Aaah! So you're getting photos professionally taken together for the first time, and you want to make sure you look super cute, right?! While choosing the right outfits for your engagement session might sound like a daunting task, it's actually pretty simple! To help get the ideas flowing, I'm sharing my top 5 tips on what to wear, what to avoid, and how to dress in a way that makes you feel like a rockstar!

This wedding was 8.5 years in the making, y'all! And holy moly, it was super emotional. We started off the day at the STUNNING Terranea Resort, where Joel also proposed to Heather! I absolutely love their proposal story! Joel surprised Heather with a spa day at Terranea and had her friends pretend they were taking her out for dinner afterwards. He suggested that they should get a drink before she headed out for dinner; and on their way to get a drink, he dropped down on one knee on a bluff over looking the ocean in Palos Verdes!

Featured on the Perfect Palette!

First things first, y'all.... LOOK AT THAT BOUQUET.  No really... Look! Never in my life did I think I expect to see an ARTICHOKE in a bouquet... but, then again, I haven't worked with the sheer floral brilliance that is Tabitha of Winston & Main. It's definitely one of my favorite bouquet designs to date, and it fit so perfectly in with this intimate winery wedding inspiration at the beautiful Triunfo Creek Vineyards in Agoura Hills!

When Velvet Alley Events and I started dreaming up this shoot, we were sure on a couple of things:

1.) We had to have it at Triunfo Creek Vineyards

2.) Wedding details that rocked Pantone's color of the year, ultra violet, were a must.

Triunfo Creek's property is massive, but we chose to use their gorgeous fireplace inside their winery as a focal point for many of our ideas. The slightly unfinished look of the brick fireplace adored with colorful florals created a scenery that was intimate, yet bold. View some of my favorite images below, and scroll to the bottom to see all the amazing vendors involved!

Ahhhh the Millwick. Without a doubt, it's one of my favorite wedding venues in downtown Los Angeles. I mean, who doesn’t love a beautifully curated urban jungle in an industrial style warehouse in the middle of DTLA?! If your dream is to get married amongst a bunch of plants and you’re into cute, unexpected details (hello gorgeous gold wall!), this is definitely your wedding venue. PLUS it gets gorgeous light for photos, and it's close to a bunch of really cool murals in the Arts District for even more photo opts. Was I in photographic heaven? Yes. Did I scout the Arts District prior to this wedding in hopes of finding a rooftop with skyline views of the Los Angeles? Yes. Did I take these newly weds up on said rooftop for some sunset romantics, and thus simultaneously almost retire my career as a Los Angeles wedding photographer because, let’s be real, DOES IT GET BETTER THAN THAT? YES. YES I DID. Just a FYI, I opted not to retire from wedding photography because I still need to photograph at the Millwick’s sister venues Valentine, Grass Room, and the Smog Shoppe!

OMG... How cute are these two?!  This engagement session was just soooo easy to photograph!! Megan & Santiago live in Orange County, so I met them in Chino Hills for their engagement photos. This heat wave in Southern California is NO joke, so a nice tree lined park with lots of shade felt perfect for their summer engagement session! I absolutely adored Megan's breezy floral print dress, which caught the light and wind in the most gorgeous way. But my favorite part of this engagement session? Definitely how this couple joked and played with each other the whole time. That, my friends, is what soulmates do best. Congratulations on your engagement, Megan & Santiago!

AHH! I finally got to do a champagne pop for engagement photos!! I've been wanting to do one for so long!  For Alex & Angela's engagement pictures, they wanted something a bit different from their venue, so we decided to hit an easy hiking trail in Malibu! If you've read any of my blog posts, I'm sure you know that I'm allllll about Malibu engagement sessions. The light there is just seriously unreal, and all the mountain views make the perfect backdrop for photos! These two were so FUN to work with, and I cannot wait to photograph their wedding in downtown LA next year!

Ugh... These two are SO IN LOVE! Photographing their Malibu engagement session was seriously a dream and SO much fun!  Sara & Matt both moved to Los Angeles from New York a few months ago, so they really wanted engagement photos that showed off the beautiful California landscape. Obviously, we had to go to the beach AND the mountains.  Malibu is one of my favorite places to hang out in, so whenever I can convince my clients to drive out there for some romantic photos is a good day! The light there is AMAZING for photographs, and it really makes the perfect location for engagement sessions. For their photo session, we started at Malibu Creek State Park, and then we finished with a gorgeous sunset at El Matador Beach. These two will wed next spring at an old bank in New York... How cool is that?! Congrats, Sara & Matt! It was a pleasure working with you both!

Is Malibu Creek a favorite engagement session location of mine? Probably. But seriously, what's not to love about about a gorgeous mountain view featuring a super in love couple?! Joel proposed to Heather on the beach, and in a couple of months, they will get married in Palos Verdes overlooking the ocean. They wanted to mix it up a bit and get some photos with a little greenery... and Luckily for us, California got a little rain this spring, so Malibu looked so lush for their engagement photos! 

We chose the beach for Ashley & Zach's playful engagement session, because, let's be real... The beach is one of the BEST parts about living in California! These Illinois natives are all about warmth and fun in the sun, so the Santa Monica Beach felt like the perfect choice for their engagement photos. After a pretty cold spring (for SoCal, at least), basically everyone in Los Angeles was out on the beach on this perfectly warm day... So we claimed one of the only open spots on the beach and milked it for all its worth. Choosing just one spot for an engagement photos allowed us to just really focus on the good stuff: their totally adorable chemistry together. Ashley & Zach held their destination wedding just two weeks after these photos were taken. Congratulations, newly weds!

Featured on Wedding Chicks!

Want to know how to make a wedding photographer extremely happy? Plan a crazy fun wedding at a unique venue and hire a bunch of incredible vendors to help create the most amazing atmosphere. Cara & Dan did just that, and their wedding at the Alcazar Palm Springs was definitely one of my favorites of 2017! Their poolside wedding felt like a vacation. Seriously, I felt like I walked into a pool party while on a tropical getaway. They served coconuts to drink, had a delicious donut bar, and even jumped into the pool at the end of the night... wedding attire and all! I absolutely LOVED their floral design (I'm lowkey obsessed with monstera deliciosa.. it's all over my apartment!); and the pops of green, pink, and coral made their day feel like a breath of fresh air. Ready to get away?! Relive some of my favorite moments and details of their day below!