So, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged: I am not a Swiftie, but even I heard about it the day of the announcement!
The news didn’t just blow up on social media with Taylor Swift’s nearly 300 million Instagram followers decoding every detail of the shoot. Every wedding/engagement photographer (including me) also went on Instagram to take a look at the photos. Mainstream media gave the announcement top coverage, alongside with political news, even The New York Times and The Washington Post weighed in. In other words, this was not just an announcement of a celebrity engagement, it was a cultural moment that will drive news coverage for several years to come.
If you have been reading my blog posts (thank you!), you might have noticed that I write about photography as a reflection of the current cultural and style trends. Most importantly, I believe that photography is a reflection of societal values.
There have been many other trend-setting celebrity engagements. But when I saw the “The Secret Garden” styled engagement photos of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, I immediately thought of another engagement that rocked the world and set the trend for engagement photography for a decade: the engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
I don’t remember the actual Royal engagement announcement. I was a teenage boy living in the Soviet Union, obsessed with the music of rock bands like AC/DC and the Scorpions. And even though I am a diligent student of the history and style trends of all types of photography, from weddings to engagements to family photos. In my research, I somehow managed to miss the pictures of that particular trend-setting engagement, so much so that I had to Google the images.
But before I even put the words “Prince Charles and Diana Spencer engagement photos” into the search bar, I knew what I would see: a formal portrait of the couple smiling and holding hands: the shy, smiling bride dressed in a color-coordinated outfit, holding hands with a groom in a perfectly fitted, formal suit.
It was an easy guess. The engagement portraits of Charles and Diana set the standard for engagement photography of the 1980s and the 1990s. For two decades, couples announcing their engagement would wear formal outfits: suits, like Prince Charles, and classic, color-coordinated dresses, like Diana. They posed in formal settings: in front of classical buildings and on sprawling green lawns.
Engagement photos have been an integral part of a traditional engagement announcement in the local newspaper’s society section, even if that “local” newspaper was The New York Times. The tone was always formal: “Mr. and Mrs. Smith announce the engagement of their daughter to Mr. Jones,” the photos polished, and the purpose clear: to mark the union in a way that reflected family, tradition, and social standing.
Fast forward to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement – trust me, I do this for a living – this celebrity engagement will set the trend for engagement photography for the next decade or even longer because, like Charles and Diana’s engagement photos, the Swift and Kelce engagement photos reflect today’s values: no cookie-cutter studio shots, instead the unique love story of each couple, a reflection of who they are as individuals and as a pair.
Every detail tells the Swift and Kelce love story from the setting, all the way down to what the couple wore for the engagement portrait, is a love story told in layers:
Not a formal engagement announcement of the past.
The Swift-Kelce engagement was not announced in a newspaper, but by a seemingly ordinary Instagram carousel, which, of course, was anything but ordinary. With one post, Taylor Swift shared her engagement news with nearly 300 million followers and turned a private moment into a “global cultural event.”
By posting on Instagram, Taylor Swift spread the word of her happy moment throughout the world. Think about the power of that one post.
The setting itself was one of the most essential in the Swift messaging
Taylor Swift has been called the “Shakespeare of our times,” so it’s no surprise that the shoot was styled as a “Secret Garden,” pointing to her love of storytelling and books.
And then of course, the caption: ‘Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.’ In a single line, playful, poetic, and instantly iconic, Swift told the couple’s story in a way only a songwriter, a poet, could.
The bright flowers, the whimsical greenery, and the forest are all about the fairytale ending: “and they lived happily ever after.”
The outfits mattered
Swift wore a Ralph Lauren dress, sandals, and her hair down. Kelce wore a Ralph Lauren polo and khakis. Both outfits signal a relaxed, informal look, balancing style with thoughtfulness. They convey to the world: ‘This is who we are, this is us at ease, and this is our love story.’
How to Plan an Engagement shoot that tells your story and not spend the reported MILLION dollars that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce spent on their engagement shoot
A while back, I wrote two of my most popular blog posts: one about the best locations for engagement and proposal photography in Boston and the other on Cape Cod. Most of the over 30 couples whose proposal and engagement shoots I photographed this year clicked on those two blog posts.
Why? Couples are looking for a beautiful setting for their engagement photos. Settings that tell their romantic story of who they are, demonstrating a happy ending, much like Taylor Swift’s: “and they lived happily ever after”.
Location
My advice is find a location that holds special significance for the two of you. It doesn’t have to be a beach or the cobblestones of Boston; it can be something unique. I have photographed engagements in many unique locations, including Fenway Park, an ice cream parlor, a Starbucks, the Booksmith, an iconic bookstore in Brookline, Central Park in New York, as well as numerous Boston libraries.
I have also been asked to photograph engagements in Salem, MA, during Halloween, and most unusually, a cemetery where the couple met: don’t ask and don’t judge. The former was simple fun, and the latter was a special place for that particular couple.
Planning
You don’t have to hire a stylist to create the perfect look for your engagement shoot; all you need is a Pinterest Board. Take some time to make one, then spend time looking through your photos as a couple and the selfies you’ve taken over the years. You would be surprised at how much you can discover about who you are and what your love story is all about.Â
Please share the Pinterest board and some of your previous photos with me, so I can also get a better idea of who you are and how to tell your individual love story.
The outfits
Be comfortable! Whether you want to wear a fancy, styled outfit, a Halloween costume, or just a simple dress and khakis, you need to feel relaxed and happy.
Final Thoughts
From the formal engagement portraits of Charles & Diana to the narrative-driven garden shoot of Taylor & Travis, one thing is clear: engagement photography evolves with culture. The Royals gave us tradition. Pop icons provide us with authenticity. And for couples everywhere, the goal today is to tell their story.
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