Once you have your engagement photos back from your photographer ... then what? Don't just let your beautiful photos languish on your hard drive! It's my hope that every couple will use and enjoy their engagement photos throughout their wedding season and for years to come! Here are ten ways to use and get the most out of your engagement photos:
1. Save the Date Cards
Many couples incorporate their engagement photos into their save the dates which is a beautiful way to personalize your cards.
2. Wedding website
A wedding website is a a way for your guests to know where and when events will take place and to find links to your registry. While your wedding website is informative, you don't want it to be generic or boring! Utilizing your engagement photos throughout your wedding website is a great way to prettify it and make it feel unique!
3. Guest book
This is one of my favorites! It's so much fun to create a custom guest book for my clients with their engagement photos, and I always make sure to leave plenty of space for guests to write their messages and wishes. By using your engagement photos in a guest book, your guests will have so much more fun signing it when they arrive at your wedding than they would if it was just a traditional guest book with a bunch of lines. PLUS you get a beautiful keepsake with personal messages from your guests to look back at after the wedding.
4. Social media
You will probably be sharing a LOT of wedding updates on Facebook and Instagram leading up to your wedding. Your engagement photos offer the perfect visual to accompany all of these posts. They're a gorgeous way to draw attention to your updates.
5. Personalized favors or wedding decor
The options here are endless! One of my clients had their engagement photos printed on sugar sheets and used them to decorate cookies as favors. Another created a sweet seating chart with their engagement photos amidst the seating arrangements. Another printed custom wine labels. Nowadays you can have a photo printed on practically anything, so you're only limited by your own imagination.
6. Gifts for your parents & grandparents
Parents treasure photos of their children, and grandparents even more so! And if they love the awkward snapshots of you they have saved on their phones and in albums, think of how much they will appreciate a gift of your lovely engagement photos! A sweet shot of you printed and nicely framed will make an amazing gift for a birthday or for Mother's Day.
7. Print them and hang them on the wall!
This is the biggie, the use that I most hope you'll get from your engagement images. There's a special thrill to seeing your photos in print -- and it really IS a different experience than seeing them on a screen. Printing your photos and using them to decorate your home allows you to truly live with and enjoy them in your everyday life. Seeing your engagement photos as you make your morning coffee or while you relax on the sofa will help to keep the joy of your relationship alive in your heart for years to come!
-> Planning a wedding can be overwhelming! But I gotchu ;) After going to so many weddings as a photographer, I've got plenty of recommendations. I made a guide breaking down each part of the wedding day for all my brides. And the best part? I'll share it with you. Absolutely free! Click here
