29 of the Best New Jersey Engagement Photo Locations
The more we explore, the more we discover that New Jersey has some incredible locations for engagement photos. Seriously, you have so many options ranging from the awesome towering cities to small towns, beach fronts to forested state parks, university campuses and art installations, and everything in between.
In this post, we've collected a list of 29 amazing New Jersey engagement photo shoot locations to help inspire you while you search for the perfect backdrop for your photos.
Sandy Hook Beach
Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook
Address: Fort Hancock, New Jersey 07732
While most people will visit Sandy Hook for the beaches, it's actually a cool location to mix up your photos with some shots around Fort Hancock. This is a decommissioned fort that has some unique architecture still left standing. It's a simple place, but one that goes well with a longer engagement shoot that also includes the beach 2 minutes away!
Sample Galleries:
- Shannon + Adam Engagement Session
- Jane + Adam Couple's Maternity Session
Red bank (downtown)
Address: Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank is one of the more charming towns in New Jersey. As a bit nerdy types, we do geek out a little bit when we walk past Jay & Silent Bob's Comic Shop...but there's plenty to offer for all types of people, too :) The main street that goes through the restaurant and entertainment district is pretty adorable, with brick sidewalks and strings lights in abundance. Nearby, there's Riverside Park, which overlooks the bay for nice scenic views.
Sample galleries:
- Shannon + Adam Engagement Session
- John + Samantha Engagement Session
Ocean City Beach and Boardwalk (NJ)
Address: Ocean City, NJ
For couples who love to escape to a fun beach and boardwalk along the Jersey Shore, Ocean City is a great option. We love being able to capture the vibrant boardwalk amusement park in the background from the beach.
Sample galleries:
- Emily + Frankie Anniversary Session
Long Beach Island (LBI)
Address: Long Beach Island, New Jersey
For us, LBI has long been a vacation spot growing up. For the couples we get to photograph, it's an awesome area with a ton of different backdrops that are great for engagement photos.
Sample galleries:
- Mark + Hyojin Couple's Maternity Session
Jersey City Waterfront and murals
Address: Jersey City, New Jersey
Our first time in Jersey City was special, when we got to capture Salena + Stephen's engagement photos (seen above). They're a rad and artsy couple that live in the city. We spent most of our time in the Waterfront District, which offers amazing views of NYC in the background. Wbat we fell in love with was the murals found throughout the area, as they're really eye catching and make for really cool urban backdrops.
Sample galleries:
- Salena + Stephen Engagement Session
Black River Roasters
Address: 424 US-22, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889
Black River Roasters is a really cool coffee shop that we've gone to to meet potential couples, as well as take engagement photos! For couples who love going out for coffee, this is a great place not only to grab a cup, but take some pics yourself. It has a nice size sitting room that is perfect for getting cozied up and having some casual photos taken. We love it here!
Sample galleries:
- Daniela + Edward Engagement Session
Ocean Grove Beach + town
Address: Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Ocean Grove is one of the quieter beach towns in New Jersey, and we've always enjoyed it for a change of pace and some solitude. While you of course have the beach to take photos at, you can pair that with walking around the cute little town for some photos too.
Sample galleries:
- Brooke + Mike Engagement Session
Divine Park in Spring Lake, NJ
Address: 801 Lake Dr, Spring Lake, NJ 07762
Divine Park is really quite simple, but a great location to meet for engagement photos. It weaves around a little lake and has little spots of trees and a wooden bridge (seen above) that we really love for photos. When you park on the quiet street here, you're also just a couple blocks away from the beach - making it an awesome location for both some greenery and beach vibes!
Sample galleries:
- Devon + Brian Engagement Session
Spring Lake Beach
Address: Spring Lake, NJ
Spring Lake is a very quiet beachfront, with no wild boardwalk like you'll find at many other beaches along the Jersey Shore. For couples looking for sweet beachy engagement photos with some quiet, this is a great choice.
Sample galleries:
- Devon + Brian Engagement Session
Sea Bright Beach
Address: Sea Bright, NJ
If you couldn't tell, there's a lot of great beaches in New Jersey (and we've been to a ton of them ourselves for engagement sessions). Sea Bright is another small and quiet beach. It's a great option on it's own, or if you wanted a second location when also shooting in Red Bank (which is about 10 minutes away).
Sample galleries:
- John + Samantha Engagement Session
Cross Estate Gardens
Address: 61 Jockey Hollow Rd, Bernardsville, NJ 07924
Cross Estate Gardens is a beautiful little location for couples wanting a nice stroll through nature. During the spring and summer, this place is especially gorgeous with it's abundance of colors. Just keep in mind that permits are required to shoot here as their is very limited parking.
Sample galleries:
- Erica + Alex Anniversary Session
Amico Island Park
Address: 81 Norman Ave, Riverside, NJ 08075
Amico Island can be best described as a "blink and you'll miss it" location in NJ that hugs the Delaware River and has views of Philadelphia from some sections. It's a pretty cool place for couples who want to be close to water and nature, and even despite visiting in the middle of summer it was still pretty quiet in our experience. A great little gem!
Sample galleries:
- Caitlin + Jay Engagement Session
Cape May Boardwalk + town
Address: Cape May, New Jersey
On the southern most tip of New Jersey is Cape May - the cute little cottage town that attracts all types of people, from couples looking for a little romantic getaway to families heading to the beach for fun in the sun. There are a lot of options for photos around the town.
Sample galleries:
- Devon + Mike Engagement Session
Sunset Beach in Cape May
Address: 502 Sunset Blvd, Cape May, NJ 08204
Aptly named, Sunset Beach is a beautiful spot in Cape May to see, well, the sunset! It's particularly unique and worth the special mention because this beach faces West (where the sun sets), unlike most beaches on the East Coast. This means engagement photos here will be able to have the actual sun in the background as it sets, instead of behind you. It's a small difference that can make a world of difference.
Sample galleries:
- Devon + Mike Engagement Session
Asbury Park Boardwalk + Beach
Address: Asbury Park, New Jersey
All right, so Asbury Park is one of our favorite places on the Jersey Shore. It's just got a vibe that really resonates with us thanks to all the art and music that comes into the area. We spent many days growing up checking out bands at the Stone Pony...Enough about us though...Different than other beach locations on this list, Asbury has a great boardwalk with a lot of charm.
Sample galleries:
- Brooke + Mike Engagement Session
Downtown Clinton, NJ
Address: Clinton, New Jersey
Clinton is a quaint little town in New Jersey that feels like it was just made for engagement photos. You enter the town over this cute little bridge (seen above). Once you're inside, there's a lot of great little spots that make for awesome photo backdrops - including the iconic (well within the town) Red Barn.
Sample galleries:
- Daniela + Edward Engagement Session
Merrill Creek Reservoir
Address: 34 Merrill Creek Road, Washington, NJ 07882
Merrill Creek is one of our favorite hiking areas as it's pretty close by to us. Throughout the year, the views are consistently beautiful. While the main area by the Visitor Center can sometimes get a little crazy, we know of a smaller area that tends to be pretty quiet. If you like the idea of having some woods, a lake, fluffy grass, and a perfect sunset spot for your engagement photos - this is a great choice!
Sample galleries:
- Courtney + Tyler Engagement Session
- Kate + Aaron Engagement Session
New Jersey State Botanical Gardens at Skylands
Address: 2 Morris Rd, Ringwood, NJ 07456
All year round, this is one beautiful New Jersey engagement photo location if you're wanting garden and estate vibes. It's seriously just an overall gorgeous location! This location does require a photo permit, but please reach out to us first if you are interested as it is an annual based permit and we may already have it in place.
Deep Cut Gardens
Address: 152 Red Hill Rd, Middletown Township, NJ 07748
We have not been here personally, but every photo we've seen online indicates this is a beautiful option for outdoor lovers. Not to mention, the gardens appear to have some covered areas such as a greenhouse, which is always great to have - especially for a rainy day! There are photo permits required for portrait sessions.
Grounds for Sculpture
Address: 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township, NJ 08619
One of the more unique places we've come across in New Jersey is Grounds for Sculpture. While we only shot a wedding here, we've gotten a great feel for the park and really love it. The great art installations throughout the grounds make for some really great backdrops. If you want to make your photo session a "date night" (like we always recommend), you can also stop by Rat's Restaurant for some outdoor dining along the picturesque Monet Bridge (you have to see this in real life to believe it!).
Sample galleries:
- Grounds for Sculpture Wedding
Historic Batsto Village
Address: 31 Batsto Rd, Hammonton, NJ 08037
Batsto Village is an historic site in the South Central Pinelands of New Jersey. There are so many great options here for natural backdrops and the historic buildings that offer something special for engagement photo backgrounds. Unlike many other parks on this list, it's free to shoot here - no permits required! Please note: we have not shot here ourselves, but included a placeholder image with a similar vibe (image shown was taken at Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania).
Pleasantdale Chateau
Address: 757 Eagle Rock Ave, West Orange, NJ 07052
Unfortunately, this gorgeous location is only available to couples getting married here - but if that's you, let us say this could just as well be your amazing engagement photo spot! There's so much to love, but we won't spend all the time ranting about it here - since you've probably already taken the time to explore it yourself before finalizing your wedding booking with them.
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Address: 353 E Hanover Ave, Morristown, NJ 07960
The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is another beautiful outdoor garden area perfect for engagement photo backdrops. It never ceases to amaze us that NJ, probably best known for it's large cities and beaches, can be a host to such great little natural spaces like this. There is a permit required for shooting here, just keep that in mind.
Sayen House and Gardens
Address: 155 Hughes Dr, Hamilton Square, NJ 08690
Sayen Gardens is a great (and free!) choice for engagement photos in New Jersey. It's quite a popular destination for photos, so you'll probably see a couple photographers at work while you're here. The location is fairly small and condensed, but has a lot of great little nooks and crannies thanks to the diversity of flowers, trees, gazebos, bridges, and more.
Sample galleries:
- Ilexis + Walter Engagement Session
Conclusion
As you can see, there are virtually unlimited options for engagement session locations in New Jersey. Now your big decision is to choose what location match most with what you're envisioning!
Allamuchy State Park
Address: Waterloo Rd, Stanhope, NJ 07874
For something a little more simple, Allamuchy is a small state park that features easy walking trails, woodlands and a lake. The colors during the fall season are especially beautiful and make this location a ton more vibrant.
Sample galleries:
- Diana + Erik Engagement Session
Princeton University
Address: Princeton, New Jersey
One of our new favorite spots to visit and take pictures at is Princeton University. Our first time visiting the campus was when we captured Mariella and Steve's engagement pics here. There are so many great spots around. It's hard not to love the Gothic architecture that totally makes us feel like we're being pulled into the Harry Potter universe.
Sample galleries:
- Mariella + Steve Engagement Session
Nutley Memorial Park
Address: Nutley, NJ 07110
Nutley Memorial Park has a lot more to offer that you might initially expect from a quick Google search. We absolutely loved getting to explore this place! Think quaint central park vibes! Check out the gallery below –
Sample galleries:
- Ashley + Dave Engagement Session
Luna Parc
Address: 22 Degroat Rd, Sandyston, NJ 07827
Luna Parc is, hands down, one of the most unique New Jersey engagement photo locations we've come across. It is actually a private home and studio of artist Ricky Boscarino, who generously allowed us on his property for a recent couple we photographed who fell in love with the location due to it's quirks. The property feels plucked out of a fairytale inspired by Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss - we absolutely loved it!
Please know - this is private property and typically not open to the public (with a couple exceptions for ticketed visits a few times a year). You can learn more about the property here. There are also permit fees for having photo sessions here.
Sample galleries:
- Michelle + Tim Engagement Session
