First of all, congratulations on booking an engagement session! There are so many reasons why you’re going to thank yourselves for having done this (you can read all about the benefits here). Now that you have your engagement session booked, let’s talk about how you can make the most of it!

Professional Hair and Makeup – My number one piece of advice is to schedule your hair and makeup trial a few hours before your engagement session. You’re going to have to pay your hair stylist and makeup artists for your trial so you might as well get your money’s worth right? This is also going to level up your engagement photos by having your hair and makeup professionally done. It’s the best of both worlds!

Consult with your Photographer on Wardrobe – Your photographer should know what is going to look good on camera and what you should try and stay away from. I give each of my couples lots of information on what they should wear and always offer for them to send me photos! Picking out an outfit on the daily is hard enough sometimes. Let your photographer guide you in picking outfits and colors that go well together without matching identically.

Manicure – This one isn’t just for the ladies out there! Grab your fiancé and head to the nail salon together or just go by yourself, whichever you prefer. But regardless, go treat yourself to a fresh manicure. You will definitely be able to tell if you have chipped nail polish in your photos so either take it off or head to the salon for a mani. If you plan on wearing open toed shoes you’ll want to get a pedicure too!

Make a Weekend out of it! Depending on the time of year you scheduled your engagement session it might be tough to do it on a weekend. Usually wedding photographers dedicate their weekends for weddings so your engagement session will most likely be held on a weekday. But if you are able to schedule it for a Friday or even a Sunday make an entire weekend out of it! Book a hotel room near the location of where you’re getting your photos taken. Find a fancy restaurant to get dinner and a fun bar for drinks! You can even snag some cookies from a local bakery for a late night snack! Take the weekend off from wedding planning and just enjoy each other’s company doing things you love together! You can either start or end your stay with your engagement session, how fun!

Arrive early – Your engagement session will be scheduled at a time depending on when the sun sets or rises. If you end up being late for whatever reason, you’ll be cutting your time short and won’t get as many photos. Once the sun sets, the good light is gone and your session will be over. So, to be on the safe side, plan to arrive early. This will also come in handy when trying to find a parking spot at certain locations!

Bring Comfy Shoes – Wearing high heels for your engagement photos is a big YES! However, if the location you choose requires walking a fair amount it’s not a bad idea to bring an extra pair of comfy shoes to walk in.

Tell you photographer if you are self conscious about anything – I know we should all love our bodies as they are but we are also human. I’m sure we all have an area on our bodies that we might be little self conscious about and it’s okay. Talk with your photographer about this so we can help make you feel as comfortable and taken care of as possible!

Bring champagne to pop! – I’m not sure about you but drinking champagne always makes me feel a little fancy. Plus popping the top on a bottle is always fun AND it makes for awesome photos. Bring a bottle of champagne to your engagement session for some celebratory champagne popping and make sure you give it a good shake first!

Finish with Dinner! – Your session has ended and you just worked really hard at being models, looking your absolute best and most likely having some fun too! Why not end the day with your fiancé at a nice restaurant to check one more thing off your wedding to-do list. If you’re traveling from out of town, ask your photographer for restaurant recommendations before you arrive and make some reservations before your session.

These are just a few ways you can make the most out of your engagement session. But just remember to relax and have fun!