I have to say it: Fargo is SUCH an underrated place for engagement photos.

Jacie and Thomas currently live in Fargo, while Jacie is originally from Bemidji, and they’ll be getting married in Bemidji next October. So when we started planning their engagement session, it felt really special to photograph this part of their story in the place they call home right now.

And Fargo absolutely delivered.

We were able to mix downtown architecture, the prettiest fall ivy, and more natural scenery all into one session. That variety is one of my favorite things about photographing couples here. Downtown Fargo has so much character, but you’re also incredibly close to parks, the river, and softer outdoor locations when you want a completely different feel.

Basically, if you want urban AND nature for your engagement photos without spending the entire evening in the car, Fargo gets a very enthusiastic yes from me.

Downtown Fargo Engagement Photos

We started their session downtown. Downtown has such a great mix of historic buildings, stone, brick, modern glass, staircases, alleys, and all these little architectural pockets that give us a ton of variety just by walking around. Fargo’s downtown is especially known for its collection of historic buildings, which is a big part of what gives the area so much visual character.

You can go from something clean and editorial to a backdrop with tons of texture in literally a few minutes. That makes it such a good engagement photo location if you love images that feel a little more elevated and styled but still want your session to feel relaxed. We can wander, stop when something catches my eye, and let the city itself do a lot of the work.

And Jacie and Thomas were SO good at this.

My Favorite Fargo Photo Spot: The Ivers Building

The ivy-covered building downtown is one of my favorite Fargo backdrops, especially in fall when all that greenery starts turning shades of orange, rust, and red. I meannnn. COME ON.

It gives you SO much texture without feeling busy, and it almost looks like we left North Dakota entirely for a minute. Against Jacie’s cream dress and Thomas’s neutral suit, the whole thing felt romantic and editorial while still being really natural.

This is exactly why I love downtown sessions. Sometimes the best location isn’t a huge landmark. It’s one wall, one staircase, one interesting building, or one patch of ivy that photographs beautifully in the right light. And Fargo has so many of those little spots.

Three Outfits, Three Different Looks

We also planned Jacie and Thomas’s outfits around the locations, which made such a difference in how cohesive the full gallery felt. We worked together beforehand on all three looks.

For downtown, we leaned dressier and more polished. Jacie’s cream dresses paired beautifully with the architecture and fall ivy, while Thomas’s neutral jackets and darker pants kept everything feeling classic without competing with her.

Then we shifted into a much more relaxed outfit for the nature portion of their session, with warm brown and cream tones that fit perfectly with the grasses and late-fall landscape.

That is always my biggest tip if you’re planning multiple engagement session outfits: don’t just ask whether you like the outfit on its own. Ask whether it makes sense in the place where you’re wearing it. The location, season, colors, and level of formality should all work together.

When they do, your gallery feels intentional instead of like three random outfits happened to appear during the same photoshoot.

Adding Nature to Your Fargo Engagement Session

One of the reasons I love Fargo for engagement sessions is that you don’t have to choose between city photos and outdoor engagement photos. Downtown Fargo sits alongside historic neighborhoods and areas near the river, so it’s really easy to build a session that has both.

After all the architecture and richer fall colors downtown, we finished with a quieter natural setting. The tall grasses and muted late-fall landscape gave us a totally different look from the first half of the session, but because their outfits were planned around it, everything still felt like one story.

And I LOVE having that kind of variety in an engagement gallery.

You get the images that feel polished enough to belong on a save-the-date, the softer close-up moments, and the relaxed photos where you can basically forget we’re in the middle of a session and just hang out together.

Why Your Engagement Session Location Can Be Part of Your Story

I especially loved that Jacie and Thomas chose Fargo because this is where they live now. Their wedding will tell one part of their story in Bemidji next year, and their engagement photos get to preserve another part of it.

Your engagement session does not have to happen at your wedding venue or even in the same city where you’re getting married. Sometimes choosing the neighborhood where you live, the city where you built your life together, a favorite park, or somewhere you spend a lot of time makes the photos even more meaningful.

Planning Engagement Photos in Fargo, ND?

If you’re looking for engagement photo locations in Fargo, I am officially volunteering myself for more of these! Give me the downtown architecture. Give me the ivy walls. Give me fall colors, parks, tall grasses, and couples who want a gallery with a little bit of everything.

Whether you already know exactly where you want to go or you just tell me, “We want some downtown photos but also something outdoors,” we can build your session around the locations, lighting, and outfits that make the most sense together.

And Fargo couples, I would LOVE to photograph more of you, including your weddings too. 🤍

Reach out here and let’s plan something beautiful!

Shoutout to Studio Zested for joining us and capturing the BTS!