8 Couples Bucket List Ideas That Would Make Really Freaking Fun Engagement Photos
I have a theory that some of the best fun engagement photos happen when couples stop treating their session like a photoshoot and start treating it like an excuse to go on a really freaking good date. Not the kind where you suddenly become two people who love frolicking through a field at sunset when you've never willingly set foot in a field together in your lives.
I'm talking about YOUR kind of date. The places you keep going back to, the traditions nobody else understands, or that ridiculous experience you've been talking about doing together for years. Or, apparently, a baseball game.
Which brings me to Laura and Conner, one of those couples who remind me exactly why I love being a wedding and engagement photographer. These two have somehow made every major milestone in their relationship feel like the most perfectly chaotic version of themselves. Conner proposed while they were out getting drinks. We did their engagement session at a noodle restaurant. Their wedding was full of intentional, DIY details. When it came time to plan their rehearsal dinner, they decided to do it at a baseball game.
I mean. OF COURSE THEY DID. The second Laura told me, I was already mentally planning all the ridiculous photos we could take. As a New York City wedding and engagement photographer who also travels for couples, THIS is the kind of thing I love helping people plan. Give me an experience you're genuinely excited about, and I'll figure out how to turn it into photographs without making the whole day feel like a production.
The Good Stuff (AKA Where We're Going)
Why Fun Engagement Photos Don't Need to Follow Anyone Else's Rules
Laura and Conner's baseball game celebration was technically their rehearsal dinner, but I think it's one of the best examples of why I'm so obsessed with photographing couples doing things that make sense for their relationship.
First of all, they rehearsed their wedding ceremony in a HALLWAY. At a baseball stadium. While people were casually walking past, congratulating them, and presumably trying to figure out why there was an entire wedding party standing in the middle of the concourse.
Everyone immediately found the hot dog buffet. I'm not entirely convinced anybody watched the game. Then the mascot showed up, which would've been completely normal except for the tiny detail that Laura is afraid of mascots.
You truly cannot plan this stuff. From a photography perspective, I knew I didn't want to make their celebration look like a traditional rehearsal dinner. We were at a baseball stadium. Give me the props, the kitschy details, the ridiculous group photos, ALL of it.
At one point, I had the wedding party gather with props because I wanted to make a photograph that looked like an old postcard you'd find in the stadium gift shop. I LOVED how that idea fit the setting.
The whole experience was playful, ridiculous, and completely intentional. Nobody was trying to make a baseball game look like a traditional rehearsal dinner. Thank GOD for that. I would've missed out on one of my favorite group portraits.
THIS is why I love mixing documentary moments with editorial portraits. I want the weird little things you couldn't have planned AND the photographs that look like they belong in a magazine. Want to see what that looks like? Take a peek at my wedding photography portfolio.
Okay, technically this was their rehearsal dinner, not their engagement session. But that's exactly why I wanted to share it. The things that make an experience fun to photograph don't suddenly change because there's a wedding involved. Give me a place you love, an activity you're excited about, and enough room for a little chaos, and we can turn that into an engagement session that feels completely your own.
What Should We DO for Your Engagement Photos?
Before you send me a Pinterest board with 47 locations and tell me we have two hours, let's talk about what would actually make a great date for the two of you.
Start with the kind of date you'd choose if nobody were taking pictures. Homebodies? Let's document that. Competitive to a concerning degree? I'm finding us an arcade. And if your favorite memories involve getting lost in new cities, maybe your engagement session is the perfect excuse to book that trip.
The goal isn't to squeeze every possible activity into one afternoon. Pick something worth spending time doing, and we'll make some ridiculously good photographs along the way.
1. Go to a Baseball Game
Clearly, Laura and Conner have made me a little biased here. Between the vintage-looking signage, crowded stands, stadium snacks, and all the movement happening around us, there's SO much to photograph.
Give me editorial portraits in the stands, hot dogs, and a little chaos happening in the background. No, I'm not promising you a perfectly empty stadium. People will walk through photos. Someone will probably spill a drink. That's part of going to a baseball game.
Just check the stadium's photography policies before buying tickets with a full photoshoot in mind.
2. Go to Your Favorite Restaurant + Stay Out for Drinks
This one's for the couples whose relationship has always revolved around finding somewhere good to eat, ordering way too much food, and somehow staying at the table for another hour after everyone's finished.
If that's your kind of date night, PLEASE tell me about it. Laura and Conner's noodle restaurant engagement session is a perfect example of why I love this idea.
Restaurants give us so much to work with: the little interactions across the table, people moving around you, interesting lighting, and the moments that happen when you're enjoying dinner instead of worrying about the camera.
Once we're done eating? Let's go get drinks. Find a tiny bar around the corner with incredible lighting. Duck into a photo booth. Wander through the neighborhood after dark because the city suddenly looks SO good.
One date night, a whole range of photographs, and absolutely no need to turn the evening into an elaborate production.
3. Spend a Weekend Somewhere You've Always Wanted to Go
That city you've been saving photos of for years? Book the trip. PLEASE don't feel like we need to photograph every tourist attraction while we're there.
Some of the best travel photos happen on the streets you find by accident, at the café you wandered into because it looked cute, or when an unexpected view makes us completely abandon the original plan.
That's the fun of destination engagement sessions. There's room to explore, get distracted, and create something that couldn't have happened the same way anywhere else.
4. Go to an Amusement Park or Carnival
A Ferris wheel, vintage carnival signage, ridiculous games, and colorful lights everywhere? YES PLEASE. Amusement parks give us the opportunity to make two completely different kinds of photographs in the same place.
During the day, everything feels colorful, nostalgic, and playful. Once the lights come on, the entire atmosphere changes. Suddenly we're working with glowing rides, motion blur, and flash photography. THAT is where things get interesting.
5. Spend an Afternoon at Home
Not every great engagement session needs to involve leaving the house. Especially if your favorite part of being together is the completely ordinary stuff. Making breakfast, dancing around your kitchen, or trying to cook dinner while your dog behaves like he's never been fed in his entire life. I LOVE a good at-home session for exactly that reason.
PLEASE don't panic because your apartment doesn't look like something out of Architectural Digest. I'm not coming over to photograph your interior design portfolio. The way you move through your home together, the little routines, and all those familiar details can tell us so much more than a perfectly styled room ever could.
6. Go Bowling, Play Arcade Games, or Get a Little Competitive
This one's for the couples who cannot participate in a casual game without turning it into a full-blown competition. You know who you are.
Bowling alleys and arcades already have so much visual personality. Retro lighting, colorful machines, movement, and all those little details that make the photos feel nostalgic without trying too hard. But the real entertainment? Watching the two of you compete.
The ridiculous celebrations. The trash-talking. The look of absolute betrayal when your partner wins. Tell me that wouldn't make some pretty freaking fun couple photos.
7. Explore Your Favorite Neighborhood
Especially in New York City, an entire engagement session can happen within a few blocks. Coffee at your favorite café. A quick stop at the bookstore. Flowers from the corner stand. Drinks somewhere with really good lighting.
When we stumble across a random street corner that looks incredible? We're stopping. Sorry. I don't make the rules. Actually, I do. I'm the photographer.
That's what makes wandering around the city so good for engagement photos. There's always something happening, and the most interesting photographs aren't necessarily the ones we planned.
And if New York is where you're dreaming of doing all this, I've got PLENTY of opinions about where we should go. My New York engagement photo guide breaks down more locations and ideas for planning a session around the city.
8. Finally Do That Thing on Your Couples Bucket List
This is your excuse to finally do the thing you've been talking about for years. Take the pottery class. Rent the vintage car. Go horseback riding. Learn something neither of you has any idea how to do.
Don't worry if the activity itself doesn't sound particularly photogenic. That's my problem. I'll help figure out the location, lighting, timing, and how to make everything translate into photographs without turning your afternoon into a staged production.
You bring the idea. I'll figure out the photography. Deal?
How to Choose an Experience That Makes Sense for Your Relationship
Before committing to an idea, ask yourselves three things:
Would we actually enjoy doing this together?
Does the location give us enough room to move around and photograph naturally?
Are we excited about the experience itself, or just the photos we've seen of it?
That last one is IMPORTANT. Pinterest is great for inspiration, but it's also really good at convincing people they need to do things they have absolutely no interest in doing.
You don't need to book a horseback riding session just because somebody looked incredible doing it on Instagram. Choose an experience you're genuinely excited about, and I'll help figure out how to make it work photographically.
What If We're Awkward in Front of the Camera?
First of all, welcome to the club of almost EVERY couple who has ever booked engagement photos. You don't need to know how to pose, where to put your hands, or how to casually look at each other like you're starring in a romantic movie.
That's literally part of my job. One of the best things about planning a couple photoshoot around an activity is that you're not standing in one spot wondering what to do next. Order something. Play a game. Wander around the city. Give yourselves something to focus on besides the camera. I'll step in when the light looks incredible or a moment needs direction, and step back when what's happening naturally is already better than anything I could've planned.
That balance is how we create photographs that feel both editorial and completely human. No, you do not need to become professional models overnight.
Still convinced you're going to be awkward? I've got a whole guide to candid photos for camera-shy couples that might make you feel a LOT better.
How to Dress for an Activity-Based Engagement Session
I LOVE a good outfit. And engagement photos are absolutely an excuse to wear something you've been saving for a special occasion. But your styling should work with the experience, not fight against it.
A vintage jersey and great denim at a baseball game? SO good. A chic little outfit that feels completely unexpected against the stadium backdrop? Also incredible. For a restaurant date, consider a structured blazer, a dress with movement, or something vintage that gives the photos a little personality.
The goal is to create a look that feels intentional without making you feel like you're wearing a costume. PLEASE consider how much you'll be moving. If we're wandering around New York City, bring shoes you can actually walk in between locations. I want you looking incredible. I would also prefer your feet survive the afternoon.
The Logistics: Permits, Timing, Lighting + Not Trying to Do Everything
Unfortunately, this is the part where I have to be a responsible adult for approximately five minutes. Restaurants, stadiums, museums, and privately owned businesses may have rules about professional photography. Before we fall in love with a location, we'll need to check whether cameras are allowed, whether permission or a permit is required, and whether there are any restrictions on where we can photograph.
Getting kicked out halfway through your engagement session is not exactly the memory we're going for. Lighting matters, too. A dimly lit dive bar gives us completely different opportunities than a sunny afternoon at a carnival. Neither is better. They just call for different approaches to flash, movement, and composition.
Here's my biggest planning recommendation: choose one main experience, then add a nearby second location if it makes sense. A baseball game, drinks, vintage shopping, a carousel ride, AND a sunset boat trip in two hours?
Respectfully, WHAT are we doing? Give yourselves time to actually enjoy the experience. You don't need to know which locations allow photography, when the light will look best, or whether trying to visit six places in two hours is a terrible idea. I'll help you figure all of that out.
Already dreaming up a session that feels like your kind of date? You can explore my photography experience and collections to see what working together looks like.
Why I Want Your Engagement Photos to Have a Little Bit of Everything
Fun engagement photos don't have to mean every single photograph is silly. Give me the laughing-with-a-mouthful-of-french-fries photos, absolutely. But I also want the quiet moments across the dinner table, the way your partner reaches for your hand, and the editorial portraits that look like they belong in a magazine.
Laura and Conner are a perfect example of that balance. Their engagement session at a noodle restaurant and their baseball game rehearsal dinner gave me two completely different settings to photograph the same relationship.
That's what makes it interesting. The polished portraits, movement, flash photos, and the moments that happen so quickly you almost miss them.
A great gallery shouldn't feel like the same photograph recreated twelve different ways. It should show the range of your relationship, from the romantic moments to the completely ridiculous ones.
Let's Make Some Really Freaking Fun Engagement Photos
Got an idea for your engagement photos that's a little weird, a little unconventional, or nothing like the sessions you've seen on Pinterest? PLEASE tell me about it. The restaurant where you had your first date. A baseball game. Your favorite neighborhood bar. That weekend trip you've been talking about for three years.
I want to hear ALL of it. You don't need to show up knowing how to pose or with an entire plan figured out. I'll help with the locations, timing, lighting, and all the photography stuff so you can focus on having a really good time together.
Whether we're running around New York City or hopping on a plane somewhere new, I'm IN.
Reach out and tell me your idea! I have a feeling we're going to make some pretty freaking good photographs.
Need a Little More Engagement Photo Inspiration? Keep Scrolling!
Already dreaming up your engagement photos and looking for more ideas? I've got plenty more where that came from. From exploring NYC together to turning a destination trip into something worth remembering, keep scrolling for more inspiration and a little encouragement to do things your own way.
Keep scrolling for more wedding inspiration, ideas, and a little encouragement to do things your own way.
Why Your Destination Engagement Photos Should Feel Like a Memory, Not a Photoshoot
The Secret to Cinematic NYC Engagement Photos (Without Feeling Awkward)
Little Rock Courthouse Engagement Photos: Why Courthouses Make the Best Editorial Backdrops