WELCOME

Congratulations on your engagement! We are so excited to be a part of your wedding planning journey. Here at Bakerture, we're rooted in a deep connection with our couples to embrace and highlight their own personal story with photographs and film that are lucid, yet emotionally powerful. Our passionate team thrives on pairing genuine moments with the craft of creative storytelling to preserve the memories of your wedding day for generations to come.

Your engagement session is a great opportunity to get to know your photographer. The photos that come from it may be the first professional photos that you have as a couple, so they will certainly be something you cherish for a long time. We’re excited to help you on this journey and create a beautiful collection of photos for you to enjoy.

We recommend picking one location for the shoot. If another location is in reasonable walking distance that works! The reason we do one location is because we like to get into a rhythm during the session and we don’t want that to get disrupted with driving & parking.

Small Towns with a lot of character...

• Leesburg

• Lucketts

• Old Town Alexandria

• Wineries & Breweries

For the Adventurous Couple, a few options that we love...

• Hikes to a Waterfall or Overlook

• Bull Run

• Great Falls

• Family Farm

• Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

For the City Slickers...

• Georgetown - Canal & M St. 

• DC's H St. or Union Market - Industrial look for our Hipsters

• DC Monuments (AM Session)

• Tidal Basin - Cherry Blossoms (AM Session + permit required)

• National Art Museum

• National Arboretum (park fee + permit required)

For the Sentimental...

• Location of your first date

• Location where you got engaged

• Shared College or School

One of the most frequent questions we get is what to wear for the engagement session. While this fully depends on your personal style and the location of your session, we do have a couple of tips and a whole Blog Post sharing outfit inspiration from previous couples.

For the ladies

• Dress for the occasion & location.

• Avoid loud patterns, logos, and graphics.

• Our sessions are typically held outdoors, so dress with the weather in mind.

• Pull in accessories that show off your personal style.

• Wearing something that creates movement, like a flowy dress, creates some really cool shots.

for the gents

• We recommend selecting something that coordinates in both color and level of formality.

• Avoid loud patterns, logos, and graphics.

• Guys can accessorize too! If accessories fit your personality, add on a hat or some fun suspenders.

• Wear boots or dress shoes to complete the look. Try to avoid sandals or flip flops.

• Taking advice from your fiancé is usually good practice.

Based on your location, an engagement shoot can be adventurous on a hike or busy in the city. We have a couple of items that you want to consider bringing:

• Water Bottles - Especially in the summer, it’s important to stay hydrated throughout your session.

• Sentimental Props - If there are any items that hold significance for you in your relationship, be sure to bring those. For example, if you fell in love with your fiancé at an open mic night where they were playing guitar, maybe bring the guitar.

• Walking Shoes - Sometimes it’s a long walk from Point A to Point B, if you’re wearing heels, bring a pair of comfy shoes to change into.

• Your Ring - We recommend getting your ring cleaned up to two days before your engagement session so that it sparkles just like the first day you wore it! You wouldn’t believe how much the sparkle dulls over time and wear.

Some final thoughts before you schedule your engagement session…

• Consider scheduling your shoot evening as a date night! You’ll already be all dressed up, it’s the perfect opportunity to go out to a fun dinner after you finish with the photographer.

• If you are nervous, please communicate that with your photographer! They will help you relax and feel comfortable. Once you get started, all of your nerves will disappear quickly.

• Please be on time. We rely on the sun, and it dictates how long we can shoot for. Once the sun sets, we’re out of time.

• If you want to bring your dog, be sure to let us know ahead of time. It’s important to bring a friend or family member who can help manage your pup while you are shooting some photos without them.

• If there’s anything unique to you that you want to make sure we capture, please let us know! We are ready to make your vision come to life.

Engagement Sessions are typically shot at the golden hour for the best lighting, which is either right at sunrise or 1.5 hrs before sunset.  If you are planning for a DC location, we only shoot sunrise sessions at the monuments to avoid masses of tourists. Lastly, we only shoot engagement sessions on weekdays, since we are out shooting weddings on the weekends. If you have booked an engagement session, you can simply reply to this email to schedule a date/time. If you are ready to schedule your engagement session, please reply to info@bakerture.com.

Engagement Session Rain Policy; The final weather call will be made the day before your engagement session by the end of business (4pm). Our policy stands if there is a 30% chance or higher of rain as indicated by The Weather Channel, we will have to postpone to a new date. If there is any chance of thunder/lightning we will have to postpone.

Contact

As you think about your engagement session, please reach out with any questions and when you are ready to schedule your session! Our office hours are Mon-Fri (9a-4p) and our email address is info@bakerture.com. We typically respond to messages within 24 office hours.