Morgan of Spreading Lovely’s Engagement Shoot – plus Tips for Your Own Engagement Photos!

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

To all of our newly engaged couples out there — CONGRATS!! Since we know a lot of you are planning engagement photo sessions now, we thought that this one would make for some great inspiration. After all, the lady behind the design + the one being photographed is a wedding planner! Meet Morgan of Spreading Lovely; we here at GWS are pretty darn fond of her… She recently planned our GWS x Show Me Your Mumu Bridesmaid Dress Collection shoot! Her gal pal + photographer friend, Danielle Poff (who photographed the GWX x Mumu editorial), also photographed Morgan + Dave’s engagement session in the Marin Headlands.

Morgan shares a little about their engagement journey… Dave and I met about six and a half years ago while I was in college in Seattle, and he was in 2nd Ranger Battalion based in Fort Lewis, WA (just over an hour south of Seattle). My sorority had a pen pal program and I joined in, wanting to thank someone for their service + send them a care package to make their day a little brighter. Somehow, someway I was matched with David. We wrote each other constantly and finally met after he had finished his first deployment. I was hesitant to date someone in the army because I couldn’t comprehend how I would get through deployments and the danger of his job. But we did it. Fast forward 5 and half years later…

Ready to take a peek at their engagement shoot? We sure are!

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

The gold skirt + floral print long sleeve are from Top Shop; the necklace is from ASOS.

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Morgan shares Katie Nash turned me into the best version of myself and gave me complete confidence + comfort in my own skin. Hands down, having professional hair and makeup made a HUGE difference in the photos and really let me shine.  

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Michelle Lywood crafted the most beautiful bouquet that complemented Morgan’s outfit and the scene perfectly.

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

These two and that ocean view…

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Morgan’s ADORABLE lace up sandals are from Target!

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

The maxi skirt + black crop top are from Fame and Partners.

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Did Dave do good or what?! That shimmering ring is by Heidi Gibson.

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Morgan shares It’s hard to find the words to describe what it’s like receiving images of you and the person you love — being able to physically see the love and essence of your relationship perfectly captured in a photo… Danielle Poff Photography delivered a bundle of pure magic to us and I can’t thank her enough for providing the greatest gift of freezing time and moments for us to last a lifetime.

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Morgan shares a few engagement photo tips + styling tricks that she learned along the way on her site, Spreading Lovely:

1. Do an engagement session.  If you can, I highly recommend building an engagement session into your budget, and as long as you’re booking a photographer whose work resonates with you, you’ll love the photos and want to plaster them on every wall. Your engagement time is a small window to capture your relationship before you make a huge commitment to one another. 

2. Wear something comfortable that makes you happy! I did some shopping for outfits that put a smile on my face and that I felt comfortable in. I looked at other couple’s engagement sessions before selecting our outfits to figure out what kinds of patterns I liked in photos, and color variation I thought worked well.

3. Run your outfits by your photographer. Your photographer wants the photos to turn out just as beautiful as you do, and it can’t hurt to make sure the outfits you’re selecting will photograph well. You also don’t want your pants to be exactly the same shade of blue jean, or you’ll look like blobs in your photos!

4. Pick a location with some variation.  I loved that we could do two different outfits in two different spots in Marin Headlands that were right next to each other. It helped to have some more variety in the photos, so they weren’t all with the same backdrop.  It also helped that Dave and I had been to these spots before, so we weren’t wandering around looking and wasting precious sunset time!

5. Professional hair and makeup is worth a splurge. Not worrying about my skin made me so much more comfortable getting close up photos taken. 

6. Have FUN with each other! If you and your partner are enjoying each other and having fun playing together at the shoot, that will come through in the photos! I was nervous I would be awkward in front of the camera, so we brought a bottle of champagne with us. :)

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

Stylish Marin Headlands Engagement

M+D recently booked their wedding venue — Yosemite, for the win!! Congrats, you two!!

photography: Danielle Poff Photography // venue name: Marin Headlands, Marin, California, USA // event design: Spreading Lovely // florals: Michelle Lywood // wedding dress: Gold skirt & floral print long sleeve: Top Shop // necklace: Asos // wedding dress boutique: Maxi skirt & black crop top: Fame and Partners // bride's shoes: Target // bride's ring: Heidi Gibson // hair stylist: Katie Nash // makeup artist: Katie Nash

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