Washington DC is home to some of the best places on Earth for amazing wedding portraits and engagement photos. Nothing makes the Nation’s Capital a part of your love story like pictures of you and your spouse-to-be with one of the city’s iconic monuments or memorials in the background. The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, US Capitol, National Mall… The list of awesome spots is almost endless! At the same time, those places are not for every couple. Perhaps you find the throngs of tourists overwhelming. Or maybe you just don’t like the aesthetic. Either way, there’s no need for despair! Washington DC is so much more than the monuments and memorials! There are dozens of under-the-radar locations all over the metro area where you can get stunning portraits. Here’s a list of our favorite underrated spots for engagement photos in and around DC.
Brookside Gardens
- Location: Wheaton, MD
- Vibe: Woodsy/garden
- Best spot for portraits: The pond
- Fees for commercial photography: Yes
A short drive north of DC is one of the loveliest parks you’ve never heard of. Brookside Gardens has a huge array of different spots for beautiful outdoor engagement photos. There is a quaint gazebo tucked amid trees that turn orange and yellow in the fall. Connecting that space to the “mainland” is a pretty wooden bridge that is perfect for romantic shots. Around the corner are some tall green reeds that make an ideal spot for more intimate couples portraits. Brookside Gardens’ centerpiece, though, is the serene pond tucked behind the visitors center. Its waters remain almost perfectly still, making gorgeous reflection portraits very easy to create. When the nearby trees change colors in the autumn, those shots become something unforgettable.
Please note that because Brookside Gardens is part of the Montgomery County Parks system, there is a small fee required for commercial photography. Your photographers should take care of submitting the application on your behalf.
Freedom Plaza
- Location: Downtown DC
- Vibe: Historic/urban
- Best spot for portraits: Anywhere with a view of the US Capitol
- Fees for commercial photography: Yes
Love the idea of engagement photos with DC’s most famous buildings in the background but don’t want to deal with the crowds and permitting? Not to worry! There are lots of hidden spots that can give you gorgeous views of the monuments and memorials without the hassles. And as longtime DC residents, we know all of them!
For example, one of the best spots for portraits with the US Capitol behind you is Freedom Plaza. Just a few blocks from the White House, this open space offers an unobstructed view down Pennsylvania Ave of the iconic dome. In fact, the farther you walk down that thoroughfare, the better the backdrop. And you don’t even have to worry about darting in and out of traffic! The bike lane runs in the center of the avenue and allows you to pose in peace.
Another great feature of this location? It’s just a short walk to several of the Smithsonian museums. So you can get gorgeous engagement photos indoors and outdoors during the same session!
Because Freedom Plaza is a National Park Service (NPS) area, your photographers will need to get a permit before doing your engagement session there.
Kingman + Heritage Islands
- Location: Northeast DC (near old RFK Stadium)
- Vibe: Woodsy
- Best spot for portraits: Any of the bridges connecting the islands to the mainland
- Fees for commercial photography: No
For a major urban center, the DMV has a lot of beautiful green spaces. And not just in Maryland and Virginia. Focus too much on DC’s tourist attractions and you’ll miss all of the lovely wooded areas throughout the District. Rock Creek Park is probably the most famous. But as you look for places for your engagement session or wedding portraits, don’t overlook some of the more underrated spots.
Kingman + Heritage Islands are a great example of under-the-radar locations with a nature vibe within DC’s city limits. Tucked just behind RFK Stadium, the park is the result of efforts to dredge the Anacostia River more than 100 years ago. That process created a beautiful marshy ecosystem that includes tidal wetlands, flower-filled meadows, leafy forests and hundreds of bird and mammal species.
The paths through the forests are an obvious choice for engagement photos with a woodsy feel. Our favorite locations, though, are any of the wooden bridges that run between the islands and the mainland. On sunny days, you can get gorgeous, expansive portraits with the blue sky soaring above you. Or your photographer can bring the beautiful marshy wetlands into the frame. Either way, you’re going to get beautiful images!
Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
- Location: Downtown DC
- Vibe: Historic/Garden
- Best spot for portraits: The benches
- Fees for commercial photography: No
Is it possible for an engagement session location set among Washington DC’s most famous landmarks to be underrated? In our opinion, yes! Sitting between the Washington Monument and US Capitol is one of the DMV’s hidden gems: the Smithsonian gardens. They get a fraction of the number of visitors as their famous neighbors but are as beautiful as any space you’ll find.
The Smithsonian gardens are the green spaces that surround the museum’s headquarters (the iconic castle building). In actuality, they are two separate and distinct areas. The Mary Livingston Ripley Garden sits to the side of the Smithsonian Castle and connects Independence Ave and the National Mall. Its path twists and curves through between a lovely variety of colorful flowers. That makes it perfect for romantic portraits of the two of you cuddling, seemingly unaware that anyone is even photographing you.
Enid A. Haupt Garden
- Location: Downtown DC
- Vibe: Historic/Garden
- Best spot for portraits: The benches
- Fees for commercial photography: No
Directly behind the castle is the other “Smithsonian garden.” While the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden is narrow and intimate, the Enid A. Haupt Garden is sprawling and open. The dominant features are the unforgettable shape of the castle in the background and the crisscrossing lines of flowers on the lawn in the foreground. Not surprisingly, this site is great for wide shots of you and your future spouse.
Our favorite location for engagement photos in the Smithsonian Gardens, though, is the Moongate Garden. Named for the two distinctive stone portals at both entrances to the area, this is a lovely secluded and contemplative spot hidden away from the bustle of downtown DC. Inside the hedges separating it from the rest of the gardens is a circular pool. Several low stone bridges traverse it and numerous cool metal sculptures rise out of it. If you’re a fan of creative engagement photos, your photographer will have a field day coming up with cool ways to use the water’s reflective surface.
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
- Location: Vienna, VA
- Vibe: Garden
- Best spot for portraits: Amid the reeds by the pond
- Fees for commercial photography: Yes
A short drive northwest from DC brings you to one of the most versatile sites for couples portraits in the metro area. Though Meadowlark Botanical Gardens has an outdoor, nature-y vibe throughout its entire property, it has all kinds of different backdrops that give your engagement photos a lot of different looks and feels. A short walk down the hill from the visitors center is a charming little bench that is perfect for cuddling. Not far from there is a tunnel comprising a series of metal rings that are great for engagement portraits with depth and perspective. At the foot of the hill is the park’s main attraction – a cute gazebo in the middle of a sizable pond. Wide-angle shots of the two of you embracing under its roof with the sprawl of the gardens around you are majestic and stunning.
Our vote for the best spot in Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for engagement photos, however, goes to a more intimate nook. At the far end of the pond are some very tall reeds with puffy tops. The way they turn gold in the late fall sunlight is breathtaking, and you won’t find a more gorgeous spot for your couples portraits.
Nova Parks requires that couples using Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for an engagement photoshoot pay a nominal admission fee. In addition, photographers need to get a permit before shooting there.
Green Spring Gardens
- Location: Alexandria, VA
- Vibe: Garden
- Best spot for portraits: The gazebo at the bottom of the hill
- Fees for commercial photography: Yes
If you like the vibe of Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, then you’ll also love Green Spring Gardens as a location for your engagement photoshoot or wedding portraits. Like its Northern Virginia neighbor, it offers all the beauty of a well-maintained flower garden. And like Meadowlark, Green Spring Gardens gives you a calm and peaceful spot for your photo session far from the crowds of downtown DC. (Metaphorically far. The gardens are actually a short drive from Washington.) And like its cousin, Green Spring Gardens gives you a wide array of backdrops in a fairly compact space. If you like forests, it has gorgeous wooded areas. If you prefer flowers, they are blooming all over the property. A fan of cherry blossoms? Green Spring Gardens has those too! And it even has some funky outdoor sculptures your photographer can use for really creative portraits.
Its primary feature is also a gazebo in the middle of a pond. The version at Green Spring Gardens, though, is much better suited to intimate and romantic shots. Images of you and your fiancé(e) gazing lovingly at each other as cute ducks paddle past are sure to melt your heart.
Please be aware that the Fairfax County Park Authority manages Green Spring Gardens and requires all commercial photographers to get a permit.
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