Engagement photos are one of my very favorite kinds of portrait sessions! But once you have those beautiful photos in your hands, what do you do with them next? Don’t just let those amazing photos languish on your hard drive, or live only in a quick social post. It’s my hope that every couple will use and enjoy their engagement photos throughout their wedding season, and for years to come! That said, here are my favorite ten answers to the question: “How can I use my engagement photos?”

1. Save the Date Cards

So many clients incorporate their engagement photos into their save the date cards, and I love seeing them in the mail! Using your photos in this way allows you to create beautiful and personal cards to announce your upcoming wedding to your guests.

2. Wedding website

A wedding website is more than just a place to celebrate your engagement — it’s a useful resource that your guests will visit again and again as they check details on where and when events will take place, and to find the links to your registry, hotel blocks, and more. But while it’s important that your wedding website be informative, you don’t want it to feel generic. Using your engagement photos can personalize your site while making it unique! 

3. Thank you cards

Just like your save the dates, thank you cards are a great choice for using your engagement images! You can work with a designer to incorporate your photos, or use one of the many online options to create a beautiful card yourselves. The combination of personal photos and a hand-written message will make your guests feel so touched and connected to you! If you want to use your wedding photos for your wedding gift thank you notes, you can use your engagement photos for thank you notes that you send prior to the wedding, like gifts from an engagement party, to your bridal party, after a bachelor/bachelorette party or for bridal shower hosting/gifts. 

4. Photo stamps

Photo stamps are super cool! And they’re such an easy and unique way to make the outside of any envelopes feel just as special as what they contain. Once you create and receive your own distinctive photo stamps, you can use them on your save the dates, wedding or shower invitations, thank you notes, holiday cards, even water and electric bills… anywhere you would use a regular stamp!

5. 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. Some of my favorite places for ordering customized books are Artifact Uprising, Blurb and mPix. 

6. Holiday cards

Since your engagement portraits give you a chance to be yourselves, and take photos in something other than your wedding clothes, they’re not restricted to wedding-based uses! You can use them on holiday cards during your engagement, and even after you’ve been married. These photos can have a long shelf life! (My favorite place to order holiday cards is Paper Culture!)

7. Social media

Let’s face it, you will probably be sharing a LOT of wedding updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in the weeks and months 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, and they allow you to skip the process of meticulously posing for the perfect selfie. Plus, I have a saying… “If not now, when?” This is the time in your life to use your engagement photos and share them! I promise, people will be excited to see them. 

8. Personalized favors or wedding décor

Nowadays you can have a photo printed on practically anything, so you’re only limited by your own imagination. You can use them for a welcome sign or put a photo in a frame on your guest table. The options here are endless! 

9. 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, Mother’s or Father’s Day.

10. Print them and hang them on the wall

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 get ready for the day or when you’re sitting on the couch will help to keep the joy of your relationship alive in your heart for years to come! (Did you know seeing photos printed in general, and hung on walls, boosts self-esteem?) 

I hope that you feel inspired to put your engagement photos to good use! After all, an engagement shoot is a once-in-a-lifetime portrait session, and it provides an array of stunning images. 

Those photos can (and should) do SO much more than sit on your computer! If you have additional suggestions on how you or other couples used your engagement images, please share them in the comments below!

For more helpful blogs on engagement photos read, The Checklist for Engagement Photos.

Questions on availability for engagement sessions and 2023 weddings? Visit my inquire page.