Weddingbee Blog

Our engagement session came just shortly after our venue change, so we felt like we had a fresh start! The plan was to do photos around the historic Old City section of Philadelphia since we would be on the other side for the wedding. (Mr. Turkey is also a big history buff.) We had a GORGEOUS day for our engagement pictures with our fantastic photographer, and our slight nerves were calmed almost instantly.

All photos in this post are by Philip Gabriel Photography.

There were definitely some awkward photos at the start!

As I mentioned, we wanted to use a photo from this session for our save the dates. Gabe had seen the design, so we felt hopeful that we would have a lot of good choices to select from.

In the end, we had too MANY. I’ll share with you the top five options.

One of the first photos of the day

We thought about this picture in color rather than B&W.

On the steps of the Second Bank of the US

Outside Carpenter’s Hall

We liked how this photo had a lot of greenery, in contrast to our more “city” options.

A couple tips for those of you who haven’t done your engagement session (from a photo-loving bride and a somewhat nervous groom):

1. This is nothing new, but BE YOURSELF. When I look at the shots where I remember “trying” to look like an engagement photo…we look uncomfortable.
2. Go with it—the photographer is likely going to yell things at you (”Love on her, Mr. Turkey.” “Kiss!”) and if you’re not a PDA couple, like us, it’s going to feel weird. However, we ended up with some beautiful photos that showed our love for each other.*
3. Along the same lines—laugh! It’s funny to be out in public taking photos. And you might, like us, love some of the laughing photos.
4. On clothing—don’t overthink it. Pick things you’re comfortable in since you’re going to be feeling awkward in other ways!! I am sure our kids will think our outfits look SO dorky later, but we tried to go with something more current (continuing with the modern elegance). After all, the save the date DOES have a date on it!
5. I ended up using my makeup trial (with Nina at Cheekadee**) for our engagement session. The thought was that the makeup would be put to “use” (no point in lookin’ pretty in my PJs) and I’d have an idea of how it photographed. I’m not a heavy makeup user, so normally I would think makeup looked like too much, but when I saw the pictures, I was happy with what they did!

In the end, we were extremely happy with the session…and Gabe! He made us feel so comfortable and took some gorgeous photos. Even Mr. Turkey admitted that he had fun and the two hours went by quickly (whoa!).

To close, I’ll leave you with a photo which goes with my tip #4—my parents’ engagement photo in 1979.

Yes—that is a pink vest…part of a three-piece suit.

Did I miss any tips for engagement-photo sessions? And can you guess which photo we used for our save the dates?

*We made the decision early on not to have any kissing photos sent out to our guests—personal preference.

**I’ll share more about my makeup trial later.