Your engagement season is a phase of life worth remembering, and what better way to capture it than with photos that feel real, raw, and completely you? Documentary-style engagement photography moves away from stiff poses and forced smiles, focusing instead on genuine moments, emotions, and interactions.

Imagine flipping through your engagement photos years from now. Would you rather see posed smiles in a generic setting or images that transport you back to the places, activities, and emotions that defined your relationship in its earlier days? If you want engagement photos that capture your love story and feel like your memories, here’s how to plan the perfect session in three simple steps.

1. Brainstorm

The first step to planning your documentary-style engagement photos is to sit down together and brainstorm ideas. The most important part of this process is to let ideas flow without judgment. Write down everything, even if it’s only half-formed (e.g., “a bar,” “a park”). Use the following prompts to spark inspiration:

List any places that are special to your relationship.

• Where you met
• Where you hit relationship milestones (e.g. first date location, where you became official, first said “I love you,” or where you got engaged)
• Favorite outing locations (e.g. thrift store, coffee shop, brewery, farmers market, hiking trail, etc)
• Favorite date night locations and activities

Example: Regan and Jackson’s favorite date night spot is Taco Bell. We ended their engagement session at the Taco Bell Cantina in Kansas City.

Example: Angelika and Mark are high school sweethearts. During their session, they got to relive a little of their early days when Mark sat behind Angelika and would put his feet up on her desk to get her attention. We spent about 15 minutes here before heading to Loose Park for the rest of their session.

List any shared passions, hobbies, or traditions.

This can be any number of things but here are some that couples have shared with me:

• Grabbing coffee at their favorite coffee shop
• Getting ice cream
• Cooking together
• Shopping at Target (circa 2018)
• Playing board games
• Slow Sunday morning rituals at home
• Playing on their slow-pitch softball team
• Ice skating
• Watching movies at the locally owned movie theater (shout out Screenland Armour)
• Salsa dancing
• Trying new restaurants and breweries
• Going to the arcade
• Hiking with their dogs
• Gaming and reading
• Thrifting
• Cruising on their motorcycles
• Kayaking in the summer

Example: Claire and Colin love getting a sweet treat at an ice cream shop near their house. We spent the first part of their session at The Flying Cow.

Example: Samantha and Ryan play on a slow-pitch softball team together and love living in Kansas City. We started at Liberty Memorial for the city view, then crossed the street to end at the baseball diamond.

List any places, activities, or ideas you’ve had in mind for your engagement photos.

Before you started brainstorming, did you have a vision for your engagement photos? What did that vision include?

Example: Natalie and Shaun knew they wanted to do part of their engagement session on Natalie’s grandparents’ farmland. And they knew it had to be in the fall to capture the beauty of the family land with the changing colors.

• Bonus Brainstorm Prompt #1: This is on the dramatic side, but if your partner suddenly loses their memories (think “The Vow”) what memories would you wish you could show them? Can you incorporate anything from those memories in your photos?
• Bonus Brainstorm Prompt #2: If you’re planning to have children, is there anything about your lives before they arrive that you want to share with them when they’re older?

2. Circle back

On to step two of planning your documentary engagement photos – determining which ideas fit your vision. Now that you have a solid list of places and activities, ask yourself the following questions:

• How do we want our engagement photos to feel? (Fun and adventurous? Soft and cozy? Romantic? Goofy?)
• Do we imagine lots of laughter or more intimate, quiet moments?
• Are we indoors or outdoors?
• Are we more comfortable in public spaces or private settings?
• Is there a time of year or season that we both prefer?

Keeping these questions in mind, go back through your brainstorming list and circle the ones that feel most aligned with your answers.

Example: Abbey and Chase wanted to honor a location that played a role in two of their biggest moments—their first date and the day Chase proposed. Since fall is when they “come alive,” we captured the season’s colors at Nelson-Atkins Museum before ending their session at Brewery Emporial.

Example: Chloe and Nicole wanted their engagement photos to capture their joy and how much they laugh together. We included their dog, Stella, for the first part of their engagement session. I always love it when couples bring their dogs to their sessions. After some time with the nature scenery and with Stella, we ended their session at their favorite sweet treat spot, Andy’s Frozen Custard.

3. Collaborate with your photographer

Now that you have narrowed down your list of ideas to the ones that you’re most drawn to, it’s time to chat with your photographer. They will be able to help you make sense of your list and how the ideas can be used for your photo session.

Final Thoughts

If you plan it right, your engagement session is more than just a photoshoot–it’s a chance to document memories you’ll get to appreciate later. Just as you deserve wedding photos that help you relive the once-in-a-lifetime day, you also deserve photos that will help you relive the days leading up to it. The days you’re living right now will fade into something new after a while and you have the opportunity to give yourself a tangible way to remember them.

“There is nothing more beautiful than being a witness to someone’s life. To know them inside and out and be with them through everything, share the same memories. Memories are everything.” – Abby Jimenez in her novel Say You’ll Remember Me

If you’re looking for a photographer who will give you photos that feel like your memories, shoot me an inquiry.