5 romantic poses to do for your engagement photos

One of the best things about getting engaged is finally having an excuse to get professional photos taken with your love! After all, you’re going to need a nice photo for your Save the Date cards. (Plus, printed photos of you and your partner make for beautiful holiday and birthday gifts for parents.)

So you do your research—you find your perfect photographer, pick a location, and select some cute outfits—and now you’re ready to have your photos taken. The only problem: you’ve never had your photos taken professionally before, or if you have, you didn’t like how they came out and didn’t feel entirely comfortable during your session.

Not to worry! I’ve got you covered.

One of the best ways to prepare for your upcoming engagement session is to practice some potential poses with your partner, that way you both feel comfortable when the time comes. Of course your photographer is going to be giving you directions and doing their absolute best to make you feel comfortable during your entire session—but if you’re feeling really nervous or awkward, it will show. So, come prepared and open to the experience. Be willing to let loose, have a little fun, and try new things! I promise, the more fun you have during your session, the better your photos will look!

5 poses you can practice at home for your engagement photos

Everyone has different comfort and physical ability levels, and every couple has a different dynamic and energy. Whatever poses you do, make sure that they represent you two and your love. Because at the end of the day, the most important thing about your engagement photos is that they feel like YOU!

That being said, here are 5 romantic and timeless poses you can practice at home with your partner before your engagement session, that way you’re both pros when the day comes.

Pose 1: Stand by me

This pose is SUPER straight forward and easy to do! First stand next you your partner and line your hips up, so that you’re both facing the same direction. Then, choose the person who is going to wrap their arms around their partner’s arm. This person will take the arm closest to their partner, bring their arm behind and through the other’s arm to rest their hand on the bicep. Then they will take the arm on the outside across their body and place their hand on the forearm or hand of their partner. Finally, they will bring their inside leg out and across their body to create dimension.

All the partner has to do is stand there with their hand in their pocket or on their hip.

You two can then look out in separate directions with straight or smiling faces, look at each other, lean in and bring your foreheads together, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Pose 2: Sit with me

For this pose, I recommend having the person who will have their legs stretched out and underneath the other person’s legs sit down first. Once seated, the other person should sit down next to them with their hips touching. They can then angle in and swing their legs over the other person’s, and bring their inside arm around the other person’s shoulder. Put both of your outside hands together and slowly tap your fingers together to create movement.

You two can then lean in and put your heads together, smile and go in as if you were going to kiss, actually kiss, or just look lovingly into each other’s eyes.

Pose 3: Lead the way

This is one of my all-time favorites and it is SO easy! You’re going to take about 5 to 10 steps away from your photographer, hold hands, and walk towards your photographer but not directly at them. While walking, you can gently bump shoulders (I like to describe it as drunk walking), swing your arms, look at each other, look out at the view, and smile and laugh. The movement this pose creates is is beautiful and often looks like you two are walking off into the sunset in love and together!

Pose 4: All tangled up in you

Much like pose one, start with your hips together. Then one person is going to turn slightly inwards toward their partner. They’ll then bring their inside arm around the other person’s shoulder, while the other person brings their inside arm up to the other person’s cheek. Both outside arms will come together across the other person’s abdomen.

Here the person with the hand on the cheek should continuously move their hand, brushing the cheek.

Once settled, you two can look at each other, smile, look deeply into each other’s eyes, smile and go in for a kiss, bring your foreheads together, have one person look while the other looks away, etc.

Pose 5: You make my head spin

Finally, this is definitely the most fun one! If you and your partner are comfortable, one of you will pick the other person up and sway back and forth. I recommend scooping the other person up from below the butt to give you and them the most support. Then the person in the air can gently kick their legs and point their toes as the other sways back and forth.

You two can then look at each other, laugh, put your foreheads together, kiss, and look out at the view.

There are also other variations of this pose, where you can be picked up and held in a sitting position, picked up from behind so that you’re both facing the same direction, or a piggy-back ride. Whatever you two are most comfortable with!

Engagement photos should be fun

No matter what, remember that your engagement photos should be fun, comfortable, and reflect you two as a couple! If any of these poses don’t feel like you, that’s okay! Just show up to your session open and ready to have fun!

And if you’re still nervous, talk to your photographer. They will have a ton of tips and tricks to help you through the session and can work with you on poses that you two will be comfortable doing.