How to include your dog in your engagement photos | Bourbonnais, IL Wedding Photographer

If you know me or have been following me for any amount of time, you know I absolutely LOVE my sweet dog, Ginny, and I love just about any other dog I meet.

One of the most frequent questions I get is “Can we bring our dog for some of our engagement photos?” and the answer is always yes!! I love including sweet fur babies in engagement photos-they’re always the cutest!

When bringing your dog to your engagement session, things can get a little crazy, especially if we’re in a busy location. For the session to run smoothly, I always recommend having a friend, sibling, parent, etc. bring your dog for part of the engagement session, and then taking him/her back home after we’ve taken some adorable photos with them! I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve for getting your pup to look at the camera (and even look like they’re smiling sometimes)! I definitely look like a crazy person during this part of your session, but I guarantee the cute photos are more than worth it😂

Another tip for bringing your pup is to have a few treats on hand! I usually try my best to keep treats in my car (naturally, for when Ginny is a good girl while on a car ride, haha!), but just in case I’m fresh out of treats, bringing some to help me get your dog’s attention is so helpful!

You may be thinking “My dog is way too hyper to be good for some photos”, and girl, everyone says that! I’ve photographed some super hyper dogs, and they still looked calm and happy in the final photos (with some funny bloopers of course). I mean, look how cute all of these past #elletaylordogs are! Ps maybe we need to add that hashtag, haha!