Engagement Photos for the Crafty Bride

Posing on Air

Pastel balloons flirt with sweet, almost childlike motifs — a common trend in engagement photos. The colors coordinate with the affianced couple's vintage-inspired dress and blazer while the balloons’ glossy tones contrast with the red-browns of the forest background. Get inspired by this styling and sub in your own common party decor in modern tones. Try, for example, bunting, garlands or Mason jar lanterns—all of which are wonderfully DIY, even for beginners.

Sign for the Times

A sign with interesting fonts can add a modern sensibility to traditional engagement photos. It also keeps engagement rings in the foreground without being ostentatious or posed. Crafterize this unique look by either embroidering or cross stitching the text.

Pretty as a Picture

Ornate frames offer another trend in engagement photos, particularly when paired with a trendy silhouette. If making your own photo prop, spray-paint them in a shade complementary to the image’s background. Here, modern silver contrasts with a pastel green-and-rose background.

Under Wraps

A couple wraps themselves up in an antique quilt, a symbol of young love covered by family. Perhaps you, too, have a wedding quilt from a grandmother’s own wedding day or some other crafty heirloom. Use it to style engagement photos while also giving family members a unique message of love and how important they are to you and your new life.

A Little Corny

Corn dogs serve as crafty props for this engagement photo while also bringing attention to the lovely new ring bling. While these Texas State Fair comestibles may not match the tone wanted for your own prenuptial images, consider how else food might enhance the pictures. Try, for example, cupcakes with piped save-the-dates or lattes with heart art.

Confection Affection

A bashful hiding of faces is another common element in engagement photos, once again tapping into the dewy-eyed tone of many engagement photos. This couple uses oversized lollipops to hide their faces while keeping smoldering eye contact. Other possible reverse-dominoes could be mustaches, antique tea cups or an old book.

Cut to Ribbons

Glitter letters can become bunting for your engagement photos, announcing a date or funny phrase. Consider sewing the letters from fabric so that a breeze might lift the text. The key, though, to keeping this engagement photo organic is that the couple is more attuned to each other than what they’re holding.

Big Pictures

Allow favorite movies to inform your engagement photos. Here, “Grease” gets a send-up and features black T-shirts, leather jackets and lots of sultry red lipstick. To avoid campy or goofy, just allude to the movie rather than making it a costume party, perhaps with a hairstyle or background.

Apple Chapel

Is your soon-to-be a little camera shy? This engagement photo focuses only on his or her feet, framed by a border of bright apples, and yet it still captures a sweet innocence. Held hands framed by a hanging chandelier or darkened silhouettes and twinkling lights might help your fiancé warm up to the camera before launching into full-frontals.

Across the Board

Chalkboards are a popular trend for engagement photos, as exampled by these two lovebirds framed by a simple chalkboard message. This trend lends engagement photos a schoolyard sweetness, rather symbolic of a couple’s transition to (semi-) official adulthood. Get this look by applying chalkboard paint to a book or cardboard cutout, write a simple message and then peer out from behind it.