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Engagement photo shoots are a thing, and they're gloriously cheesy.

 

 

In the good old days, a certain type of over-the-top cheesy, lovey-dovey photo was reserved for a single day in a person’s life: the wedding day.

All manner of pictures documenting happy couples running through fields of flowers, riding fixies bikes and dabbing cake on one another’s faces were permitted for exactly 180 minutes following the wedding ceremony — after which they would be printed into a heavy album, posted to older relatives and rarely glanced at again.

But it seems those days are over — because it’s come to our attention that newly-engaged couples are commissioning love-themed photo shoots to showcase their happy news — and posting the images all over Facebook before popping them onto Save the Date cards and into the mailbox.

The resulting photos? They’re as gloriously silly and corny as you dare to hope.

Here are the six most common categories of next-level cheesy engagement photos we’ve seen.

Get your oh-no-they-didn’ts ready, people:

1. The “running through fields of flowers” engagement photo.

Dinking one other on a vintage bike, synchronised jumping and spelling out entire words with your bodies are popular variations of this timeless shot.

2. The “chalkboard announcing your imminent name change” engagement photo.

Chalkboards are a big deal in the world of engagement photo shoots.

So much so that Etsy.com is practically collapsing under the weight of “Mr and Mrs”-type customisable photo props like this:

Photo: Etsy/SawmillCreations

Another variation:

Oh, and sometimes, this variety of engagement shot features a small dog posing with said chalkboard:

Photo: Etsy/Googaloobinc

3. The “ring placed artfully on a leaf” engagement photo.

Our Pinterest research reveals the newly betrotheds’ fascination with close-up photos of engagement rings resting on rustic-looking leaves — a photo that’s particularly popular following an Autumn engagement, of course.

But depending on the season, a freshly-sprouting flower, snowman or cutesy heart drawn on the beach can be subbed in: for Christmas-time engagements, mistletoe and fairy lights can also be used in abundance.

Why?

4. The “subtle ring flash” engagement photo.

In this type of shot, the couple are just casually hanging out with the woman’s left hand just casually visible. Like this:

Or like this:

5. The “foot pop” engagement photo.

The Cinderella-style kissing “foot pop” is no longer relegated to the realm of Princessy, in-front-of-the-Eiffel-tower engagement photos.

You can take a photo of your foot popping in a rustic barn now. Or in a majectic European garden. Or barefoot on a beach at sunset. The possibilities are endless:

6. The “too hipster to frame this shot properly” engagement photo:

If there’s one thing the newly engaged hipsters of Pinterest can teach us, it’s that revealing your identity is not a necessary component of an engagement shoot.

Overexposure, bizarrely framed shots and photos of just your shoes? Bring it.

Because ART.

Any others you want to add?

A few celebrity engagement rings for your perusal:

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Top Comments

R 9 years ago

I always thought these were "lame" but I guess I understand why people get them done now that I know they are usually part of the package. I do generally dislike people placing high importance on photography during their wedding day. Of course you want some photos but it should be about the present and having the memory in your head not just in a photo album. I could never leave my guests for a couple of hours during the day to go off and take tacky photos in the city with the opera house and the harbour bridge and the Rocks in the background (everyone seems to have some variation of these).

Guest 9 years ago

Our photos only took about an hour or so (we were in a coastal area so no traffic and not far too go for photos) but being a little introverted generally, I found that i was a bit overwhelmed and flustered after the vows and all the hugs and congratulations and things from our guests. So even though I'm not at all a 'photo' person I actually quite enjoyed just a bit of quiet time away from it all with my husband, his best man and my bridesmaid. It was a nice break before the party started.


Jojo 9 years ago

They are as tacky as maternity shoots. I cringe every time i see another person post their maternity shoots on facebook draped in sheer fabric with their huge naked belly hanging out for the world to see.