, thirty years from now and smile.

 Whatever you choose to do, I encourage you to get creative, go out with your photographer, have some fun and create some art. In the end you are the ones who win and you will have some beautiful pictures of you and your fiancé.

Good luck!

Steph