Weddingbee Blog

I’ve already indicated how incredibly happy we are with our engagement photos, so I wanted to lend a little insight into how we got the results that we wanted!

1. Don’t be afraid to use props

I have to admit, I felt REALLY silly telling people that I was bringing a white shag carpet to a vineyard for some photos. I was even afraid of what our photographer would think of all of my props—would he think that it would be an annoyance, that they’d take away from the photos?  I was very nervous about it being “weird” because, you know, not everyone looks at wedding blogs all day like I do.

Luckily, Georgi was very open to using the props and we had so much fun with them! I think that they made for some of our favorite shots and our engagement photos just wouldn’t be the same without them.

2. Bring a friend or two

Since we were using so many props, I thought that having a “prop master” on hand would be helpful. Boy, am I glad BM Jess and her boyfriend Chris came along!

They were fantastic to have on hand! They set up our picnic while we were taking shots in the vineyard, which saved us time. Jess told me when my clothes were bunched up or when my hair looked funky, and Chris…oh sweet, wonderful, tall Chris! Chris helped Georgi with many of the shots once the sun started setting by holding up lights or reflectors to get the right amount of light on our faces! He was so willing to help, and honestly, many of our sunset shots wouldn’t have been what they are without Chris holding up a white umbrella and a flash in the background.

Chris also ran a long way back to Mr. Socks’ car to get his guitar when we forgot it!

Here’s Chris making the journey back to our picnic site. We’re glad he got the guitar since it led to my all-time favorite pic of us!

We were so thankful to have both of them on hand. We took them out to dinner that night to thank them for their help, and it was so much fun to have them there with us to make us laugh! Thanks Jess and Chris!

3. If you can spring for it, get your makeup and hair done

I have a confession to make. One of the reasons I put off our engagement shoot so long was because I was afraid I’d look terrible in the photos. I can be pretty self-conscious sometimes and I was just terrified of hating every photo with me in it. I went to Bernard’s Salon and Spa in Cherry Hill, NJ and got a blow-out and a makeup application. I walked out of there feeling much more confident and beautiful than I ever thought I would! And the results?

Some of the best photos of me I’ve ever seen! I loved my eye makeup and I loved how natural my face looked! I definitely recommend going in for professional beautification just to put a little extra confidence behind your smile.

4. Plan, plan, plan!

I took this photo session pretty seriously. Mr. Socks and I don’t take a lot of photos of ourselves, and I thought this would be the best opportunity to get some high quality photos to share to friends and family and to really have something to be proud of!

Mr. Socks and I tried on all of our possible outfits the night before, picked out what looked good together, and spent wayyyy too long looking at ourselves in the mirror while posing.

We also got all of our props ready the night before so we wouldn’t forget anything.

5. Over Prepare

We brought a fourth change of clothes, extra blankets, a tarp if it rained (for our butts to stay dry), a cute umbrella, shoe shine, extra headbands and jewelry, extra props that we never used, a Tide pen, and a million-and-a-half other little things that gave me peace of mind to know were backups!

6. Ask for what you want

It helped that Georgi was so laid back and fun to work with, but if I was dying to get a particular shot, I would ask for it. The week before our shoot, I sent Georgi some links to the engagement photos I was inspired by and told him that they were the “feel” we were going for with our pictures. He understood exactly what we wanted and delivered way beyond our expectations!

Sigh…yes. Georgi definitely delivered beyond our expectations!!

All photos from Georgi Anastasov!

Do you have any engagement photo tips you’d like to share?