Engagement Pictures 101: Where to Find the Perfect Backdrop!

I hope everyone had a splendid weekend, and somehow, I hope you were able to beat this heat - talk about steamy! Thank the lord football season is right around the corner...cool air is definitely needed! 


This post will mark the third entry under the mini-series, "Engagement Pictures 101." If you missed the last two posts, on the WHY and WHEN, click here to jet back to early last week, and catch up on your photoshoot know how!
Now that you know WHY you are getting a professional photoshoot, and you are clear on WHEN it is all supposed to go down, let me address WHERE the perfect places are for great engagement photos:


The Park
Any public park is a perfect spot for any engagement shoot. Parks easily provide multiple backdrops for your photographer and allow the photographer to capture a diverse set of film. It is definitely important to pick a place that offers several areas for shooting, because you never know how the light will be on that particular day or which background color composition you will prefer once the photos are developed. Furthermore, a park with different areas of interest provide you more opportunity for outfit changes! Whether it is a national park, such as Stone Mountain Park, or simply a local county recreation park, you will be sure to find lots of regions within the park to take a snap shot.

 Noah Hawthorne Photography

Jared Wilson Photography

A Historic Town
It may not seem like it at first, but any historic town, not matter how SMALL, can provide some awesome backdrops. More often then not, local "downtowns" have plenty of stunning architecture, urban exposed brick, and a garden spot with green space. Photoshoots in a historic urban center produce classy photos with an edge that will be perfect decor for any new home. Another element to look out for: railroad tracks! Small downtowns usually hub a old railroad track - the tracks can create some AWESOME and ARTSY photos.

 Kent Meireis

Orange County Wedding Photographer | Photography blog of eric j. cotter

Your Favorite Place
If you and your man have a "special" place together, it can be a great backdrop for your engagement photos. Maybe it is the restaurant of your first date, your favorite stadium, or a place of your favorite activity. For example, if you both graduated from the same college, an on-campus photoshoot could be the ticket! Choosing somewhere that has meaning to the both of you make the photos seem that much more personable. 

The Studio B Photography

Jessica Frey Photography

Although these three places are some of the most popular to get your snapshots, always keep an eye out for a place that isn't so obvious. You would be surprised how some of the "random" places along side a road or among a simple piece of nature can create some of the most unique backdrops for photos. 

Picture This!: The Peacock is Out!

I don't know how many of you caught the news alert earlier this week, but a Peacock escaped the New York Zoo, and was caught roaming around both streets and buildings. I have to say, although this "peacock" escape seemed like a silly matter to broadcast so widely, it was such a nice relief to all the economical drama flooding ever TV channel, PLUS it gave me a perfect muse of inspiration for this week's post!


Peacocks...simply put, one of the most beautiful and vibrant animals in existence (at least in my opinion!). That bird is a true piece of work from the great Lord above; there is simply no way that such genuine colors came together out of pure randomness. I try to highlight ideas and color combinations that create opposites (kind of like an oxymoron), and a peacock's BOLD and ELEGANT stature is no different. Peacock inspiration will easily add richness to your BIG day with lots of eye-pleasing pops of color! Enjoy!

www.creativeimage.com.au

ohdarlingphotography.com/

www.amaples.com

Raw Photo Design

Justin & Mary Marantz
La Vie Photography

Altar Alternatives

Your wedding altar = the CENTERPIECE to your whole wedding ceremony! Being that the altar is the main focal point of your ceremonial matrimony, I need not to say that it should be beautiful! When is there going to be another opportunity for you to create the backdrop to one of your most important life moments?

The altar traditionally served as place of religious sacrifice and offering, and altars are still observed as a valued and important formality in modern churches. If you are getting married in a church, you typically are allowed to use the altar, and the altar's accompanying decor (i.e. candelabras, a cross, table runner, Bible) as a part of your wedding ceremony. In this case, my suggestion would be to integrate the traditional decor into your ceremony and cease the urge to add "your own thing" to standing altar. Typically churches, and their respective altars. look best with simple additions of greenery and soft whites. In a church setting, less is truly more...a church is beautiful within itself, no need to overshadow it!

As we know, the modern bride is taking her ceremony to other places (although a Church is still the most popular place setting). Today's wedding ceremonies are commonly seen on a local beach, on an island shore, in the garden of a Victorian home, in the back field of a Country Club, and inside a once empty event space. Not only do these naturally beautiful place settings produce wonderful pictures, but their 'blank slates" allow you to create your OWN altar masterpiece. With such big scenery behind you, it is crucial that you provide an altar (big or small) to unify your guests attention towards you and your groom. Below is both an inspiration board of some AMAZING altars and some insight on how to go about achieving your very own altar look!

Draping

Use draping (provided and designed by your florist, wedding coordinator, or rental company) to provide a soft flow to your ceremony altar. Use wooden beams with the draping and create a "canopy" feelto surround you and your man!

Florals

Whether it is covering wooden beams with roses, or placing a single large arrangement in the middle of a table, the use of florals is an easy way to add some punch to your altar. Although flowers can get expensive fast, using florals WISELY and intermittently can definitely be done - make them count!

Architecture

Natural architecture is the least expensive, but often the most impacting altar style. Scope out your ceremony venue for large doors, beautiful archways, picturesque verandas, garden gazebos, hearty fireplaces, and cascading stairways. These elements easily create altars full of understated elegance!

Nature

Having an ancient oak tree as the center point of your ceremony just couldn't seem more beautiful to me! Naturally occurring structures don't cost you a dime (we like that part) and strips down the "fluff" around you -- truly making it JUST about you as the Bride and Groom. A wall of trellised rose bushes, a landscaped waterfall, a big ole' tree, a backyard garden, or a sea-side collection of boulders can be great canvases for your altar!

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Beautiful Photography Provided By:

Arrow and Apple

Sarah Yates

Boutwell Studios

Lippke Studios

John and Joseph

Binaryflips Photography

Woodward and Rick

Jen Rodgriguez

Jessica Lorren

Vierra Photographics

Robert and Kathleen

Jose Villa

The Nichols