As I mentioned earlier, we had our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. Photography can be a big expense during wedding planning, so I wanted to share how we did it frugally!

1. Bartering. In my last “Planning a Frugal Wedding” video, I discussed how product reviews are a great way for me to essentially barter my time promoting a product or service in exchange for something that I want or need. Stephanie Kaloi of White Rabbit Studios asked if I would like to write about her business on Contest Corner in exchange for our engagement photos, so it was a great way to trade services. Click here if you’d like to read my review and see more photos from the shoot!

I also took this same approach when it came time to buy shoes for the photos – I have lots of cute high heels, but unfortunately I can’t wear any of them due to my knee injury. I’m currently hosting a CSN gift card giveaway, and they also sent me a gift card of my own to choose some review items for Contest Corner, so I used this to pick up a cute pair of flats – and used the rest of the gift card to buy a Christmas gift and some rechargeable batteries!

2. Utilize gift cards. I needed a cute outfit to wear in the photos, so I used two Amazon gift cards to buy a dress and a tube of lip gloss – you can read more about that here. I even used a Burger King gift card that I won to pay for our dinner after the photoshoot!

3. Use what you have. Because it turned out to be a cold day, I ended up wearing the suit jacket that I bought at a yard sale for $1.00! Jai’s jacket came from a thrift store – we bought it last year for $5.

We did spend some money on other aspects of the photoshoot. There was the cost of gas, which was less than $30 – we had about a quarter of a tank when we filled up, and that got us to Portland and back as well as covering our drive up to Hammond and Astoria (You can read more about the story and locations here). I also purchased a few supplies beforehand that I needed – I bought a box of hair dye, toner, developer, a tint brush, and applicator bottle ($19.06 – some of which I bought online, so I’ll get a small amount of cashback), a box of pore cleansing facial strips ($4.99), a box of makeup remover ($7.99), 2 tubes of concealer (On sale for “Buy one, get one half off”, for a total of $13.32), a bottle of shave gel ($2.99), two boxes of instant cold packs to keep on my knees during the drive ($6.28), and an issue of InStyle Magazine ($3.99) – they finally had the right one in stock, so I was able to see the Love Story ad! All told, these purchases came to $58.62 – which is a lot of money, but I needed most of these items regardless of the photoshoot and I will get a lot of use out of them. I pay more for makeup removers and shave gel because these are two items which I am “Brand loyal” to, since they work on my sensitive skin without causing an allergic reaction!