Engagement Photo Tips/To Dos - Dumbo Brooklyn

HAPPY FALL YALL! HOW are we in NOVEMBER already - and nearing mid-month?! Ready for this season and I thought it would be the perfect time to share some festive photos Chayson and I did during our engagement shoot in NY. Thanks again Griff - once again you are a master at the snaps! We wanted fun memories and sharing with a friend is always the way to go!
Overall we have been busy busy this season - new jobs, travel, weddings, wedding planning...and ALL GREAT things. Going through all my saved snaps and I was thinking I need to get back to the blog life. Sharing a few engagement pic tips we learned along the way.

Engagement Pic Tips/To Dos

1. Plan Ahead of time  - Give yourself enough time to figure out what you want your shoot to look like - A special place? Love a certain look/theme? See something that inspired you? I would say about a month out is when we cracked down on the specifics. I knew for sure we wanted snaps in New York.
2. Book the Photographer - research the area you choose for any well known photographers or friends with skills in the area. If you are in NYC I cannot recommend Griffin Ungar enough! She always does an amazing job. Scrolling instagram hashtags and locations is helpful so you can get an idea on their work/aesthetic.
3. Plan Your Style - Pick a few seasonal and non seasonal looks. I wanted fall but also season-less romantic dressy photos (Central Park Photos) (Brooklyn Bridge Photos) Also one thing Griffin did that I liked was black and white pics. This helps with seasonality and definitely framing for the home once that is in order.
4. Have 1-2 Sessions - If there are several looks this helped break things up without the rush. The morning light worked best for us and we only had so much time before the sun was fully up. We did Friday and Saturday morning around 7am to beat the crowds. 
5. Pack a Bag - Friday/Saturday each had 2-3 looks. I was able to roll my outfits in a bag and add any touch up products (Lipsticks, hair pins, brush). It was pretty windy on the bridge so eye drops helped me out (contact life).
6. Be the Early Bird - YES I cannot stress this enough especially in crowded cities. The only people in the parks/bridge were others doing exactly what we were doing. So it was not bad at all! But best to beat the crowd over all to not feel rushed.
7. Beauty Prep - If you are not comfortable doing your hair and makeup I would look into this when you book the photographer. I did my own hair/makeup but if you need a blowout, friend, or makeup artist help...you go girl! The day before I used crest whitening strips and did a second day no hair wash to help with curls.
8. Save Inspiration- l researched shots on Pinterest (used these here, here, and here) These photos are such great keepsakes and it helps to know exactly what to do when you are there. 
9. Pose vs. Candids - This is super helpful. You might think you know what you are doing until you're in the middle of it. It's good to save some shot ideas + play around and get fun candids. Lol ACT NATURAL canoodling around in the park ;)  I saved a few poses for shot ideas. These here, here, and here sparked ideas) and Griffin helped direct so having a photographer who has shot couples before is also a must.
10. HAVE SO MUCH FUN

NOW What to do with your new snaps?

• Content (Insta Snaps y'all) Wedding Site
• Save the Dates
• Frame At the Wedding
• Shower Decor (LOVE that my friends/family used these at my shower)
• Albums/Frame in your home

Hope this was helpful to any newly engaged couples. 

xoxo 

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Save the Date 2/22/2020

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AND JUST LIKE THAT - Chayson and I have been officially Engaged for 1 year! Wowyyy time sure does fly. Seriously you guys so so much happens in a year and I have to say I am so thankful to have this guy by my side. Between this year’s highs, lows, and in betweens...I don’t know what I’d do without him. Thankful to have someone who completely gets me and to have my person. It’s seriously so crazy that we have been together for 6 WHOLE YEARS (thanks hunnnn for puttin up with me ;P). 

I love this space to document all the life things and this one is a biggieeee - I wanted to post an update on where I am with the whole planning process/how everything is going so far.

In terms of wedding prep, I have to say it’s really started to pick up over the last couple of months. I know everyone has different timelines and all I have to say is thank goodness I’ve had a while. A year and a half and so far I haven’t had any major stressors...yet. I know it’s bound to happen but each month I’ve been working to check chunks off the list. Overall I have to say that taking our time was one of the best decisions we made during the planning process. It’s really allowed me to enjoy all things wedding, chip away at the list (since life can get crazy), and research/get my life together with my mom and  planner. Ongoing things Chayson and I have been working on are meeting with the church with our marriage prep courses (really love this part) and keeping up with my workouts and beauty prep #OperationWeddingReady (details in another upcoming post).

Where am I in the Process? 

July: I said YAS
August: Enlisted the Bride Tribe - Haiiii Frensss

September: Found the Bridesmaid dresses - DEALS and werkkkPerks...I found the most gorgeous beaded dresses

October: Secured the Church/venue ( we started looking around in Sept) 

November: Engagement Photos - We took these last Fall in NYC. Ooohhh AND I absolutely LOVE how they all turned out. Griffin once again did the most amazing job and I am so thankful we were able to capture these shots back in November (See more pics here - Prev Post)

Took a chill break and brainstormed more...Pinterest y'all

March/April Dress Shopping - FOUND IT (Chayson thinks it's pink ;P) LOVE IT! It did take me awhile on this..

April: Found my wedding planner - If you are able to, I seriously recommend having a planner especially when everything else can get crazy. She has been great coordinating and updating us on all things wedding. It's nice to have a point person who just knows all the things when I'm like ???

May: Guest list/gathering addresses - ayeeee

June/July: Save the dates finalized and sent/Website & Registry in the works

July:Beauty/Hair/ Florals reserved

Ok guys...Last weekend we did the MOST amazing cake tasting lol like we ATE SO MUCH. It was definitely our favorite part. The day before we did another tour at our venue to get an idea on decor/florals. It was nice to get another walk through and plot out the timeline of things...eeeek we are both SO SO excited for our upcoming big day. I’m of course looking forward to it but I do love all the fun Pinterest plan times. I made so many boards I just have them all set private so I can get real nuts haha.

NOW TIME FOR CAKE! All I have to say is Cakes by Gina treated us REAL well!

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Our Engagement Photos - Pt1 Central Park

Hi Friends, HAPPY ALMOST NEW YEAR! Ah and finally I have our engagement photos to share with you. Well I've had them for awhile but I wanted to put them together here on a blog post. Griffin did such an amazing job and I cannot believe how special these turned out. Thank you again for such a fun memory. I'm working on a few upcoming posts so you'll start to see them all trickle out hence the Part1 lol  but this is one of my favorite groups. Lol we had a few different looks, but LOVED how these romantic Central Park shots were captured. Gossip Girl inspired - Me? No way ;) xoxo

So although our wedding will be in Texas, I still wanted to add in my city vibes to the planning process. Chayson and I share SO many memories here in New York. It's funny to think that he probably knows the city just as well as I do - We had a lot of back and forth between TX and NY the last couple of years.

In November we planned an extended weekend after a market trip and thank goodness we chose that 11/11 weekend. A week from the day we shot the huge blizzard storm came (bye Fall)! Central Park in the Fall is an absolute dream and I wanted to capture the city at its best. We did our photos early in the morning 7:30 ish on a Friday and Saturday. It helped to break up the days and looks, I wanted to do a couple of casual and dressy styles. We made the trip so I wanted to really take advantage of the time and scenery we had to work with. I know we will have the photos forever and we can use them at the wedding and for save the dates (coming soon). Y'all I will say, it was FREEZING outside - but thankfully no cold sniffles and we had a really fun time together. It was funny at first trying to take pictures and pose around, Griffin was great making it fun and I had a few poses saved on my Pinterest board to help out with all the engagement shot ideas. Also I have to say Chayson did such a great job putting all of his outfits together. BOY HAS STYLE <3

If you are taking pics somewhere away from home, it was nice starting early in the am and then we had the rest of the day to explore. During our weekend stay we did a little Resale retail shopping, caught up with friends, and tried a few new restaurants on our list.
Tiny's and the Bar Upstairs - So cute for a date night and the steak tartar was amazing!

I love that each spot we shot all have fun times tied between us. Chayson and I have done just about every touristy to do in New York. Plenty a many of morning runs, picnics, laying out, and summer market exploring have happened between Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Dumbo. Special spots in one of my favorite cities with my favorite person <3 

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Also I had the most amazing find at Gordmans - I found gorgeous BHLDN dresses at such a great price. You better believe I snagged as many as I could ;) LOVE this pretty grey style - the beading is gorgeous. Similar styles below.