Amanda & Chris: McConnell's Mill Winter Engagement Photos

You’ve gotta love Pittsburgh, where temperatures can go from 4 degrees to 40 degrees in less than 12 hours! We rescheduled Amanda and Chris’s engagement session twice due to the freezing temps, which ended up being a great choice with the “real feel” and wind temps dipping below zero both times ❄️And in turn, we were rewarded with an almost 40 DEGREE winter afternoon for their winter afternoon session at McConnell’s Mill! And let me tell you - these two totally rocked it!!

ABOUT AMANDA & CHRIS

Amanda and Chris met over the phone, when Chris was working as a tech support rep. Chris quickly became Amanda’s go-to teach support guy, and as they say - the rest is history! But that first call was a pretty significant one, because when I asked these two when they knew each other was ‘the one,’ Chris said: “The first support phone call I had with her. I never wanted to stop talking to her.” Cue the happy tears!

I have a lot of questions I love to ask couples, but one of my favorites is: “What do you admire most about your significant other?” And because Chris and Amanda’s answers to this question are just so sweet (and so telling of how much they love each other!), I just have to share!

Chris: “Her ability to always make me smile or laugh. She managed to do it on our very first phone call, every call after that, and even every day since."

Amanda: “His determination to teach himself anything he puts his mind to. It’s quite wonderful to watch him figure something out that he’s never done before and then successful (with some trial and error) accomplish what he set out to do. It makes me want to learn from him everyday.”

THE SESSION

One of my very favorite things about Amanda and Chris’s entire session is how much they laughed together! They literally laughed through the entire session - which, I know, sounds so simple. But it made my job so easy! It’s always so fun to see two people who are truly and genuinely best friends loving their time together!

We started off their session at the main park section of McConnell’s Mill, and did a little bit of perilous hiking throughout the snow-covered trails, then headed over to one of my favorite sections of McConnell’s Mill - Cleland Rock! It’s about a 12 minute drive from the main Mill section - but SO worth the drive, especially when it’s covered in snow 😍

Without further ado - I am so excited to share some of my favorite images from Amanda and Chris’s engagement session! 💛

Creative Outfit Ideas for Engagement Photos

Trying to find an outfit for your engagement photos?! Shopping for a whole new outfit might seem like the only option, but in reality, there are so many other ways to make a killer engagement session outfit without draining your bank account! Below are three of my top tips for getting creative with your outfits!

1.  Rent a dress or outfit from Rent the Runway!

I learned about Rent the Runway last year and I’m OBSESSED! Rent the Runway has a huge variety of expensive clothing, which can all be rented for a fraction of the original price! Lyndsay, a 2017 JHP bride, opted for a gorgeous floor length red dress that made her session come together perfectly with the neutral winter backdrop. And the best part was, she didn’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to look fabulous!

2.  Repurpose an old bridesmaid dress (or any dress, for that matter!).

So, you bought a bridesmaid dress, only to wear it once and have it sit in your closet for a number of years. There are plenty of tutorials on Pinterest about upcycling or repurposing bridesmaid dresses into pillows or dresses for your kids, but what about repurposing your dress into something that you can wear again?

One of my brides, Hilary, was in a wedding where she wore a beautiful tulle, dusty blue bridesmaid dress. After the wedding, she decided that she wanted to find another way to wear the dress – so she had it made into a floor length skirt!

For her engagement session, she paired the dusty blue skirt with a simple black top, and wa-la! The perfect, upscale, classy outfit for an engagement session! Besides the color of the skirt (which was perfect for winter engagement photos!), Hilary’s skirt was full of body and movement, which always looks gorgeous in photographs!

3.  Uplevel your accessories!

One way to get creative with an outfit for your engagement photos is to “uplevel” your accessories! One little black dress can be transformed with a hat, scarf, statement necklace, shawl, belt, or even just the right pair of shoes. Accessories are also more cost-effective than purchasing a whole new dress or outfit and can easily be worn with a variety of different pieces in any season!

Tess and Phil (pictured below) had their engagement photos taken at the camp they met at, so they dressed in clothing to match the camp experience! Tess wore a hat and the most adorable boot/sock combination. Paying attention to these seemingly small accessories can make the biggest difference in the overall final product!

Looking for more ways to prep for your engagement session? Check out “5 Ways to Pamper Yourself for Your Engagement Photos!”