Romantic Metropolitan Museum of Art Engagement Session
Why You Should Capture Your Engagement Photos at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Your engagement photos are meant to document this brief and exciting chapter in this love story of yours, so there’s no place more romantic and classy as having it photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There’s just something about taking photos in art museums that gives the most timeless aesthetic. If you’re looking to capture a love that feels like a movie scene, then there’s no better place than here. One of the most iconic locations in New York City.
In terms of backdrops, the MET offers a numerous amount of gorgeous backgrounds to choose. Simply, because of its unique architecture, both inside and outside. The sheer size of this prestigious art museum that houses countless artworks and galleries. It’ll make your engagement photos will always look unique compared to all the other engaged couples here! Here are just several other reasons to convince you if you’re still on the fence:
Variety of aesthetics
Besides the exterior architecture, the moment you step foot into the actual museum itself, you’ll immediately see The Great Hall with a grand staircase leading up to the rest of the exhibits. I like to start my shoot there because nothing screams more “MET!” than that sort of grand entrance. From there, you’ll see galleries upon galleries with meaningful cultural significance. Everything rich with history. It can create a depth and compelling imagery in your photos. Because it’s such a large museum, you get everything you can wish for in an art museum. For example, Greek and Roman statues, beautiful paintings of all sizes with the most ornate frames. Modern and contemporary art pieces, medieval designs, etc. It’s truly endless, and it’s exactly what will make your engagement session unique from every other couple.
Rainy day? No problem!
A big plus to having your engagement session at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is that everything is indoors. This means we don’t have to worry about how the weather looks or whether the lighting outside is too gloomy or sunny – woo! Despite that, I do recommend photographing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art right when the doors open to see the least amount of tourists there. The crowd will be unavoidable, sadly. But because of the size of the place itself, there will be opportunities to get photos without people in the background, so no worries on that end!
NYC love story
Speaking of there being an unavoidable crowd – I find that when there’s just too many people all around, which is inevitable when you’re in the bustling city of New York and in one of the most iconic art museums in the world, the best way to go about it is to also just embrace it! If anything, to me, it adds to the story. Think about it: you and your love are lost in the city that never sleeps, you’re surrounded by strangers with their own stories to tell, but yours is the one unique to you, and it’s photographed in such a way that you can feel like you’re in your own indie romance film.
Once we’re done in the museum, we’ll head outside to make use of the architecture of the museum. Afterwards, we can head out farther to explore the chaotic streets of New York City. Imagine photographs of you two crossing the bustling streets together. You’re holding hands, running together with the flutter of pigeons and honking yellow cabs in the background. Every element tells a story.
How to Get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
There are several ways to get to the MET, and if I’m going to be honest, every single option is going to be chaotic because it’s New York City haha.
I recommend taking the subway to get to the museum since traffic will always be wild. From the East side of Manhattan, you can take the 4, 5, or 6 train to 86th St and walk three blocks west to Fifth Ave.
I suggest taking an Uber or a taxi if you’re like me and you easily get lost on the New York subway. Give yourself some extra grace time by making your arrival time about 30 minutes earlier than your intended arrival time, just to take into account the New York traffic.
If you are coming by car, I would suggest parking at a garage that’s besides the one they recommend on their website, since it’s a steep price of $25 for the first hour and going up to $42 after that. Street parking will be quite difficult, so I’d recommend finding a parking spot through the SpotHero app, which lets you pay and reserve your parking ahead of time for a much more reasonable price, and then walking from there.
Here is more information on their official website as well!
If you’re interested in having me as your beloved photographer, you can inquire with me here!
If you are interested in seeing other engagement sessions I’ve done at other art museums, you can check out my other blogpost here that was shot at Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art!
