I knew from the beginning I wanted an engagement shoot. Mr. Lemur and I aren’t good about taking pictures, and when we do—let’s be honest, they’re just quick shots with my iPhone. I wanted good quality photos, nothing fancy or expensive, but some nice pictures of us that we could frame and have for the future.
Personal photo—I love this quick shot of us, but that’s all it is! A moment captured at Mr. Lemur’s brother’s wedding on my iPhone before the processional.
The “nothing fancy or expensive” part is where it gets tricky. I’m a graduate student and Mr. Lemur is a recent graduate—and although we both work multiple jobs, we also have to be very careful with our money and don’t want to spend several hundred dollars on an engagement shoot and then more money on prints.
Enter Niki Marie Photography. Niki is a college student with a ton of talent who went to school with Mr. Lemur and his brother. She uses natural light and simple settings—and her pictures are relaxed and beautiful, exactly what I was looking for! A quick Facebook message later and we had booked a slot with her. Here are a few shots of hers I love, all from her Facebook page.
Image via Niki Marie Photography / Photo by Niki Marie Photography
Yes, I know the last picture isn’t an engagement shoot, but how cute is that family? The first two and the fifth pictures show the backgrounds I’m interested in—these were all taken at our photo shoot location, downtown Detroit. Although I love the field and tree pictures, it’s not really the look we’re going for. Plus, I feel like it limits the variety of the pictures.
Image via Niki Marie Photography / Photo by Niki Marie Photography
My favorite recent picture of hers—you’ll understand why in a few posts!
So if we had our engagement shoot photographer, and we had a time slot for the shoot, and we had the setting for the pictures…then what was my dilemma?
What to wear, of course! I’m going to be really honest, my style is generally pretty boring. I’m a “wear black with one color” type of girl, and Mr. Lemur couldn’t care less. The colors in these pictures are incredible—I love that coral dress! I wish I knew how to incorporate more color into my “everyday” outfits, not just for photo shoots.
What did you wear for your engagement (or other) photo shoots? Any suggestions on outfits?
We had two outfits, He is from Minnesota so he wore a Gophers shirt, I am from Iowa so I wore a Hawkeye shirt…there is a rivalry with the schools. For the “formal” ones I wore a summer dress that had blue/green flowers and he wore a blue button up shirt.
I wore all black with colored tights as one of my outfits. I think all black is fine for one outfit if that’s “you”. How about a colorful pair of shoes? Or a bright colored coat? Or a colorful scarf? Or a great necklace?
I am a big proponent of wearing white/ivory/light colors for pre-wedding events. It’s so fun and bridal! I wore a little ivory dress with brown boots and my FI wore khakis and a navy blue button-up. (Link if you’re curious: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.479957442038123.114468.201240819909788&type=3)
That said, go for what you’re comfortable in! If light colors aren’t “you” don’t force them 
I bought a nice dress one day with the purpose of wearing it to our engagement shoot, but when it came to changing outfits chose my everyday clothes. I thought it might be boring, but the pro pics give that “fancy look” to everything 
We picked out each other’s e-pic outfits, picking something we thought the other person looked great in. It’s a pretty awesome confidence boost whenever you know you’re rocking an outfit your SO thinks looks amazing on you
Wow sounds like you lucked out with a great photographer! I love her photos that you posted!! Ours has a similar style – I love photos with lots of sunlight/flare and we found some photogs who we got along with and fit the bill
@Mrs. Snow Cone: I love this idea! We didn’t do it for the engagement shoot but we do it for dates sometimes… I’ll ask what he wants me to wear and vice versa it’s fun to do something small like that to make it special!
I think a good photographer can make any shade look great, as long as you feel good, it will show through in your pictures! I can’t wait to see your shoot, your photographer’s work looks amazing!
your photographer is really good! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
i like @Miss Blue Whale‘s suggestion of a scarf. i’ve always read that you shouldn’t wear something too trendy because you might look back and hate it -s so all black is fine!
Mrs. Lemur, Greenville, South Carolina Age and Occupation: 22, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Security Officer Engagement Date: October 9, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Pleasant Ridge Camp & Retreat Center About Me: I may fancy myself a doctor after too many episodes of House—but in reality I'm finally almost done with my degree in business administration (less than three months left!). My fiance and I met at school in undergrad hundreds of miles away from either of our hometowns and have been happily running and hiking together ever since. We're undertaking a long distance relationship as I finish school and we plan our casual wedding for a day after graduation—needless to say, it will be the busiest and most exciting weekend of our lives so far!
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