Has the DC metro area played a role in your love story? If you are marrying here, our bet is that it has. Otherwise, Washington probably would not be the site of your nuptials! Maybe DC was where you and your future spouse first met. Or perhaps you fell in love here. Maybe your journey to the altar started with a proposal somewhere in the Nation’s Capital! Regardless of how the city fits into your particular story, it matters enough to host your celebrations. So it is natural if you want engagement photos with a genuinely “DC” look and feel. And in our experience, nothing says Washington quite like Lincoln Memorial engagement photography.
Before we get into what makes these engagement photos so compelling and so typically DC, let us acknowledge that the monument might not be the right choice for every couple. As we said above, Washington is a part of your individual relationship story. That means there are undoubtedly places in the city that are special to you and only you. Restaurants where you went on dates. Parks in which you took walks together. Museums that you both enjoy. And if you want to make any or all of those a part of your engagement pictures, we think it is a great idea! In our experience, personalized engagement photos are the ones couples love the best in the end. There is just something special about images that would not mean anything to anyone other than you.
That said, if you want typically DC engagement photos but do not have specific preferences, the Lincoln Memorial is a great option. (For that matter, the entire National Mall is ideal for getting photos with a distinct Washington look and feel.) Why? For starters, it is one of the most famous structures in the world. People from around the world recognize its rectangular shape and majestic columns in the background of engagement pictures at the Lincoln Memorial.
More importantly for you, though, it is famous for being a part of the DC cityscape. We would guess that the Lincoln Memorial is on most people’s top five “Washington landmarks” list. So if you want something that says that DC was a part of your love story, people around the world will get that message from engagement images taken there.
Another thing that makes the monument a superb location for engagement photos is what it signifies. It is a tribute to one of our greatest presidents -- a true leader who kept the country together during one of its darkest periods. For that reason, the Lincoln Memorial is not only a local icon. It is national. And in a way, that makes Lincoln Memorial engagement photos even more typically DC. Because what is Washington if not a city meant to celebrate the best of us?
It does not hurt that Lincoln Memorial engagement pictures also look fantastic! In addition to being recognizably “Washington,” the aforementioned fluted Doric columns are classically beautiful. They are the perfect backdrop for images whose beauty brings a tear to your eye. (And makes your friends really jealous!)
Engagement photos at the Lincoln Memorial are also very diverse, from a photographic point of view. What we mean by that is that those images have a wide variety of different looks and feels. For example, your engagement photographers can pose you between those aforementioned columns and take closeup pictures. Those end up being beautifully intimate engagement portraits. We can also bring you to the lawn around the Lincoln Memorial for more expansive shots. This allows for sweeping, expansive portraits of you and your beloved with the Washington icon behind you.
Why is this last part important? Because it means that you can get all the images you could ever want at one single location. Most engagement photoshoots are one to two hours long. Because you will want to spend as much of that as possible getting photos taken and as little traveling from one site to another. So getting everything you could want in one place has real value.
Neither of the future spouses in this engagement portrait were from the Nation’s Capital, as it turns out. But like many others, they moved to the DC area for their postgraduate studies and work after graduating from college. Not surprisingly, the city played a critical role in their love story. Most notably, it was where they decided to get married! And (perhaps more importantly) it is where they eventually tied the knot.
The couple exchanged their vows at the exquisite Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart. This church is part of the Georgetown University campus and a spot in which many alumni (like the couple) get married. After they officially became husband and wife, they celebrated with their wedding guests at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Like other couples whose love story started in DC, these two wanted the Nation’s Capital to feature in their engagement photos. For all the reasons mentioned above, we recommended a Lincoln Memorial engagement session to them. We took the variety of different shots we alluded to above. We got pictures of them inside and around the monument -- a mix of closeups and wider-angle images. Our favorite, though, was this one. The bride-to-be was wearing very colorful clothes, and the sky above Washington was clear and sunny. We wanted to use these to create a vibrant “summer in Washington” image. So we stepped back with our cameras to include the green of the grass, the blue of the heavens and the white of the Lincoln Memorial. In doing so, we created exactly the kind of image they were looking for. One that was both beautiful and Washingtonian!
Please note that professional photography anywhere on the National Mall (or on any other land that the National Park Service administers) requires a special permit. Please click here for more information.
Interested in learning more about our services? Please visit our Wedding Photography FAQ page for answers to all your questions! Ready to inquire about our availability on your wedding date? Contact us now to get the conversation started!
Location: Lincoln Memorial, 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20037.
Keywords: engagement photographers, engagement pictures, Washington engagement.© 2023 Potok's World Photography - Husband & Wife Washington DC Wedding Photographers
