how to make the most of your engagement session

I love engagement sessions. Most photographers do. We get the opportunity to get to know you a little bit and you have a chance to get comfortable with us photographing you.
The goal of an engagement session is to capture all the love and joy you are experiencing at this moment in time. To share that with your loved ones who may or may not know the extent of your love and admiration for this person you have chosen to be your life partner.
Oh what to wear! This is the number one question I get asked before engagement shoots.
My advice is to wear what reflects your personality and most importantly wear what you feel great in. A good fit will definitely help. I always encourage color. You and your partner can wear complimentary colors, colors that will be reflected on your wedding day or just your favorite color. And bring an extra outfit or two. That way there is some variety in the photos. I always love doing a dress up, going to a party look and a more casual, date night look. Accessories, hats, bow ties and awesome shoes will always help give photos that little extra wow. But at the end of the day, it's the love between you that will be the most important element in the photos. Seriously.
What else should you bring? Any props or accessories that reflect you as a person and the two of you as a couple. Into scrabble? Bring the board and tiles and we can do some fun stuff with it. You have a vintage car or bike that you like to ride on Sundays? Let's go for a ride and we can capture the joy of your rides together.
And where should we shoot? With a little help from you I'll be happy to guide the location(s) we will shoot at. If you are a downtown loving couple, coffee shop hoppers, boho desert dwellers or the museum type, we can plan on a location that fits your style.
The best piece of advice is to enjoy this time you have together at the shoot. Get silly, get romantic, get excited about your upcoming wedding. Every couple's story and love is unique. An engagement photo session is a chance for that unique love to shine and be shared with those who care about you. You will never be in this place and time again in your life. Having photos of it is amazing. Imagine looking back at this time in 20 years.

Denise and Jon celebrate their wedding. Phoenix wedding photographer

So when I asked Denise and Jon if they were up for doing some portraits in the desert down the street from their backyard wedding, they both said yes right away. And I knew right then that we'd all get along really well. Her dress, her dress was PINK!!! Swoon. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Perfectly blush with just the right amount of everything pretty. The ultimate DIY couple, Denise made her cake. Yes, made her own cake! They had the coolest cookie bar with every kind of cookie you could ever want all stacked in drawers that were painted and redone by Jon to match their wedding colors. Above all, their day was filled with deep love for each other and love from family and friends. So many laughs, some joy filled tears and many many smiles and we had the pleasure of being there for all of it. Oh and the music was so good I even got a little dance in with the bride and bridal party. 

A kiss in the bamboo forest. How romantical...

 Makeup test shoot with this pretty girl. Loved every moment. I've grown to really love the abundant beauty of the desert. I've always lived in big cities with high rises and pretty lights but I'm becoming a desert girl.

Happy Anniversary to one of my favorite couples and dear friends. I will always have the fondest memories of your wedding in Puerto Rico. May you have all the love in the world for eva and eva!

As I promised at the wedding show, we are picking the engagement photo session drawing winner today! I'll be posting the photos on here after the session. Our winner is Jenna Ford!
As this was so much fun, I think we will do another winner next week on Sunday. Engagement sessions are a great way to prepare for your wedding day. It's a great way for you and your photographer to collaborate and get to know one another. Jenna, congratulations!

Instalove!

Happy New Year! Here are some faves from Instagram postings over the past year. I'm beyond grateful for all that happened last year. Here's to a healthy happy year for all.