We include engagement sessions complimentary with all of our wedding packages because we truly believe that they are a VITAL part of the entire wedding process. During your engagement session, you’ll have the chance to get to know us, experience how we shoot and how we handle posing and lighting. This session will make a HUGE impact on how the wedding day flows. We’ll arrive on your wedding day already knowing how you two interact, what your best poses are and how to photograph you in a genuine way! What we will learn about you during your engagement session is invaluable! You will feel like such a pro on your big day because of the great practice you had during your engagement session!

Now that you have picked a date and venue, a photographer and videographer, well, you can celebrate! Those are some of the toughest decisions in wedding planning and you can cross them off your list! Hooray!! Now on to the fun stuff…like your engagement session!

Scheduling your engagement session

Your engagement session can be scheduled anytime before your wedding day. We normally suggest booking it at least 3-6 months in advance to avoid stress. Because our weekends are filled with weddings, we typically shoot engagement sessions on weekday evenings (unless a weekend date is open), normally from 5-7pm depending on the light and the time of the year. In the winter months, 3-5pm is a normal time frame for an engagement shoot!

As you start to plan for your engagement shoot, you will need to start brainstorming about location ideas. We LOVE it when couples pick a location that is special or sentimental to them in some way! If you can’t think of anywhere specific that you would like to shoot, we can help you decide on a location. As long as the light is great, we can make ANY location look awesome! We shoot at farms, campuses, downtown alleys and tons of public parks! But do not shy away from unique ideas. The more creative, the better!

Some of my favorite locations include: France Park in Logansport, Altherr Nature Park in Monticello, Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac, Davis Ferry Park in Lafayette, Fairfield Lakes Park in Lafayette, and Hamstra Gardens in Wheatfield. Other good places that are a little further for us are Ogden Gardens in Valparaiso and Coxhall Gardens in Carmel, plus anywhere else you might want to go.

Some quick tips

Empty your pockets! You don’t want to have key chains or phones showing through your pockets. This is easy to overlook but very hard to edit out.

Be aware of timing! The sun sets quickly especially if your shoot is not in the summer months. The later you arrive, the less time we have to shoot! Once the sun is set, the shoot will be over.

Get your ring cleaned! If possible, it is ideal to clean your ring before your shoot. I love to shoot a few macro shots of your ring while you change outfits! The cleaner the better. Most jewelry stores offer this as a complimentary service, but dawn dish soap and a soft toothbrush at home is a great option too.

Bring a change of clothes! You can read more about our engagement session style guide here. But keep in mind, as much as I would like to say that we always have restrooms for outfit changes, more often than not, our clients do quick outfit changes in their car if there are no other options.

Keep in mind a potential parking fee. This may not apply to your shoot, but you always want to plan in advance for a cash-only parking fee that we may encounter or any tolls. We’ve had instances where this has caused some stress, and stress is what we want to avoid.

Trust us–the session will be stress-free!

We’re going to help you along the way and it’s going to be a blast! We will instruct you on everything you need to know. Enjoy this time together, and make a date out of it! Plan dinner afterwards and celebrate!!