How our engagement photos dispelled my self image fears #Philosophizing#body image#engagement photos#photography Updated Jul 19 2018 (Posted Jul 18 2018) Catherine Clark bijouxandbits Photos by: Emma Mullins Photography Photos by Emma Mullins Photography If you've been around here anytime since 2011, you've likely seen my name at the top of a lot of the posts on this site and our sister site, Offbeat Home & Life. I've been editing real weddings and wedding inspiration for seven years now! Now I'm engaged and getting married next May in Chicago. It's exciting and it's also overwhelming because, as someone who looks at offbeat weddings on the daily, I like to say I've seen enough to know I've seen too much. But I digress… it's been really fun seeing things from the other side for once. Related Post Why you should absolutely do engagement photos if they're included in your wedding package "I didn't think we wanted engagement photos. My partner hates being the center of attention and has requested we try to find a wedding photographer... Read more One of these new "other side" things is apprehension about being the center of attention. It's something I actually love but am very much not used to. I haven't even had a birthday party for myself since I turned eight. So while I'm super looking forward to the love and excitement and celebration of something about us for a hot minute, it's making me nervous, too. See, like you and you and you over there, oh and that guy right there… I'm NOT super confident. I know, it's a wild concept. But in all seriousness, I've always struggled with my weight, have had bullying moments in adulthood, and generally just haven't felt all that rad about my self image for most of my life. And weddings tend to hardcore highlight those feelings. One of the first things I wanted to do was an engagement session. I'd read (on this site!) that they were great for breaking the ice with your photographer, getting you used to being in front of the camera (which I am SO not), and give you great fodder for save-the-dates and wedding websites. I really wanted ours to have a fun, casual feel so that our guests would know this would be a less stuffy event than they were potentially expecting. So when I contacted my amazing photographer, Emma Mullins, I made sure she was game to go adventuring with us to capture some fun shots. When the time came, my partner and I requested that we head over to our favorite beercade (bar meets arcade) in Chicago, Headquarters. It's got a great backdrop of color, a vintage cassette tape wall, old TVs, and of course, tons of arcade games. We also trekked over to a really great Felipe Pantone mural in the Fulton Market district of Chicago that looked like a game of Tetris, a bunch of huge pixels, or some Pantone swatches, all of which are totally us. We were psyched by the spaces. My partner and I fretted with our nerves going in. Would we look stiff and weird? Would we frustrate Emma with our goofy poses and non-model looks? Would our dumb faces ruin every shot? As we progressed through the shoot, Emma assured us it was all going well and coached us into feeling WAY more comfortable as it went along (she is an insecure couple's dream!). By the end of the seriously fun shoot, we were less worried, but still apprehensive. Related Post The "less-than-photogenic" couple's guide to engagement pictures Tribe member Linzmat was dreading her engagement shoot with her partner. Neither consider themselves to be particularly photogenic and have never enjoyed having their photos... Read more By the time we received all of the photos from Emma, it was clear our fears were totally unfounded. She had somehow delivered over 150 photos, all of which looked AWESOME. You could definitely tell how much more comfortable we were by the end of the shoot which proves the point that you'll waste a lot less time getting comfortable with the photos on your wedding day if you've already done a shoot previously. You'll have become pros by then! Plus, you'll get used to those "flaws" you always see in photos and they won't seem so bad anymore. This was a pretty big deal to me since I hate [fill in the blank all of the things nobody else would notice but me]. You hate those things about yourself, too? I knew it. And now that we're pro models ready for the runway (haha), I do actually feel more ready to act less weird and awkward in front of the camera and just have an awesome time on our wedding day. And now we have SO many options for photos we might get printed, or turned into a save-the-date, or plaster all over our wedding website, or made into profile pictures until the end of time. Do I recommend an engagement, boudoir, lifestyle, whatever kind of shoot? Hell yes I do, especially if it's included in the package. Don't skip it — find a place in your area that you love, and go to town feeling like weirdos. Trust me, you'll look way much far more gooder than you think you will thanks to both your photographer's mad skills and how awesome you actually are. Bonus! A bonus to your shoot: you maaaay end up running into a horror-themed party of some kind with an empty ticket-taking booth that you can hijack, and then someone random pulls up in a car to offer you Chucky and Bride of Chucky Tiffany dolls with which to pose. And you get this shot… WUUUUUT. Score. Related Post So many offbeat & fun engagement photo ideas to inspire yours There's more to fun engagement photo ideas than gazing into each others' eyes in a park. You can do, well, anything! We put out the call for some alternative ideas… Read More Related Post This engagement session reinterprets all those oh-so-familiar couple poses When my fiancĂ© Elliot and I got engaged, we didn't have any plans to take engagement photos. But when we started our wedding research, we had a bit of a… Read More Related Post 5 ways you can rock your engagement photos AND save the dates As a wedding photographer I pretty much love engagement sessions -- for me, they're a great way for me to get to know the couple I'm working with and for… Read More This post features Offbeat Vendors! Check out their vendor listing to see how they cater to Offbeat Brides: Emma Mullins Photography Catherine Clark Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com. @enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits PREVIOUS Led Zeppelin, craft beer, and tattoos at this bad-ass rock show-themed wedding NEXT Rainbow dresses and wedding pups at this "literature in miniature" wedding Show/Hide comments [ 6 ] Awesome post, Catherine!! I love that this session was so helpful – you two rocked it! Really couldn't have asked for more perfect locations – and those Chucky dolls…?! I mean, COME ON 🙂 Reply It was the weirdest, most fun kismet ever! Reply I knew that was Headquarters immediately! 🙂 Love it! Reply Thanks! That neon sign is so iconic ? Reply I love love LOVE your dress in these photos! Where can I get one? Reply Thanks!! It's from Black Milk, though I believe it may be sold out: https://blackmilkclothing.com/galaxy-rainbow-long-sleeve-skater-dress-limited Reply Join the conversation Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! No-drama comment policy Part of what makes the Offbeat Empire different is our commitment to civil, constructive commenting. Make sure you're familiar with our no-drama comment policy. Biz owners & wedding bloggers Please just use your real name in your comment, not your business name or blog title. Our comments are not the place to pimp your website. If you want to promote your stuff on Offbeat Bride, join us as an advertiser instead.
Awesome post, Catherine!! I love that this session was so helpful – you two rocked it! Really couldn't have asked for more perfect locations – and those Chucky dolls…?! I mean, COME ON 🙂 Reply
Thanks!! It's from Black Milk, though I believe it may be sold out: https://blackmilkclothing.com/galaxy-rainbow-long-sleeve-skater-dress-limited Reply