Prior to getting engaged, I’d never really thought twice about what I would wear for the photos that we took to announce or share our engagement with the world.
Beyond that, I never imagined that I’d be getting married to a man who was so willing to take photos with me throughout our dating process.
Then I got engaged.
Then I won a dream photoshoot with one of my dream photographers, Deirdre Turner, and I was absolutely screwed – how do you decide what to wear for THE engagement photos?
I take photos of my outfits all the time and Louis and I have taken PLENTY of photos together before, but I felt incredibly overwhelmed.
Fortunately, Deirdre’s photoshoot was one of her Nostalgia Tours – her twist on the traditional couple’s shoot.
She describes it as, “The Nostalgia Tour is for the couple that loves to reminisce, the couple that loves to walk by their first date spot on the way home from the grocery store. The couple that intertwines every big decision on their wedding day with intention and special memories, even if they’re the only ones that know about them.”
And Louis and I knew that there was nothing that could have been more perfect for us.
Deirdre shares over a few questionnaires to get to know you and your partners, then helps plan an entire session around you telling her about your love story. Rather than filling out the questionnaires, we planned the day and sat down with Deirdre to tell her the why, the what and the where.
Once we started picking and planning the shoots, the outfits started to fall into place.
I had a pretty simple strategy when it came down to what to wear, I knew I wanted a relatively neutral color scheme for each of the looks – so I’ll share a preview from each shoot below to give some ideas.
The Casual Coffee Shop Outfit
For our first stop, I was the luckiest girl in the world and the owner of one of my favorite clothing shops, Word Strings Co., custom made this sweater for me when I saw her previewing it on an Instagram Story. It was a gray crewneck sweatshirt material with a lace trim around the bottom and it was perfect for the comfortable and casual look that I wanted.
The Location: This is Scandi Tiny Coffee in Greer, SC – it’s a literal tiny house in front of a tiny house community around the corner from our home. When I moved to Greenville and I was struggling with finding places that felt comfortable and familiar to me, Louis brought me here and told me to make it home and I did for a while.
My Outfit: The Lace Hem Crewneck from Word Strings Co. // Dark Wash Abercrombie Jeans // Similar White Sneakers
What Louis Wore: Similar Quilted Quarter Zip // Target Khakis
Casual At Home Outfit
We love having people over and had recently done some work to our back porch to make it convert into a sunroom as well.
The Location: We took Deirdre back to our house! It’s the first place that we lived together and we love making it our own space – so we made some coffee and walked around the house. We snuggled on my infamous red couch, took our foster dog Waylon on the porch, giggled in our backyard and danced in the driveway.
My Outfit: I wanted something that felt pretty similar to the clothes that I do wear on a daily basis at home and I love a day dress. One of my girlfriends let me borrow her Selkie Day Dress and I was largely barefoot!
My exact dress is sold out, but here are a few similar ones that I would wear for the same vibe.
Selkie: The Garland Day Dress // The Night Cap Day Dress // The Yorkshire Day Dress // The Water Lillies Day Dress
Similar: Tuckernuck Shirt Dress // Off the Shoulder H&M Dress
What Louis Wore: Similar Quilted Quarter Zip // Target Khakis
The Get Away Outfit
This was the thing we were the most excited about, to be honest.
About three weeks before our engagement session, Louis purchased a new car and we knew that it had to be a part of these photos. In the same way that we’ll remember this season, we’ll remember summer days driving with the top down in the convertible (kindly named Estie).
The Location: If you’ve been on the way to our house, you’ve probably used the phrase “We’re passing the airport.” Right around the corner from our house, there’s a small, private airport with some vintage airplanes and it’s the biggest landmark in the area. Sometimes, Louis and I would go over to look at planes, have little picnics or look at the horses in the fields near by.
We called over to the manager and they agreed to let us take some photos – even offering to take a plane or two out for us. Unfortunately, it was going to rain, so no plane, but we knew that there was a chance we were going to get a little dirty, we wanted to wear things that looked like our best, but we weren’t afraid of getting messy.
My Outfit: I wanted something that felt fun and whimsical and bridal – when scrolling on Pinterest, I fell in love with several dresses that I saw in urban elopements.
My Exact Dress // Dress I Ordered, Loved & Didn’t Wear // Dress I Ordered & Returned
Similar Dress // Similar Dress // Similar Dress // Similar Dress // Similar Dress // Similar Dress
What Louis Wore: Now, Louis has a couple of suits that he owns, but this was a relatively affordable suit from JM Haggar!
Tips:
- Don’t take yourself too seriously! If you’re laughing and giggling throughout the shoot, the pictures will look great – there are countless photographers who would tell you they’ve overheard Louis and I whispering dirty jokes to make the other one laugh on camera.
- Look for images that you love on Pinterest beforehand and show them to your photographer! Louis and I actually looked through Deirdre’s Pinterest specifically to find things that were inspiring to her and inspiring to us.
- Pick locations and things that have meaning! It will help you narrow down spots that give a special story to each photo.
Remember, these photos are about this season in your life – it’s not about how they’ll look online or being perfect.
