Most people have never been in front of the camera of a professional photographer, so when it’s time to smile away, how do you ensure success and avoid awkwardness?

Fear not, my friends, as with these tips, I can guarantee you will have the best photos of your engagement session and your wedding day.

Let me start off by saying that having an engagement session at your destination wedding is definitely a must! You will get the chance to explore more of the beautiful place you have chosen, either it’s a Greek island, the landscape of Italy or the romantic city of France.

Engagement photos are such a great way to get comfortable in front of the camera before your special day! Make sure your wedding photographer fits your style, as I know it’s a cliché but the pictures are the only thing that will be left after your wedding day!

1. The style of photography is so important.

My style of capturing portraits is finding a sweet balance of casual images that let you be yourselves and a bit of help with the posing when needed. I always prefer to have a strong emotional image over a perfectly posed one! I just love backlit and soft images that are more romantic.

2. Pick the perfect location

As a destination wedding photographer, I strongly advise on having the engagement session at your wedding location. So you will have more time to explore the greater location you are getting married at and the ‘rehearsal’ shoot will be really close to the actual wedding date. Having the same photographer will also guarantee consistency on the images.

3. Dressing stylishly and timelessly

Try to stay away from anything that is too trendy or graphic, and stick to solid colours, or classic patterns like stripes. Wear clothing that you feel comfortable in as ultimately, you want to feel 100% you when your photos are being taken. If you can, change into your outfits when you arrive at your engagement photo destination as this will keep your clothing from becoming wrinkled. Coordinate but don’t match: Couples who match their clothing can be adorable but for your engagement session, I think that it’s best to go for a coordinating look as opposed to something too matchy-matchy. If you are coordinated nicely your photos will come across looking much more authentic then say matching his tie to your dress.

4.Focus on each other – not the camera.

Hold hands, make each other laugh, be with each other together right there in the moment! Do your best to quiet your thoughts and be present, focused on each other. Trust me, if you ignore your photographer and give all your attention to one another, you will create authenticity just by being yourselves.

After all, an engagement session is also helpful to us, photographers. We start to understand you better, see how you react when smiling at each other, how you prefer to walk, what makes you laugh, so when it’s time we can throw wood to your fire!

If you liked this post make sure you check out more of my work and please feel free to reach out and say hello, here.

 

..read more about the best romantic thing to do in Santorini