engagement photos & save the dates
So you're engaged! Yay!
With all of the countless items on your to-do lists, one important piece of the puzzle is your engagement photos, which lead into your Save The Date cards. Save The Dates are important as if you have many out-of-town guests, you will want to give them a heads up on when the wedding will be ahead of time; sending these around 10 months before the wedding is standard. (Your invitations shouldn't be sent until much closer to the date, approximately 2 months before).
Before you branch off into finding your perfect card to notify your guests of your upcoming celebration, you need beautiful photos! This is the ideal time to contact your wedding makeup artist to do a trial of your makeup, so you can see how it will photograph the day of the wedding. If possible, also use the same photographer so they can meet you and your fiance, getting to know your personalities and style, so on the day of the wedding, photography will be seamless. Purchase a dress or outfit that fits your personality; feel free to try something a little different!
Note: Each engagement is unique to the couple - your engagement photos can be as simple or as orchestrated as you would like. A single photo at your favorite place and a friend to test out beauty looks works, too!
Makeup Preview
For makeup, I used Juliana Fink Beauty (@jfinkbeauty). She is so sweet, intelligent, and most of all, extremely talented at her craft. Juliana listened to what I requested, and then once I saw the first version, I asked her to enhance a little more and the final result was perfect! Just enough sparkle with a natural glam vibe. The Bridal Preview that was part of my portfolio with her, was the perfect opportunity to try out my look for photos!
Photographer
I used Silent Capture (@silentcapturephoto) for my engagement photos (and also for the upcoming wedding). Jenna + Matt are amazing at what they do. Everything felt completely natural and they captured our true selves (instead of awkward poses!). The number one tip is to make sure when choosing your vendors, to ensure that you will be comfortable with the photographer/videographer team you choose. Viewing their previous work is important to make sure you like their style. Their personalities are important as well as they will be with you for hours the day of the wedding! I loved Silent Capture's work even before I was engaged (so talented), and their fun personalities are just a bonus!
Attire
For the dress, I chose a simple white eyelet dress that complimented the Steve Madden cork heels I had selected. The only change I made mid-session was my earrings. The dress was perfect for each location and transitioned well in the diverse settings.
Location
Location, location, location is what "they" say! (Who are "they" anyway...)
When considering options for what we wanted our images to look like, we thought about our personalities and what we both enjoyed as a couple. We both love a coastal feel with elegant simplicity. Being a nostalgic person, I, personally, love the history behind gorgeous, idyllic settings. Luckily, we live very close to a beautiful historic town in New York where there were backdrops of an ice cream parlor, a marina, a symmetrical tree lined street, and the bay. We were able to get such diverse shots being around Main Street, instead of choosing a beach or a park.
Save The Dates
There are SO many websites you can now create your own Save The Dates on. Options include postcards, magnets, and much more. A great site I found that I ordered fully personalized samples from was Truly Engaging by MagnetStreet. I went back and forth between magnets and postcards, but in the end, just loved the simplicity of receiving a postcard in the mail (I'm an old soul...).
Working with Minted, I found a great postcard. The best thing is they address the postcards for you (all you have to do is upload a spreadsheet to their specifications). We knew taking the particular photo that I wanted this to be the image; with Minted's technology we were able to put the photo on ALL vertical postcards at once! So easy!
Use: WEDPLLHG for 30% off Save The Dates on Minted
I hope this breakdown will help you navigate your engagement photos and Save The Dates! As always, best wishes ... and congratulations on your engagement!
xo Kate
