Congratulations on being engaged!! I think that many people look at engagement as “the time where you wedding plan” but it is something to be celebrated by itself! It’s is indeed the time where you plan for ‘I do’ but it’s also the time in your life where you are officially celebrating that you’ve decided to spend the rest of your days with your best friend and love of your life!

Nowadays, it’s extremely common to have an engagement session to celebrate, as well as to have images to announce your engagement, use for Save The Dates and have a session with your photographer before your big day!

Having shot a fair amount of engagements, these are my top ten must haves for your session!

1. Outfits with movement! A long, flowing skirt or dress can make ALL the difference in the look of your session! Walking, dancing and plenty of spins are all part of the fun poses I use and all of them are so much more dynamic with a little flutter and flow! Even if you’re a more casual person, there are some amazingly gorgeous skirts out there that look fantastic with just about anything!

2. Comfortable shoes! Depending on location and degree of formality, heels are fabulous, but bring flip-flops or flats to walk in between locations!

3. Get your ring cleaned! I’m going to want to see that sparkle, and take pictures of it too! If you’re anything like me, lotion is my best friend and it gets alllll up in my rings!

4. Non-smudge lipstick! My favorite is MAC’s Retro Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick… that stuff goes on and doesn’t budge until you use makeup remover to take it off! Then you can share a couple smooches with your love and not worry about your lips (or then theirs being the same color!)

5. Lashes! Some drama for your lashes looks SO amazing in photos! Even if it’s just adding a couple extra layers of mascara (if you’re not a fan of falsies) to make your eyes stand out, I could not recommend it more! If your session is local to me (Reno/Tahoe) I have quite a few amazing makeup artists to recommend if you want to add some true pampering on to it!

6. Hurricane hair. I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Um, what?’, which is perfectly valid. I love to have your hair ready for any amount of wind! While a soft breeze in long flowing curls looks amazing, whipping wind getting your hair stuck in your face is a little less fun. Keep a couple bobby pins and maybe a hair tie in a clutch… just in case. Alternatively, all the hairspray.

7. A water bottle! It seems like such a simple thing, but if we’ve got an adventure session or mini adventure, I don’t want anyone getting dehydrated! I always carry a bag with me and can carry anything you need.

8. For Adventure Sessions: a change of clothes! Whether we’re hiking in or ready to be in the water (or under a waterfall), definitely bring something to change in and out of- wet clothes are never fun, hiking in a dress isn’t always ideal and I can bet that any necktie involved probably will be taken off or loosened at some point!

9. An ‘Anything Goes’ mindset. Chances are, one of you doesn’t love having your photo taken… which is TOTALLY normal. While we live in a world where cameras are a constant, having your photo professionally taken is a completely different experience. I work so hard for sessions to be fun- and anything goes. I’ll definitely ask you to do some hilarious things to make each other laugh, I’ll ask you to cuddle in close and depending on where we’re shooting, pausing to grab a pint (or crack one open) is always a valid option to calm some nerves or wait for the lighting to be *just* right.

10. Plans for date night! You’re going to look fabulous, spent an hour canoodling with your love and sharing a few smooches… so it’s definitely time to go out and enjoy a night off from wedding planning while you’re already dressed up!