moments.

what to wear for your engagement session

Have I mentioned to you yet how much I love the engagement session?  You might remember from last week that I think there are so many wonderful reasons to celebrate your love in this way.  Documenting this fun new adventure together can be meaningful, but also a really great way to rock it out for a fun and more casual date night! 

After we touch base about the location of your engagement photo session and discuss all the fun details that make it all about you as a couple, the next question is usually about what to wear to the session. So, I've compiled a few tips and tricks that will help you feel incredibly "you" for your love-y dove-y close-up!

Let's start by going over some basics.  Feel free to bring a couple outfits - usually one that's dressy and another that is more casual.  (If you'd like, you can even bring a few options and I can help you decide on the spot what might photograph well.)  

 { B E  Y O U! }

• It's all about you!  You are the subjects that matter most in these photos.  
• Make sure you feel comfortable and your outfit represents your personality.
• If yellow is your favorite color... that's a part of your trademark look.  So, wear it! 

{ D R E S S  for the L O C A T I O N and in the S A M E  S C A L E }

• Choosing "dressy" and "casual" outfits can be one thing, but you'll also want to make sure your outfit fits with the location.  
• If we're photographing in a field, you may not want to wear a ballgown.  Or, you may not want to wear ripped up jeans if we're hanging out at the city capitol building with stunning gothic columns.
• You'll also want to make sure that you and your fiance are dressed for the same occasion.  Find a balance between comfort and the style you're hoping to achieve.  If you're a fashionista, help your fiance find an outfit that fits the scale of your outfit.  
• Ballgown = tux.  Jeans = jeans/summer-y maxi dress.  You get it! 

I've taken some time to pull together a few looks that I think work for a more 'dressy' look in a variety of locations here:  

Engagement Session - Dressy Outfits by robynphoto on Polyvore

[1] Around town, cafe, country/field = just change up the shoes!  
[2]  Super dressy! Your favorite date night hang out - the theatre, historical or architectural building, or a super chic hotel lobby.  
[3]  Dressy casual - on the beach, in a field, or enjoying a summery afternoon outside.

{ E N J O Y some C O L O R }

• Rich and darker colors are always slimming, but don't be afraid of pops of vibrant color too! 
• Color can happen in a variety of ways.  Bring it in through a subtle pattern or jewelry or make it part of your whole look.  
• Don't be afraid of bolder patterns, but make sure that you're wearing the clothes and they aren't wearing you.  In other words, don't wear pattern for the sake of wearing pattern.  Make sure you're the star and you feel extra fabulous in whatever you wear! 

{ F L A T T E R vs C O M F O R T ... or maybe B O T H! }

• Leave the "need to lay down to zip" jeans at home, and make sure that you're wearing something you can move around in.  If you avoid clothes that hug curves you're not best friends with, you'll feel super comfortable in your skin and your clothes. 
• Consider what time of year it is and make sure to dress for the weather.  If you're unsure of the weather, wear layers.  
• Okay... I know I just said to be comfortable, but avoid the ultimate comfort - jersey material.  It's an amazing little architect of undesirable curves in photos... and remember, I've got your back.  I want you to loveloveLOVE these photos. 
• At the end of the day, if you choose an outfit that flatters your body, you'll feel super comfortable and super fabulous.  You really can have the best of both worlds sometimes! 

For a more casual look, you can go for a flowy dress or dress up dark wash jeans with a variety of looks and accessories.  Here are a few options I put together for some summer sessions... 

{ S P L U R G E   a  L I T T L E }

• There is something really fun about debut-ing a new outfit that you feel great in with your engagement photos.  It's just a little extra bonus to the excitement of the day! 
• If you're investing your time in this session, you want your photos to be extraordinary.  If you're unsure of what to wear, this is your excuse to go splurge a little.  You may even find some inspiration to wear that cute dress you already have in your closet that has yet to go anywhere! 

{ A C C E S S O R I Z E with your B E S T   F E A T U R E! }

• In other words... get ready to smile!  
• The best accessory you'll bring to the session is your love for each other.  Get ready to rock it!

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If you're looking for some more style ideas, you can check out some more engagement posts on the blog here.  Or check out more on Pinterest. 

No matter what, you're going to look fabulous for your engagement session, and you're going to have a ton of fun!  Don't forget to set up some dinner plans afterward because you'll be wearing your best accessory: Love.  

XO,
Robyn  

Top 10 Reasons for Scheduling an Engagement Session

The word "engagement" just gets me excited! To be engaged. To engage.  The word just grabs you and pulls you in.  To a conversation.  To a relationship.  To a new adventure.  

For a couple, this whole experience is new.  It's like a club that you're welcomed into.  You get to say all the cool words like "fiance".  You get to start grabbing all the bridal magazines off the bookstore shelves.  And you get to start planning a very special day that celebrates your love for one another - that celebrates that feeling you get when he's next to you.  The feeling when you hear his voice.  You get to throw a party for that feeling.  And, everything about that is very cool.  

So, before the wedding day, as you plan all the details and invite all the guests, it can be important to many couples to capture the feeling that goes with it all.  The right now.  The new adventure!  Engagement sessions are a great way to do just that, and I'm excited to share my Top 10 reasons for scheduling an engagement session with you here on the blog today. 

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10. It's a great opportunity to hang out with me!  For many of my couples - especially destination couples, this might be the first time we're meeting.  We've become great acquaintances on the phone or online, but meeting in person is a great opportunity for me to see your love in person.  Creating a personal connection with each my of couples is important to the boutique's mission of delivering quality moments that are completely you.  This session is a really fun excuse to strengthen that friendship - whether it's the first time we hang out or the tenth. 

9. Love captured in the 'every day'. Because that's how you love.  You love each other every day.  These are fun, casual portraits that showcase the hand holding, the embraces, the smiles that you feel to your core on a regular basis.  You even get to wear more casual clothing and accessories that keep you comfortable and totally 'you'. 

You know those dreamy love sequences in chick flicks where they show the couple running, jumping, snuggling, kissing, and laughing together in a ten-second clip?  Well, it's kind of like that.  Instead, we'll spend about 1-2 hours capturing all of those moments, and I promise the experience, the feeling, and the images of those moments afterward will have you loving your 'every day' love for much longer than 10 seconds. 

8. It's an excuse to go shopping! That's not to say that you have to go shopping.  It's just a great excuse if you'd like one.  "But, honey! I needed these new Jimmy Choos for our engagement session..." You're welcome. <3 

7. You get to feel like you had some 'practice' before the wedding day.  Some couples work out their bodies before the wedding day.  True.  But, let's not leave those facial muscles out!  Okay - you won't just be smiling all cheesy for two hours... But, when you get down to it, the engagement session is really fun practice before the wedding day to feel more comfortable with showing your affection in front of the lens.  

6. You learn to trust me. It's also a great opportunity for you to see how I work before the wedding day.  Because we'll have so much fun, it's an opportunity to get that much more excited about the wedding day!  Most couples rarely get in front of the camera, if ever, and even more rarely in front of a professional lens.  So, it's a great opportunity for you to become more comfortable with me.  And, don't worry, I'll help you every step of the way to make sure you're having fun and looking completely and utterly fabulous in love.  

5. You get really awesome 'casual' portraits that make you feel extra stunning! Who doesn't want more photos of them and their sweetheart looking great and totally in love?!  Right.  Perhaps it goes without saying, but these photos, because they're more casual than the wedding photos, are great for more 'every day' uses - like your Save the Dates, a guest sign-in book for the wedding, or as wall art for your home.  

4. Great opportunity to 'try out' other vendors! Because the engagement session is usually months before the wedding, you're probably still looking for other members of your All Star Wedding Team lineup to use for the big day - like, say, makeup and hair artists.  This session is a great opportunity to try out a make up artist and hair stylist that you're considering before completely committing.  As an extra bonus, you'll look and feel fabulous!  So, you'll have photographs of you looking and feeling fabulous!  (You may remember this tip from my wedding day tips!)

3. Photos of your sweetie-pie!  Whether or not you enjoy being in front of the camera, I bet you don't mind looking at your fiance, right?  How about a photo of your fiance looking particularly dapper and smiling from ear to ear because he's looking at you?  Jackpot. 

2. It's the ultimate date night.  Someone's giving you the excuse to be completely in love and to show your affection toward each other for a good chunk of time.  You get to hold hands, embrace, kiss, laugh, whisper, sigh... and no one's telling you to stop.  You're all dressed up and looking super stylish.  Your hair and makeup looks great (that makeup artist and hairstylist are totally hired after today!) and you feel so unbelievably gorgeous! (Moreso than usual.) 

It's a great time to plan a night out on the town!  Grab some dinner and paint the town red, because you're in love.  And you're stunning!  

1. You'll leave even more in love than when you arrived.  That's my goal when I get you in front of my camera at this session to celebrate your engagement.  I want the session to be fun and be an all around great experience for you as a couple. You'll have basically just focused all your attention on the love of your life for over an hour.  So, be warned that you might be leaving on a bit of a 'love high'.  

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No matter your reason for scheduling the session, I'm honored to share the engagement experience with the majority of my wedding couples.  It's always such a tremendous opportunity for all of us to connect. The engagement is truly an adventure - one to be celebrated for all that it is.  So, many congratulations again! 

Cheers!
Robyn 

P.S. A celebration calls for balloons! 

 

wedding season 2012...3 - 2 - 1!

A moment that seemed so far away last fall when I jumped into full-time with the business feet first (with my nerves twisted into knots!) is now here.  I'm so very excited to get started with this wedding season because it's already so much more than I expected.  I continue to be blessed with phenomenal clients who trust me with their wedding day memories and are oh-so-fun to work with, too!

I'm honored to be surrounded by creative teams - florists, planners, caterers, cake artists, etc. - who do stellar work and continue to inspire me with their art on the wedding day.   I had the recent pleasure of working on a styled shoot with the other Stylistas in Chicago that has me completely motivated and ready to push myself this season.  And, I have the love and support of family and friends who continue to tell me to follow my dreams.  

Photography is both my passion and my profession.   And I continue to be so humbled by this opportunity to combine the two. 

That said, no new adventure is complete without the proper attire.  So, I made sure to finally go shopping (with the twenty minutes I had in between meetings on Monday) for this season's wedding shoes!  

Wedding day shoes are crucial.  While I can and have rocked heels all day before, Lord knows that I shouldn't.  So, the goal was to find something flat, durable, cushion-y and able to withstand the beating I will inevitably give them.   Basic, but stylish enough to go with any of my professional wedding-day ensembles.  They must withstand jumping up on top of walls to get the right angle and puddle-jumping when the weather turns; all while remaining quiet on a cathedral's marble floors. 

I came across these leather Kenneth Cole Reaction flats at Von Maur and am hoping for the best. 

It all begins this weekend.  I've got wedding schedules in hand, the right shoes for my feet, and the inspiration and tools to rock another great wedding season!  As you can imagine, it will be go-go-go until Thanksgiving (at least), but I am super excited to experience every bit of it and promise to reflect on a really great season at the end of it all.  Make sure to stay tuned to see some really fabulous couples.  Their love is the reason why I do what I do. 

So... 3... 2... 1... 

Here we go! 

guest post ::: wedding moments + new adventures

This time of year always gets me so excited!  A new wedding season is about to start and I begin to reflect about where I have come as a person, photographer, and with the business.  It's always so thrilling to check in with my brides - some that were friends before, and some that became friends throughout the wedding process.  I particularly enjoyed checking in with Alexandra Smith recently to congratulate her on the beginning of a new adventure - the birth of their first child!  

When I first began photographing weddings, I was thrilled to work with friend and design expert, Ian MacDonald as we both built up our individual businesses.  Alex was also a longtime friend, a brilliant fellow artist, and decided to take a chance on us.  I am still so grateful to have had the opportunity, and still remember how their day was filled with so much love for each other, family and friends, and for their faith in God.       

As Alex and husband, Josh, are expecting a little one, she reflected to me how their wedding images still mean a lot to them.  So, I've invited Alex to reflect a bit more on the blog today.  Enjoy!  

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We are expecting our first child and just recently celebrated the news with family that we are having a little boy!!  I have never seen Josh so excited!  Even at our wedding he was excited but way more nervous!  Now we get to start recording memories of our little boy-to-be!  Ah!

I just recently finished putting together 3 whole albums of Josh and my pictures, from childhood to dating to marriage and after.  And of course, our little boy’s first pictures (sonograms) are included in these!  What was wonderful about this project was being able to look back over all these memories of how Josh and I got to where we are today. 

We believe God put it all together and used our photographer friends to capture the beginning of it all so wonderfully!  I remember feeling so beautiful on our wedding day and the pictures help bring it clearly to mind every time.  More than that, we can easily remember all the events of the day because of the people and things captured for us.  

We still love sharing our {wedding} album with new friends, too!  And it certainly gives us incentive to continue our story through pictures.  Now, we sure can’t wait to see who Baby Smith #1 looks more like!  If only my talented friends lived close by to capture the future for us too…

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Alexandra Smith is a mixed media artist who works and plays in Oregon with her loving husband, Josh. She is a dear friend and a wonderful artist, and I invite you to check out her remarkable visual pieces here. If you like what you see, you can also support her on Facebook.  Cheers!  

styled shoot ::: lightology, chicago

The concept of "moving mountains" comes to mind when I think about the amazing Saturday that came together because of an amazing group of people.  A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of connecting with a wonderful group of fellow photographers...and we had an idea.  And, the idea grew.  And we didn't move any mountains physically... but afterward, we couldn't help but stand back in awe and think about the process, the progress, and everything that happened in between.  

Last weekend, our idea grew into a styled photo shoot on a rooftop in the middle of the Windy City based on a Tiffany-style modern-meets-nature theme we each brought focus to.   A feat that generally takes months to plan took us only two weeks.  So, perhaps for me, now on the back end of the process,  "awe" feels like an understatement.  

I'm so gracious to have found these new individuals - these new friends - who have each brought an unimaginable amount of excitement for their craft to this process.  To say that I'm still on a "photo high" is also an understatement.  Not that I ever felt like I was alone in my passion for this industry and for my craft, but the opportunity to share it with others who felt the same was an experience all its own.  So, to my fellow "Photography Stylistas" (yeah, we gave ourselves a name because we're cool like that), before I even show any images from the day, I just want to say thank you!  I'm so incredibly excited to see where our friendships and individual businesses go from here.  Have I said "excited" enough yet?  I'm sosoSO excited by this experience!  

Lightology and its entire staff - from Owner, Gregory Kay to their Marketing Director, Lindsay Wilps, and even to Oscar who helped us get all our stuff outside before they closed - were such incredibly gracious and welcoming hosts!  Allowing us full reign of their rooftop deck for the day was an opportunity we did not expect but were so remarkably humbled to have had.   What a stunning space!  (If you need super fabulous or unique lighting for your home or an incredible view of the city... this. is. the. place!)

So, here we go!  This is what we came up with through our crazy (exciting!) process.  

Oh!  I should mention real quick that Mother Nature was incredibly gracious as well.  She spit a little rain at us earlier in the day, but by the time we were ready to go it was overcast and dry.  She even helped out with the decor a bit... the bark and branches came from our yard after the wind blew over part of a tree.  So, a quick shoutout to the real lady in charge. 

Our stunning models for the day were the lovely Melissa + Mike who are not only married in real life, but look at each other like this in real life all. the. time.  Their smiles were so gosh darn infectious, too! 

Special thanks to the extra fabulous Christine Brizendine - one of the Stylistas! - who designed all of the paper goods.  If you're looking for an eye for design projects, Dabble Me This is your girl!  

I'm kind of in love with how our lemonade area turned out... but I suppose I'm just a real sucker for a lemon and mint floating around in my beverage glass. 

Melissa and Mike... M&M's!

We were so happy to have a Daisy Cake Boutique creation on our cake table.  

I love being able to photograph all the many details that come together for wedding days, and this project was such a wonderful opportunity for me do just that.  Not only is it fun to practice in this kind of environment, but having a time limit to photograph details forces me to look at things in a different way.

In addition, I am thrilled to work with such forward thinking brides who love putting all kinds of love and details into their day.  So, this makes for a fun way for me to share ideas - whether its putting mint in the lemonade, or a color scheme choice, or just that extra touch.  The details enhance the special moments that much more!  

This canary diamond brought to you by Ultra Diamonds!  They were so gracious to lend all of the super stunning bling to the shoot. 

Mike was rocking out these gazes at Melissa all day, and I'm so glad to have captured this one.  It literally kills me.  Literally. 

...and Melissa.  Oh, where do I begin?!  Gorgeous. Stunning.  She made the day so much fun with her brilliant laugh and incredible attitude in front of the lens.  Thanks for rocking it out, girlie!

This is about the time in the day where the light went to the next level.  Is there anything better than being on top of a beautiful rooftop in the middle of the city as the sun begins to go down?  (Um. The answer is officially no.) 

What an incredible day!  If I haven't said it enough yet, I want to send another big thank you out to the women who were just as excited and committed to put this together as I was.  While there were a bunch of moving parts, they all moved together beautifully and I'm so thrilled to call each of you friend. 

To our gorgeous models for the day, thank you for your love for one another!  It's incredible to photograph couples that are so in love, and you were certainly in love.   

To our incredible vendors who contributed their space, time, and energy into this shoot... we are so very humbled by your creativity and hospitality.  Lightology is already such an artistic space, and we were thrilled to be creators on our own in that environment.  

I want to end with this moment between Melissa and Mike.  These are the moments that mean the most to me on a wedding day, and are the reason I love doing what I do.  

Until the next time... Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!
Robyn

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Location /// Lightology (with assistance from Lindsay Wilps, Media Marketing Manager and Owner, Gregory Kay); Rings /// Ultra Diamonds; Paper Goods: Dabble Me This - Photography, Design, Painting; Succulents /// Culver's Garden Center and Greenhouse - Marion, Iowa; Cake /// Daisy Cake Boutique; Dessert Minis /// Whole Foods Market; Florals /// Whole Foods Market; Linens/ Napkins /// Freehling Pot and Pan Co., World Market

Hair /// JR Style Chicago; Makeup /// Jenessa Blaine, Certified Makeup Artist (jenessablaine@sbc.global.net); Dress Designer - Melissa: Watters Bridal

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Decor + Styling /// The Photography Stylistas - Chicago

Robyn Schwab | www.robynphoto.com | www.facebook.com/RobynPhoto
Christine Brizendine | www.dabblemethis.com
Nina Harwick | www.ninaharwick.com | www.facebook.com/nharwickfoto
Zipporah Kapambwe | https://www.facebook.com/ZipporahKPhotography
Jill Tiongco | https://www.facebook.com/JillTiongcoPhotography
Jenny Chavez | www.hflphotography.com
Keren Chookaszian | https://www.facebook.com/kerensaraiphotography?ref=ts
Dominique Strom | www.facebook.com/DominiqueStromPhotographyDesign
Nikole Burrell Fasoranti | http://nikolemariephotography.wordpress.com/