Hello sweet friends!

We are so excited to be here with Invision Events sharing some of our best kept secrets along with our favorite tips to make your engagement session amazing. Being engaged is such an extremely special time in both of your lives and with the craziness of planning a Birmingham wedding it can be easy to forget about taking some time to enjoy this chapter; however, we encourage you to not only cherish it but also to capture these moments.

An engagement session is something that should be fun and we recommend both of you to do your best and make an entire day of it. Take a day off and sleep in late, hire a makeup artist to pamper you a bit, buy that dress you have been looking at for months, and after it’s all done with, GO OUT! Now on to our secret tips that up until now were exclusive to AL Weddings’ brides!

1. Location

Picking a location can be a bit stressful. Sometimes you know exactly what you want and sometimes you don’t. When you aren’t quite sure, rely on your photographer to help you find something that you both love the look of. We always ask our clients to decide if they want urban, suburban, nature inspired or a mix.

When our couples want the urban look our go-to is the Federal Building, which offers amazing tall columns and a beautiful white backdrop, on top of all that it’s still really close to Linn Park which offers some beautiful greenery in the heart of the city. This combination is one of our absolute favorites. A few other places to look at around Birmingham are the brand new Rotary Trail, Highland Avenue, and the gorgeous little Five Points South. All of these offer scenery that shows off the depth and growth of the beautiful city we live in.

Never be afraid to go all out with location! We have traveled to Huntsville, Montgomery, Charleston, and will soon be discovering Tennessee as well as the Gulf Coast. Sometimes what you truly want isn’t here and that’s okay – instead, go somewhere that is completely unique to you.

 

2. Outfits

This is truly the one time you have full permission to dress up as much as you would like, and we totally encourage it! If you have that dress you have been stalking a little longer you care to admit … buy it. You will not regret it and in turn it will make you feel great. And guess what? When you feel great, you look great! We recommend booking your engagement session at least 2-6 months in advance, depending on the time of year and whether or not you are doing photos as part of your save the dates. This is important when it comes to choosing an outfit because you won’t have the pressure of time when you are trying to coordinate outfits together. A wonderful resource that we love (and so will your wallet) is Rent the Runway. It’s a website that allows you to rent top of the line gowns like Kate Spade & Badgley Mischka. So you can look like a million bucks without actually spending it.

Include your groom in finding what he is comfortable with wearing. A lot of our grooms love putting on a nice fitting suit and looking polished and dapper next to the gal of his dreams. Alex’s go-to is Shaia’s. The staff can help you pick out the perfect pieces. If your groom isn’t quite ready to dress to the nines then maybe compromise with a blazer, button down, and some nice pants.

We recommend planning on two outfits for your engagement session. One a little dressy like I have mentioned and another a bit more casual. Also, don’t forget those accessories! Jewelry, watches, shoes, clutch, etc. This goes for you too guys; a bow-tie, pocket square, and watch will really set off your style.

3. Makeup

You probably have already planned on getting your hair and makeup done for your wedding by a professional. Jackie with Rawwbeauty, Molly and Joanna with Irrelephant, Emily Summerville and Lyndsey Richardson are a few of our favorites. The engagement session is the perfect time to plan your trial run with your artist to make sure it’s how you like it. This also gives you a bump in confidence to get in front of the camera and rock it!

4. Checklist

Copy this and check off the items throughout the process and on the day of your session. This will help ease your mind of “Am I forgetting something?” and allow you to keep your stress level to a minimum.

1. 1. Set a date, time, and location with your photographer anywhere from 2-6 months out! Remember you send out Save the Dates 4-6 months before your wedding.
2.  Schedule your hair and makeup appointments as soon as you can and book the trial run for the same day as your engagement session.
3. Choose your dressy outfit / casual outfit & choose his dressy outfit / casual outfit – Be sure to ask your photographer which you should wear first!
4. Pamper yourself. Get your nails done and send him for a fresh clip a week or so before the session.
5. Stop by and get your ring cleaned – it’s time for a close up!
6. Pack your engagement session bag. Equipped with your outfit not being worn, jewelry (ring, earring, necklace, bracelet, watch – for both outfits), flip flops or flats for the in between location walking (if you’re wearing heals), makeup for touchups, water bottle or a coat – depending on the season, and double check all of this with the mister.
7. Plan your date night for afterwards.
8. HAVE FUN!

And now…for the fun stuff! We are so happy to be releasing the BRAND NEW AL Weddings and are also so thankful to the Invision ladies for having us here that we are hosting a giveaway. For any past and current AL Weddings or Invision Events brides please comment on the Facebook post for a chance to win a date night on us! For all future brides, comment on the Facebook post for a chance to win a free engagement session by AL Weddings. You can even share the post and tag a friend. Winner will be announced January 30th via social media.