Engagement Photos

Note to Readers:

A couple months ago, my fiance Ben and I took our engagement photos. Since the invitations are out now, a lot of friends have asked me about the clothing we wore in the pics.

Selecting the clothing for these photos turned out to be kind of a challenge for me for a few reasons:

1. I select clothing for photo shoots for a living, so I felt a little bit of pressure to make sure Ben and I were looking good.

2. It was beyond cold when we took these photos, but I didn't want us to be all bundled up in the pictures, so I had to choose style over comfort (and body heat).

3. I wanted us to look fashionable, but not trendy. We will have these photos forever, and I didn't want to look back on them embarrassed about our style in 2010!

So, I played with a few trends, high waisted skirts, skinny tie, skinny jeans, mixing prints, etc., but I tried not to take them too far. I also was on a budget, so I used items from different stores and price points and mixed them in with what we already had.

Would you like to know the details about our looks? I'll tell you anyway!

Look One (above photo):

On me- cardigan from H&M a few years ago, embroidered blouse Anthropologie, belt from Anthropologie sale section ($9.99!), skirt Anthropologie currently in the sale section if anyone is interested, shoes (not pictured) Steve Madden black sequined flats.

On Ben- shirt, tie and pants from H&M a year or two ago, and belt from Hurley from a few more years ago. (We used all things Ben already owned. I wanted to keep his clothing a little bit more on the basic side because mine had a lot of color and prints going on.)

Look Two:

On me- cardigan from Old Navy, blouse from Anthropologie, jeans by Paige Denim from Nordstrom around Christmas, flats from Urban Outfitters a few years ago.

On Ben- shirt and sweater from H&M (Ben gets a lot of his dress shirts and ties from there, because he likes the European Slim Fit shirts. He is kind of picky about the fit of his clothes, sound familiar?) jeans from his own closet I think they are from the DKNY outlet in Vegas, and his shoes are Steve Madden.

So, when selecting photos for engagement photos, family photos, or anything else where you will keep them around for a while, my suggestion is to look current, but not too trendy. Also, although it is nice to wear all new clothes, if you are on a budget, buy a few fun pieces and supplement your basics from what you already have.

All photos by the amazingly talented Jonathan Canlas. I really can't say enough good things about him. He had Ben, who does not like having his photos taken, laughing and smiling the entire time.

Note to Ben-

I can't wait to get married to you in 12 days! I am thinking you are going to like my wedding dress, and I am excited for you to see my biggest fashion moment yet!!!