Love truly finds you in the most random and unexpected ways. For Courtney and Justin, their love story would begin during their Freshman year attending the University of Alabama. After first meeting in math lab, their connection slowly began flourishing and they began dating. Ever since then, these two have been inseparable. It was an easy decision to get married, but how is the real question. On Christmas morning, Justin proposed to Courtney and now they are planning their dream wedding. Thankfully, they’ve trusted MTA to document their wedding day, but first their engagement session! These Rehoboth Beach Delaware engagement photos are some of the dreamiest we’ve ever gotten to capture. The sun was just right, the weather was beautiful and I couldn’t wait for all of the breathtaking imagery we were going to capture.

Tips For Having A Beach Engagement Session

At first glance, you may think that having a beach engagement session is as easy as one, two, or three. However, there is a lot of planning that goes into planning an engagement session, let alone a beach engagement session. Thoughtful and careful planning is what makes your beach engagement session that much more enjoyable and with the best possible results.

Location, Location, Location

First, is picking out your location which is one of the hardest but most important decisions. You want to make sure that you are choosing a beach that is accessible as well as not overly crowded. The last thing that you want is to have hundreds of people surrounding you while you’re getting all lovey-dovey on the sand. Crowds are one of the many factors that get overlooked when picking a beach engagement location, so keep this in mind when deciding where to have your beach engagement session.

Here are some of my favorite beach engagement locations in the Delaware and New Jersey area!

• Barnegat Lighthouse
• Asbury Park
• Spring Lake
• Cape May Point State Park
• Long Beach Island
• Rehoboth Beach
• Cape Henlopen State Park

Beach Engagement Outfit Ideas

Next, we need to talk about outfits. When it comes to getting professional engagement photos taken, you want to make sure that you are hitting two points. That you’re not only comfortable, but you are cute as well! I mean, after all, we’re celebrating your engagement here! Now, while a gown may seem like the ultimate and epic way to show out for your engagement photos, it may not be practical for a beach engagement session. We’re going to be moving around, walking on the sand, and/or getting in the water. This means you have to be comfortable moving around in your outfits and/or getting them a little bit dirty.

A few helpful tips when it comes to deciding on what to wear to your beach engagement session are:

• If you’re ever doubting what to wear, stick with neutrals
• Think about what you would & would not wear to the beach (aka ditch the jeans and high heels)
• Bring two different outfit options. Something more casual and something more formal will give you the best of both worlds
• Choose clothing with movement. We are going to be at the beach and that means wind is definitely forecasted. Make sure you’re comfortable with all of the movement that will be going on and that goes for your outfits as well!

Time Of Day For Your Beach Engagement Photos

Lastly, we are going to need to determine the best time of day for your beach engagement photos. As much as we all would love to get some of that peak mid-day sun, this does not photograph well. Harsh light + shadows = not the most ideal lighting for your photos. Instead, we need to make sure that we are shooting at an ideal time of day for your beach engagement photos.

In most cases, there are two different options for getting your beach engagement photos taken. One is a sunrise engagement shoot. As soon as the beach is open and there are minimal people, we can begin shooting. The golden hour during sunrise is unreal, however, you must take into account that this is not the most ideal option for non-morning people. Second, a sense of engagement shoot. Shooting an hour before sunset gives you those golden-goddess-type images and they are just dreamy. However, keep in mind that you might run the risk of having a huge crowd of people sitting on the beach.

Courtney + Derek’s Rehoboth Beach Delaware Engagement Photos

For Courtney and Derek, we wanted to keep things classic and romantic. We headed to Rehoboth Beach where we could walk on the boardwalk, embrace the lush greenery, and feel that fresh ocean breeze. They both stuck with a neutral theme for their outfits, wearing a high-low flowy dress and khakis with a white button-down. Courtney and Derek even brought along their UOA memorabilia, as an homage to where they first met. Props such as this are a great way to add a little bit of your personality to your engagement photos without being overbearing. We love to see it!

Halfway through their session, Courtney did a quick outfit change to a blue floral dress to fit the theme of their wedding day. To end their engagement celebration, we popped open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and had a celebratory glass of champagne. One of my favorite send-offs for engagement sessions and is always a good time!

Can’t wait to get these two married this August at Waterworks by Cescaphe!

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