It's the most, wonderful time, of the year...

Now while you may be thinking I'm referring to the holidays, I'm actually talking about engagement season! This is the time of year most couples decide it's finally time to tie the knot, and with that comes a lot of planning. We get a lot of couples asking for recommendations for their engagement session, so we compiled a list of some of our top tips and tricks!

1. Go Somewhere You Love

How did you meet? What do you like to do together? What location would reflect your personalities?

These are all things to consider when choosing a location for your session. We've hear a lot of unique stories over the years of how our couples met and we aim to choose locations that will reflect their personality. For example, if your both nature lovers and spend the weekends hiking, a creative session at your favorite trail would be fun and every time you look at those photos it would be a direct reflection of how you two love to spend your time together. For more recommendations on some of our favorite locations scroll down to the bottom!

2. Consider Professional Hair and Makeup for Your Shoot

If you're not comfortable doing hair and makeup on yourself for your photo session, getting a blow out and professional makeup can really go a long way and make you feel great on the day of the shoot. Professional makeup artists know what type of foundations and powders don't reflect the light from our lighting equipment, leaving you looking flawless in all your images. If your lost trying to find the perfect hair and makeup professionals, scroll down to the end to see some of our recommendations!

3. Bring Outfit Changes

All our engagement sessions are 1.5 hours long, which is plenty of time to change your look. While we definitely would recommend having a dress option, a casual look in jeans or cozy sweaters looks super cute too! Having a consultation with your photographer to go over the location for the session and what colors they recommend would photograph well in that environment definitely helps. Most importantly though, bring options you know your comfortable in, and maybe do a bit of ironing to the clothes before the session!

4. Clean Your Ring

When people hear you are engaged, you can guarantee they are zooming in on the rock you got! To best showcase your new addition, make sure you clean it so it really sparkles! Besides this, make sure to bring any other important details you would want to include in your session.

5. Relax, and Have Fun!

We mean it! Your engagement session should be an experience that you can look back on and smile. Don't be afraid to laugh or dance because those images will not just be your favorite photos, but also your friends and families favorite. We promise those images will have everyone sighing and saying to themselves #couplesgoals.

Hair and MUA Recommendations:

Favorite Locations

Skylands Manor & Ringwood Botanical Gardens

Central Park

Asbury Park Boardwalk

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum