What to wear for engagement pics?!

Klyn1983

Okay so I'm slightly panicking. My cousin is an amazing photographer and we are hiring her for our wedding/e-session. I thought the pictures would be taken sometime in July/August but she just told me she wants to do one of the e-sessions in May. 

She wants to do two different sessions: One is a beach theme-we will be going up to Tawas, Michigan. It's beautiful up there and that location means a lot to both FI and I. The second she wants to do a non-traditional shoot. She wants to find some what she called "grungy, rustic yet upbeat" locations. Basically barns, brick buildings, a field, etc. I don't even know. LOL.

My question is this:

What do I wear?! I also have to dress FI since he is completely clueless when it comes to clothes. 

I'm thinking of a sundress with a bolero for the first? But I'm clueless for the 2nd. I don't know what to wear when I could be in an quaint downtown building, a field or a barn. I'm also freaking out about colors and what looks awful on camera.

Advice?

(on a side note, FI is up north for the weekend so I'm having a major wedding planning weekend and I'm loving it!!)

cnf2013

The general rule of thumb on e-sessions is to wear whatever your most comfortable in. If you're uncomfortable it will show in your photos. Also, most photographers will suggest bringing two or three outfits, so you can bring one to work with each setting, if you go to barn, a brick building, where ever. That would be my suggestion at least.

ktwed1

I would pick a casual outfit like jeans and a casual top or sweater for a field or barn type setting. Cowboy boots are always cute for this if you have them. As for grunge setting I'm not sure. I would ask your photographer what would work best for what she's thinking.

I think for ours we are going to the pier where we have our boat docked for a casual setting and I want to hit one of the downtown areas in N. Dallas and wear a litttle black dress for a more formal look.

blferguson1s

I haven't done my engagement pictures, but for my senior pictures I had multiple outfits. I had a sundress, a more formal dress, a sweater/jacket, and a jersey borrowed from a football player friend. We did different looks for different locations and feels. Maybe consider that?

cassienoel022

Here are some good resources for clothing ideas for engagement sessions hope it helps. 

http://cassienoelphotography.com/blog/style-guide

http://www.nessakphotography.com/blog/stylebook/

Klyn1983

Thank you! I kind of panicked when I realized I had to have everything planned sooner than anticipated. I went upstairs a little while ago and I have a few super cute dresses I would like to wear, including a sweater dress that would be good for an early morning shoot. Plus some other cute outfits, so I think I'll be okay. 

Just have to focus on FI since he's going to be the tough one to dress. I swear he needs to leave the gym alone until after the wedding! 

The boots are a good idea, ktwed! I'm a country girl who moved to the city--FI is constantly laughing at my accent with certain words or phrases so it'd be a great way to incorporate that in our pictures. 

lodonnell616

For some reason, I also like it when couples wear similar outfits: i.e. for the beach both of you in jeans (rolled to the knee for splashing in the water)with white button shrits.  But, I'm a bit of a prepster like that.  

Chels&Jimmy

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_june-2013-weddings_what-to-wear-for-engagement-pics?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:f30b0bfc-508d-415c-bf59-ab83e327da37Discussion:9d264687-9b41-40fb-90c0-fb74ed6daf41Post:2bafe06b-9fcd-48a4-9db4-0fc0b9f547f4">Re: What to wear for engagement pics?!</a>:
[QUOTE]The general rule of thumb on e-sessions is to wear whatever your most comfortable in. If you're uncomfortable it will show in your photos. Also, most photographers will suggest bringing two or three outfits, so you can bring one to work with each setting, if you go to barn, a brick building, where ever. That would be my suggestion at least.
Posted by cnf2013[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>This. </div><div>
</div><div>One caveat: if you're like me and have lots of black, grey, and dark colors in your wardrobe, try to break it up a little bit in your outfits for the photos. </div><div>
</div><div>I chose a dark grey tube top, dark-wash jeans, and black boots as one of my outfits. I was definitely comfortable in it, but I was not happy with how it looked in our photos. </div><div>
</div><div>For another outfit I chose a favorite light grey dress with a pair of bright red/coral heels. I never wear red heels. I purchased the heels specifically for our photos... and good lord, were they uncomfortable! But I asbolutely love how they looked in our photos and I've gotten a <em>ton </em>of compliments on them. </div><div>
</div><div>So I while I wouldn't necessarily advise wearing killer uncomfortable shoes for your pictures, I would definitely encourage you to think a little bit outside your norm if your norm is wearing all black (or all white, or all pink, or whatever). Just try to have a little bit of contrast in your outfits!</div><div>
</div><div>Also, you and FI should try on your outfits together to ensure they don't clash too much (i.e. decide "when you wear this outift, I will wear this outfit"). </div><div>
</div><div>Another thing FI and I did was to wear the outfits we wore on our first date. :)</div><div>
</div><div>I also spent a lot of time looking at engagement pictures online to see what couples wore, what looked good, what didn't, etc. </div><div>
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Klyn1983

Thanks Chels, that's one of the things I had to keep in mind when looking at my clothes. I do tend to wear a lot of blacks and greys so I'm taking caution to wear some bright colors. Nothing crazy but I'm pretty excited about what I've picked so far! (one is a white and blue polka dot dress with bright blue shoes...eek! I can't wait to wear it!)

Chels&Jimmy

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_june-2013-weddings_what-to-wear-for-engagement-pics?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:f30b0bfc-508d-415c-bf59-ab83e327da37Discussion:9d264687-9b41-40fb-90c0-fb74ed6daf41Post:434a3003-5fc0-4389-841e-59ac248acd7d">Re: What to wear for engagement pics?!</a>:
[QUOTE]:) Thanks Chels, that's one of the things I had to keep in mind when looking at my clothes. I do tend to wear a lot of blacks and greys so I'm taking caution to wear some bright colors. Nothing crazy but I'm pretty excited about what I've picked so far! (one is a white and blue polka dot dress with bright blue shoes...eek! I can't wait to wear it!)
Posted by Klyn1983[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Too cute! Can't wait to see your pics in a couple of months. :)

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