What should I wear to our session? First, remember that these guidelines are just that – guidelines. However, I’ve found a big element to getting photos that you love and want to constantly go back to look at is wearing something that you can move around in comfortably, feel like yourself in, and that you’re still going to like a few years down the road.

Outfit Guide Step 1: Pick a Colour Palette

Generally speaking, I recommend neutral colour palettes, but as soon as I say neutrals, you might think greys and browns. What I actually mean is all neutrals — every colour has a neutral: think mustard yellow, forest green, burnt orange, navy blue, pale pink.

Highly saturated colours tend to bounce onto your face when the sun is bright, creating a colour cast that’s very difficult to fix in editing afterwards. The same thing happens with a large area of grass in the bright sun — you may notice it casts a slight green hue onto everything around it. It’s subtle in real life, but in photos it’s accentuated. So generally, I try to avoid it if we can. 

So how do you go about picking a neutral colour palette?

Ideally, you want to take a colour from our shoot location and find an outfit that matches it. Let’s walk through some examples:

1. We were going to the beach for this engagement session, so we knew we’d be seeing lots of blueish greys, we’d have yellow from the sunset, green from the trees, and white from the clouds, so they chose outfits that complimented those colours. We stayed pretty safe here with a lot of white, and truthfully, that’s a favourite of mine, so I wasn’t complaining. And his shirt was a greenish grey that complimented the setting perfectly.

2. For this engagement session, we walked around downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill, so we wanted outfits that would work well in different spots. She wore a simple white long-sleeve dress that matched any setting, while he added a bit of colour with a dark blue dress shirt and khaki pants. Their outfits fit the backdrop nicely, especially in this shot, where his navy button up ties in with the sky reflecting in the windows.

3. We planned to head to this field in hopes of finding the horses willing to model in the background of a few photos and it was mid-summer, so we knew there would be lots of yellows and greens from the trees and grass, and some greys and browns from the fences. So they both wore tan coloured shirts — I usually don’t suggest wearing the same colour on top or the same colour for bottoms, but these were just different enough that they worked. And their bottoms were opposite, making complimentary outfits.

Outfit Guide Step 2: Choosing Pieces

Once you have your colour palette selected, look at what you already have in your closet before going out shopping for something new. The pieces you already have and know you like are much more likely to make you feel comfortable at the shoot as opposed to something you’ve only tried on once or twice. 

Look for pieces that don’t have big logos or loud patterns. These will either make your shoot look like an ad or steal the show and distract from the sweet emotions on your faces.

If you have a light top and dark pants on one of you, it’s best not to do the same formula for the other, at least on top. For example, if you are wearing a beige top and black jeans (top = light, bottom = dark), you could have your partner wear a medium/dark top and medium/light pants. Or if your partner is wearing a white tee and medium wash jeans (top = light, bottom = medium), you’ll want to wear a medium/dark top and light/medium/dark pants. If you plan to wear a dress, you can do any shade you want, but don’t match too closely with your partner’s top.

Outfit Guide Step 3: Add a Layer

If you don’t want to change outfits mid-session, an easy way to add variety to your gallery is by bringing some kind of layer. This could be a jacket, kimono, scarf, sweater, etc. 

Pick a layer that compliments your existing outfits and that is easy to pop on and off as needed. You can both bring an extra layer, or just one of you.

Sonia V Photography

If you’re looking for a photographer to capture beautiful, thoughtful images, you’re in the right place. But what you really want are photos that tell the true, beautiful story of your relationship, without the awkward posing or turning the session into a photoshoot. The goal is to create images that reflect the real moments—ones you’ll be excited to frame and look back on for years. If you’re searching for a photographer in Ottawa, across Canada, or in Europe, and this approach resonates, feel free to reach out!