How to Pick Outfits For Engagement Pictures & Sharing a Few of Ours...
11.29.2016
I follow tons of photographers on Instagram and am constantly seeing adorable pictures of couples and their engagement pictures. When Conner & I got engaged, this was one part I was most looking forward to because who doesn't want dreamy pictures with their significant other. We chose our photographer, the amazing Leigh Elizabeth Photography, and then we started to pick our our outfits. Being someone completely obsessed with fashion, I felt an extreme amount of pressure to pick perfect outfits because I didn't want to wear simple clothing like most people do. I wanted to wear something fun that I felt really described my style- I wanted the pictures to look like us!
Here are a few things that I found helpful when picking out outfits and I'll share some of our pictures as I go..
This first outfit was the hardest for me to decide on. It's quite the story so I'll share. When we originally picked out outfits we thought the weather was going to be freezing so I planned to wear this blue dress but I had Conner in a Button up & Pullover. His button up had a print on it but I felt it was fine with the pullover overtop... that being said the day before our pictures were scheduled it was predicted to be 80+ degrees (Ugh) so I panicked and decided he needed a new outfit. Conner naturally is pretty awkward in front of a camera (but I still love you CB haha!!) so the combination of being hot and not used to a camera made me a little fearful for the fate of our pictures.
So on Tuesday night I drove to the mall on a whim with one of my friends & now bridesmaids so she could help me pick out this navy button up. Gap for the win!!
Overall I love these outfits! When I found my blue dress from Anthropologie I just knew I needed to do everything in my power to make it work for engagement pictures. Couple of tips...
1. Don't Compromise your Style & Who You Are- When I was finding it hard to match Conner I almost changed my outfit to something more simple, but I know that I would have regretted it. I love my outfit and I love the print of my dress. Some people may say we have too much blue but we both love wearing blue so why change because of that!
2. Less is More for Boys- I found that it was easier to dress Conner in something more simple because naturally my outfits look more detailed when you add jewelry or a print. Always start basic with boys because you can always add a pullover or printed sweater.
And now we are too the second outfit... I maybe be a little biased but these pictures just make me swoon. Our photographer did an AMAZING job because by this point I was convinced my hair was flat due to extreme winds and a little rain- somehow she pulled through and made us look amazing.
These outfits were the easiest to choose because we both are casual people so these clothes were mostly already in our wardrobe. I wanted Conner in a pop of color to stand out when we took pictures in a natural location. Couple more tips...
3. Wear What You Already Have- Why go out and buy a new outfit for casual pictures when you can wear things that you already have and love. The boots I'm wearing I probably wear every other day and the top I wear like once a week. Those are my go to clothing and I feel good in them... so why wouldn't I wear them for engagement pictures?!? I wanted these pictures to capture us and what better way than to wear things you wear normally and feel great in. That being said I have a fashion blog to obviously I'm never opposed to a little shopping for a new dress or a great accessory to spice up the outfit!
4. Pick One Person To Wear A Print- For all of these pictures you will notice that either Conner or I are wearing a print but never at the same time. If you want to spice up your outfits but are afraid that it will be too much, just do one print. I love how even though Conner is wearing a bold print in these pictures, it still looks natural and he doesn't stand out too much.
5. Weather Is Un-Controllable-Ahh I can't stress this enough, the weather might not be perfect (or maybe it will and you're just lucky!!) but DON'T worry about it. During our pictures it was windy, rainy, and quite honestly just a yucky night but that doesn't matter. I love our pictures, I love that even if the weather was bad thats not what it's about. Conner & are going to look back at these pictures forever and remember when we were engaged and how special that it.
6. Find a Photographer You Feel Comfortable With- I can't stress this enough, your photographer will play a huge role in how your pictures turn out. When we were deciding I knew this was important because I wanted Conner to feel comfortable, I take blog pictures all the time so I wasn't worried about myself haha! We decided to go with Leigh Elizabeth Photography and it was a great choice- she did my senior pictures and does tons of my friends pictures for senior pics or wedding pics! She was calm during the crazy wearing, easy to talk to, and didn't make either of us feel awkward posing! If you are in the Columbus area and looking for a photographer, I would definitely recommend her.
Hope you enjoyed our photos and a few of my tips for engagement picture outfits. I would love to hear if you have any tips or things you learned from doing engagement pictures.
As always, make sure you're following me on @clothewithloveblog for updates on when I post!
Love Always,
M
A Pop of Color for Fall...
11.09.2016
This blog post will be short and simple but I found this top at Anthropologie on an incredible deal and I thought that it was just too good not to share. Usually I'm not a huge fan of color but for some reason fall colors, I've been loving lately! I love that a simple fall piece such as a flannel could have a cute twist which I think this shirt has due to the style.
It's funny a lot of people ask me all the time, "Maddie you say you found this shirt or that dress on a good deal, well how exactly do you do it because when I go I never find anything?" Leave me a comment below if you would like a whole post dedicated to how I find good deals on clothing and tips for shopping to make it more affordable. Also let me know where some of your favorite places to shop are because I'm always looking for new places :)
Hope you enjoyed this outfit!
Love Always,
M
P.S. My exact top is sold out online (BOOOO) but I will link a bunch of other fun anthro blouses & other plaid shirts below!
P.S. My exact top is sold out online (BOOOO) but I will link a bunch of other fun anthro blouses & other plaid shirts below!
Top 3 Tips for Picking a Wedding Venue
11.04.2016
Ahhh I'm super excited, this is my first official wedding post on the blog & hopefully there will be many more to come. Since the moment we got engaged I'm going to admit, I felt a slight pressure to pick a wedding venue quickly. With everyone getting married around me I was afraid that among the small list of dates that were even possible for us, venues wouldn't have them or people would take them.
Pretty quickly after we got engaged we started emailing venues and starting to talk through what we wanted. Let me tell you, this is one part of wedding planning that to be honest wasn't really that fun for me. BUT the good news is you can learn from my mistakes and hoepfully these tips will help you when you're picking a venue for your wedding!!
1. While it's good to know a time of year and dates that you know have conflicts, don't get your hopes set on dates only to find that venues you love don't have them. One of the hardest parts for me was narrowing it down to 3-4 dates that we wanted as options and then getting shot down almost everytime by venues that were already booked! We origionally didn't think about a Friday wedding (but more on that later) so when we opened our minds up to the possible dates the venue had we were able to find something we really loved.
2. A beautiful venue won't require as much decor! This is something I went back and forth with because like most girls I had a dream of what my wedding would look like. Unfortunatley when I found a venue I loved, it was definitely tighter in our budget. When comparing it to other venues we considered, I realized that a beauitufl venue will require less decor and so costs can be cut in other ways. Will I have as many flowers? probably not! Will I have as many cute decorations? probably not! But will I be happy with my pictures because I think my venue is beautiful as is? Yes I definitely will!
3. Stay true to who you are! This is a HUGE one and if I could give one piece of advice it's to go with your gut. I will include some pictures at the end of our venue and a potential venue we considered when making this decision. We toured two venues in one day and the second one we toured was gorgeous and it fit our wedding so much better in certian ways but I just kept thinking about the first one. We talked pros and cons of both but when it came down to it, the first venue was us and the second was just a gorgesous venue that just didn't fit either of our styles. You might be tempted into choosing something that isn't necessarily you but I would encourage you to stick to who you are and how the venue makes you feel when you're there!
When it comes down to it that's the place you're going to marry the love of your life (swoon!!!) and so you should be able to picture it happening at that venue.
This first venue is a beautiful venue called HighLine Car House in downtown Columbus. While we didn't choose it, if you live in Columbus and love the urban wedding feel- this should definitely be on your list to look at!!
The pictures below are from the venue that we are getting married at next year. It's the Franklin Park Wells Barn in Columbus, Ohio. We will have our ceremony under a big white tent in the back gardens and then our reception in this beautiful barn.
Hope you all enjoyed this post & that it was helpful for anyone out there planning a wedding in the near future. Definitely stay tuned for more wedding posts and don't forget to follow me on instagram @clothewithloveblog for more updates!
Love Always,
M
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