Now that you are engaged, booking your Austin engagement photos is a must! While the countdown to your big day might seem like it’s slowly ticking down, your engagement will go by in the blink of an eye. The engagement stage is not just time for wedding plans and preparation; it’s also a sweet time to draw closer together and prepare for your next adventure as newlyweds. Life gets hectic, but use this important chapter in your story to slow things down.

If you’re looking for ways to make the most of your engagement and connect on a new level, try making a fun engagement bucket list together!

Fun Engagement Activities for Your Austin Wedding Photos

• Learn a new hobby together
• Work on a project (other than wedding plans)
• Take a road trip
• Travel overseas
• Go on a vacation (no wedding planning!)
• Attend pre-marital classes
• Take cooking or dance classes
• Get to know each other’s families better
• Join an interest group together (like a book club)
• Go on a double date
• Exercise or play a sport together
• Adopt a pet
• Start a dinner or game night club with friends
• Book an engagement session

When to Book Your Engagement Session

Next to selecting your venue and wedding date, finding your wedding photographer is high on the priority list. Aim to schedule your engagement session about 4-6 months before your wedding date. (Exceptions apply, especially if you’re on a tighter timeline and you have flexibility in planning your engagement session. Booking a weekday session might open up some more options, too.) However, if you can do your engagement session well in advance, that will give you time to put together save the dates, prints, wedding guest book, or other displays.

The Importance of Hiring the Right Engagement & Wedding Photographer

Your wedding photographer will play a crucial role in your wedding day and the events leading up to it. The photographer is one of the few vendors who will interact with almost everyone involved in your wedding day, so you want to make sure the chemistry is there and you love who you select. Consider their experience, portfolio, pricing, personality, communication, and professionalism. You will spend a lot of time with your photographer, so you want to ensure you mesh well.

A phone call is great, but working with your photographer in person will help you book your photographer with confidence. Scheduling an engagement session is one of the best ways to do that! (In fact, we already have a blog post on ‘Why a Professional Engagement Session is a Must.’) Your engagement session will help you sync up with your photographer before your wedding day.

If you’re just starting out in this process, here are a few ways to nail your engagement session and get photos you can’t wait to show off!

How to Prepare for Your Austin Engagement Photos

Find Your Photographer

If you aren’t sure how to start planning for your Austin engagement photos, take a breath and contact your photographer first. Your engagement photographer can help you iron out all those details from beginning to end.

But first, you need a photographer.

Ideally, you want the same photographer for your engagement, bridal (if applicable), and wedding photos. When you hire the same photographer for all of your sessions, you:

• Save money with a wedding photography package
• Have someone you trust who is there from the beginning
• Can showcase a consistent photography style for all of your photos
• Feel more comfortable & confident as you get to know each other

At Cory Ryan Photography, we have two experienced lead photographers available for Austin engagement sessions: Cory, founder and lead photographer at Cory Ryan Photography, and Gia, who has been photographing with CRP for the last several years.

View Cory’s Engagement Portfolio.

View Gia’s Engagement Portfolio.

To get a better sense of our photography style and find engagement photo inspiration, follow us on Instagram @coryryanphotography.

Some of our favorite sessions include this funky fun engagement session at Voodoo Donuts in Austin that showcases our bold, colorful, and authentic photography style, and this trendy, urban South Congress Austin engagement session.

Outdoor engagement sessions are always fun because we can move around and explore, but we love an intimate in-home lifestyle engagement session, too! Let us know what you have in mind for your Austin engagement photos, and we can put it together for you.

Select Your Austin Engagement Photo Locations

When looking for your Austin engagement photographer, photography style, experience, and collaboration should influence your decision more than the places they’ve photographed. A good photographer can photograph anywhere, adapting to the lighting, backdrop, and compositional aspects. We have photographed couples and weddings all around Austin and beyond, and we look forward to hearing your vision for your engagement session. However, if you need a few location ideas, you’ll find some popular options below.

We recommend choosing a location that is meaningful to you and representative of your tastes and personality. Do you love the idea of a cozy, intimate in-home session? Or maybe you love downtown Austin’s energy and artistic flair. Are you as obsessed as we are with Hill Country beauty?

Think about places you frequent as a couple—perhaps where you went on your first date or where you proposed. A beautiful backdrop is important, but finding one that means something to you is even better!

Note: If selecting multiple locations for your session, we recommend keeping the commute as short as possible to make the most of our time together. If you want a couple of different looks, we’re happy to recommend a few diverse locations that are still close to each other.

Location Ideas for Austin Engagement Photos

            In-Home Lifestyle Engagement Photos

• Front Steps / Front Porch (for a warm “At Home” feel)
• Kitchen
• Living Areas
• Bedroom
• Backyard / Patio / Pool

            Indoor Engagement Photo Locations

• Bar, Restaurant, Bistro, Brewery, Winery, Coffeeshop
• Museum or Art Gallery
• Book a Vacation Rental
• Historic Site or Building

            Outdoor Engagement Photo Locations

• Gardens or Greenhouse
• Public Park
• Family Property, Estate, or Backyard
• Downtown / Uptown
• Historic District
• University Campus
• Natural Landscape / Wildflowers / Lake
• Hill Country Location (ask us for recommendations!)

Decide What to Wear for Your Engagement Session

There are no hard and fast rules for what to wear or not wear for engagement photos (for the most part…). In fact, a quick search will show you that even photographers disagree on what to wear and NOT wear. However, ideally, you and your partner should shoot for outfits that: 

• reflect your individual sense of style
• coordinate/complement your partner’s attire
• feel comfortable
• are seasonably appropriate (especially for outdoor sessions)
• aren’t so “loud” that the clothing becomes the focal point (the focus should be on you!)

You may have heard patterns and colors are a no-go for photos, but that’s not necessarily true. Subtle patterns and pops of color often look great in photos! You just don’t want something so bright or busy that it overwhelms the pictures.

More ‘What to Wear’ Tips:

Stick to muted tones. Bright, bold colors tend to reflect onto your skin.

Less is more. Minimize patterns and accessories. If one person goes with a design, the other might go with a solid style. And accessories are great in moderation.

Make sure your shoes are clean and match your outfit! Your feet will show in photos.

Opt for tailored styles. Boxy dresses and shirts or oversized attire typically do not photograph well. On the opposite end of the spectrum, very form-fitting or clingy pieces can be a bit uncomfortable and less-than photogenic.

Neutrals are always a safe bet! Earth tones or muted tones with neutrals always look great and ensure that your faces, chemistry, and body language are the focal points of the photos.

Mid-length or long dresses look great! Dresses that accentuate your waist and have some movement at the bottom photograph well and don’t feel restrictive.

Layer up! Texas is hot—most of the time. So, layers aren’t typically ideal for those of us in the South. However, if your engagement session falls between late fall and early spring, layers can help keep you warm without donning a coat for your entire session. Plus, you can mix and match clothing pieces to change your look and stay comfortable.

Get Your Hair, Makeup, and Nails Done

Even if you lean more toward the natural or minimalist side of beauty (me too!), you could use your engagement session to get a feel for your hair and makeup artist.

For your hairstyle, I recommend keeping it simple for your engagement session. Some ladies like to start with their hair down and then pull it up during a wardrobe change to get two different looks. You would be amazed how a simple hairstyle change can create a whole new vibe!

For makeup, whether you go soft and natural or a little bolder, ask your artist for something that will fit your style and photograph well. I always recommend a bit of lip color, even if it’s light, to define your lips in photos (you’ll be amazed at the difference a pop of lip color makes)!

Nails and hands are the same way. Since this is your engagement session, your hands will probably be in the photos (men too!) No worries if you aren’t a regular at the salon. You can stick to a classic, minimalist look while giving your hands a little TLC before the session. Don’t forget to clean and trim your nails and apply moisturizer as needed.

Note: Even if you book your engagement session in the middle of winter, your gorgeous, natural skin tone is always perfect as-is. Please skip the spray tan before your engagement session. Even the subtlest spray tans can give off an orange hue in photos under natural light.

Clean Your Ring(s)

In your engagement session, you’ll definitely want to show off your ring, which is a visual symbol of your love and commitment to one another in your engagement session. Take it to your jeweler for a cleaning right before your session, or use a soft-bristle toothbrush and gentle toothpaste to get it sparkling clean (don’t forget to put the stopper in your sink drain first if you do it yourself—you don’t want to be calling a plumber right before your session!)

Leave Posing & Composition to Your Photographer

Once the photographer, day & time, location, outfits, and spa day are in place, all you have to do is sit back and relax! Feel free to share engagement photo styles or poses you like as inspiration finds you, but there’s no need to plan out your session or create a shot list—we’ve got you! Think of your session as a fun date day (maybe even dinner after since you’re all dressed up?)

I’ll ask questions, chat with you, and offer posing guidance as needed. Do your thing while Gia or I capture you both in your truest form together! We’ve photographed couples all around Austin and the surrounding areas, and one of our favorite things is finding fun compositions and poses to showcase your relationship authentically. Get ready to have some fun with your Austin engagement photos!

Austin Engagement Photographers

Need location recommendations, outfit guidance, and photo inspiration for your Austin engagement photos? We’ve got you covered! Get in touch with us to start planning your session.

Cory Ryan Photography | Wedding & Event Photographers in Austin, Texas

Hi! We are Cory and Gia, your professional Austin wedding and event photographers, here to capture your most significant moments and smallest details. We specialize in everything from intimate celebrations to blow out bashes. As experienced Austin photographers, we’re more than the gals with the cameras. When you book with us, we’re all in, ready with tips, tricks, and local recommendations in hand!

Great photography happens when you’re living your best life, so we’re here to make it possible. You can find us corralling wedding parties, hopping onto last-minute changes (thanks, Texas weather), and being your ultimate hype gals who capture your best angle every time—even at the end of the night. 😉

Learn more about who we are and what we do on the About Us page, and view our Portfolios by category.