Ally & Chad decided on Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ for their wintry engagement session. January is definitely not the most popular month for engagement sessions. But hopefully after looking through this post, some of you will change your mind!

If you’re going to do a shoot in the winter, ideally it should be 40-50 degrees at the VERY LEAST in order to be comfortable. Anything below that will just leave you looking stiff with a red nose. The perk of shooting on a 45 degree day like this one, however, is that it’s just cold enough to layer up in cute coats. You’ll snuggle more to keep warm, a.k.a. it will be more romantic! And finally, you hope with every fiber of your being that you’ll get a light little dusting of snow.

Hope for snow

Ally and Chad had the best of both worlds, there wasn’t any snow planned in the forecast but all of the sudden we had little flurries! We can’t guarantee this and we certainly aren’t meteorologists. But we’ve gotten lucky several times. It’s always fun to take that chance in the winter. Most of the session was a little breezy by the water overlooking the skyline, but honestly it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

Our tips for keeping warm on a winter session:

1. Layer up!! Outfits are always cuter in layers anyway. 🙂

2. Bring a blanket to get cozy under.

3. Bring spiked cocoa or cider in a cute thermos or flask (doubles as a prop!)

4. Purchase Hot Hands Handwarmers!** Seriously, we tell everyone about these. Go buy them at your nearest CVS and stick them in your shirts/gloves. They even make toe warmers shaped for your shoes! You’ll thank us later.

5. Huddle for warmth! Embrace the cold and just hold each other, it always makes for more intimate photos.