Picture This

Fate was smiling on J and I as we had a break from the rain when we met our photographer for an engagement session on a gorgeous fall afternoon.

While I had every intention of doing my own makeup following the Weddingbee tuorials, the week leading up to the photo session was way too busy for a test run. So I decided to treat myself to professionally done hair and makeup. My first stop was Blo's South Granville location for a wash and style. My stylist Sarah did an excellent job and it was a total steal for only $35!

I then travelled to the new MAC store at Richmond Center for a natural makeup look. My MUA Nicki used about 18 different products on my face to create flawless skin and smokey eyes. Since this was for a photo shoot, she did some contouring with bronzer and used only matte finish products. Generally, your makeup will need to be heavier than usual to show up on camera. I'd highly recommend going to MAC for any makeup, especially if you'll be photographed. Nicki really listened to what I wanted and took the time to teach me how to apply everything she was using. Here's how it looked on film after 6 hours of playing around downtown and at the beach. Awesome!

Deciding what to wear for our shoot was really challenging. A search online will give you many tips and suggestions, such as: don't wear white, don't wear black, don't wear patterns that distract from your face, don't wear turtlenecks or baggy clothing, choose neutral or bright colours, coordinate your outfits and keep accessories to a minimum. Got all that? :) We chose to wear jeans with a patterned shirt for J and a bright top and black cardigan for me. I'd planned to change into a more casual look for the second location, but that outfit was forgotten at home! At least I remembered my cute purple flats.

For your engagement session, I recommend bringing along water and some light snacks, powder and any other makeup you'll need for touch ups, lip balm (there's lots of kissing involved!) and any props you'd like to use in the pictures. We spent 3 hours walking, sitting, kissing, snuggling and posing so comfortable clothing and at least a backup pair of comfortable shoes are a must.

Our photographer made the session really comfortable. She gave us just enough direction so we didn't feel awkward and we could still be ourselves and show our personalities. I can't wait to see the shots!