I have a reputation for planning and designing over the top engagement photo sessions. These are my five tips for ensuring a successful engagement photo shoot.
It's engagement season all of a sudden
the weather gets colder the holidays
come around and it feels like everyone
you know is either getting engaged
celebrating an engagement or beginning
to plan their wedding it is truly the
most wonderful time of the year and as a
couple or as a wedding pro the minute
you find someone has that ring the first
thing that you start doing is planning
an engagement portrait session hello my
friends and welcome back my name is
andrea eppolito i am a luxury wedding
planner based here in las vegas nevada
and it's been a little while since we've
just sat and talked like this i've spent
the last 30 days on the road meeting
with the community educating elevating
it is one of the things that i love
doing most and that came right off of a
season with tons of weddings beautiful
content the most amazing real couples i
can't wait to share all of that with you
but today i know that so many of you are
starting to plan engagement photo shoots
and this is one of my favorite things to
work on now you can do this anyway
anytime any place but i really think
that engagement shoots are so much more
elevated so much more curated and so
much more important than a lot of people
are giving them credit for and i have a
history of planning some over the top
really amazing elaborate moments for my
couples and i want to share with you my
top five tips for designing planning and
executing an engagement shoot that is
guaranteed to wow the couple their
family and friends and something that
you will love for many years to come
tip number one make sure that your
engagement shoot is done by the
photographer who's going to be
photographing your wedding this is so
important number one as a couple unless
you are a celebrity there's a good
chance that you are not professionally
photographed on a very regular basis
having someone put a camera in your face
like even i go like this i don't like it
so to spend time with your photographer
to be able to read each other to hear
them give you direction and then to take
it is so important it's such great
practice because it gives you a run
through for what you're going to be able
to expect on the wedding day
you have an opportunity to see how does
this photographer move me how do they
guide me through the process and then
when you get the photos you're able to
look and say okay i don't like this side
of my face or i don't like when i when i
do this with my hands so it gives you
a practice run and it helps you
guarantee that your wedding photos are
going to look and feel the way that you
want them to also very important
pictures are the things that you are
going to live with forever you're going
to have your engagement photos up in
your house you're going to have your
wedding photos up in your home and you
want them to look and feel very similar
you want them to have the same artistic
vibe so that you carry the same story
throughout all of your photos and the
way that you're documented throughout
this process
tip number two
make sure that you get professional hair
and makeup done i personally don't like
to be touched i don't like having my
hair and makeup done but when i know
that i'm going to be professionally
photographed when i know that i'm going
to be on a high definition video it's
really important that i sit back and
that i have a professional work on my
face and hair
everyday street makeup does not
photograph the same way
that professional makeup does your
iphone is going to look very different
from a photographer's real big dslr
camera and so make sure that you do have
a professional team work with you on
your hair on your makeup now this
doesn't just stop for the brides i have
grooms more and more often asking me to
get them a professional shave having
someone come in and style their hair to
clean up the edges and to just be on
site to give them a little bit of powder
or a little bit of a touch here and
there so that everybody looks and feels
their absolute best and just like with
the photographer this is such a
fantastic opportunity for a bride and
groom to do a trial run for hair and
makeup for the big day do you like the
makeup artist do you like the person
who's doing your hair do you find that
your hair holds curl really well or
maybe you need something else use your
engagement photo shoot as an opportunity
to do a dry run and to test out all of
those things
now continuing down the path to making
sure that you look really really
beautiful and stunning i highly
recommend that you spend a lot of time
coordinating your outfits and selecting
your wardrobes now in the past
i have gone ahead
and i have hired stylists for my couples
people that will bring us racks of
clothing racks of shoes jewelry that
will actually dress my bride-to-be dress
my groom to be put them next to each
other and make sure that the colors the
tones and the patterns really really
match if for whatever reason it is you
don't have access to a stylist or if you
really want to express yourself
personally just take the time to lay out
your outfits in advance you really want
to have something that is super formal
and very fancy you want to have
something that is more cocktail fun sexy
and then you want something
cozy and day-to-day wear something that
feels like you so that you can be super
comfortable and that you get those
almost lifestyle photos that you
wouldn't get in another way
tip number four
is to invest in the shoot in terms of
props and location i cannot tell you
what a difference it makes now you may
have seen that i did a really stunningly
romantic engagement session out at lake
las vegas my groom went and bought a row
boat i bought in javier valentino we
filled it with flowers and pompous and
we just made it this really kind of
dreamy ethereal moment the colors of the
florals matched the colors of the sand
matched the colors that my bride and
groom wore that was very intentional and
the photos speak for themselves because
they are just
so dreamy so lovely and they're in my
couple's home they were on their
engagement website they were on their
wedding planning website they were on
there saved their dates these are things
that are lasting forever i've also gone
ahead and taken clients on destination
shoots so one couple we went out to la
and we shot kind of underground in the
street another time we've gone to the
location that they were going to be
married in so that we gave a hint and a
nod
but there's a reason that they say
location location location where you
shoot the lighting the props the things
that you can touch and interact with are
really going to inform a lot of the
photography and it just tells a better
story so make sure that you aren't just
throwing spaghetti at the wall really be
intentional think about what you want to
feel like think about the lighting and
then match the place to the props to the
attire
and last but not least tip number five
video you guys know i love video i mean
obviously we're here talking on video
but video is so incredibly important i
love documenting everything i think that
it's so much fun to tell the story i
think it's great to put it on instagram
on reels on tiktok but doing either a
behind the scenes shoot
of your engagement session that you can
share on your wedding website is so much
fun i also think that you can tell a
beautiful love story and that can be
something that you put out there and
that you share i know that we've done
some great video on the boat we've done
some great video in new york we've done
video overseas in italy and so just
having that
that one minute clip where you see how
you laugh together how you move together
how you interact and then a moment
behind the scenes so that you can go
back and you realize and recognize how
much work went in to putting this
together it will mean so much more to
you five years from now than it does
today but i just think it's an amazing
piece of documentation that you will
love and you will love to share for
years to come so to those couples who
are out there getting engaged right now
congratulations to the wedding pros and
the community that are about to jump
into engagement season that are going to
start planning these elaborate shoots
when you put together an engagement
shoot please go ahead and tag me in it i
would love to see what you are working
on
2022 is going to be the busiest wedding
year that we have seen in many many
decades i know that we as an industry
are coming together and that we are
ready for to produce something
extraordinary for our couples i am right
here with you until next time my friends
celebrating life luxury and above all
else love my name is andrea eppolito
thank you for watching