Engagement photos aren’t a requirement and not everyone wants them, but having an engagement session is a great way to get to get comfortable with working with a professional photographer before your wedding day. Plus you’ll get wall worthy photos of you and your favorite person together that weren’t taken on an iPhone, haha!

If you’re looking for ways to get that effortless lifestyle look, without looking like wax figures, here are 5 places for you to take engagement photos that will highlight your personalities.

1. In Your Home

This is definitely my number one suggestion for couples who tend to be home bodies and prefer to hang out while binge watching Netflix in sweatpants over getting dressed up to go out.  If you love to chill at home with your partner and the thought of coordinating outfits to take pictures in a park you rarely go to sounds exhausting, then consider doing a laid back engagement session at home.  Pro tip: You don’t need to get dressed up to get great photos, because great photos are made by capturing the way you FEEL!

2. At the Beach

Okay, okay, this is really my number one suggestion for anyone who isn’t a home body and doesn’t care where they are as long as they have a fun photo session with vibrant images.  (And selfishly, I love the beach, haha!)  Seriously though, if you’re laid back, flexible and enjoy the carefree vibes that come with the sound of the waves, you cannot go wrong with taking engagement photos on the beach.  There is something about being near the ocean that draws out your emotions and when it’s just you, your partner and your photographer in your own little bubble, you’re bound to get photos you’ll want to frame.

3. Your Favorite Hiking Trail

Love the outdoors, but hate the beach?  (It’s okay, I forgive you, haha!)  If you and your partner love to hike, consider having your photographer hike along with you.  This is especially great for really natural images of the two of you doing an activity you love—not to mention the views and postcard worthy pictures you’ll get!

4. On Vacation

Do you and your fiancé love to travel?  (I know I do!)  If booking plane tickets and wandering the streets of unfamiliar cities is what excites you, then why not document that?!  If you’re a frequent traveler and have a trip planned before your wedding, make the most of it by scheduling time for engagement photos while you’re on vacation.  Bonus: if you book a resourceful photographer like me for your wedding, I’ll totally help you find someone local for your vacation engagement session if it doesn’t make sense for me to travel for it.  Just ask! 😉

5. Your Favorite Local Hangout

Whether you and your partner enjoy book stores, coffee shops, wine bars, or breweries; taking engagement photos in a place where you enjoy hanging out and have made memories in will always be meaningful.  It becomes more than just a place where you like to hang out, because it is literally a part of your love story.

Love these ideas, but feel like you still want something different?  Reach out and let’s chat about ideas and places that fit who you really are!