When you’re planning an engagement session in Northern Virginia, it can be difficult to decide what location to choose because of the abundance of options! Some options are perfect for an urban setting, some parks may be close by but not quite as picturesque, and some locations may be stunning but carry a hefty fee for photography. We’ve started blogging the best places for engagement sessions in Northern Virginia to help our clients, and fellow photographers, learn more about some of our favorite choices for locations.

Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria is one of our absolute favorite locations for anyone who wants a garden venue feel to their engagement session. While it may seem like you can get flowers and greenery at any park in the area, it’s rare to find truly curated gardens, and it’s common for any pretty blooms to be nestled right next to a parking lot of playground, making for less than ideal backgrounds to your photos. The park itself is quite large, but doesn’t have any playgrounds or pavilions to attract the general public; it certainly gets its share of visitors, but these are typically casual visitors strolling through the gardens, picnicking on the lawn, and maybe participating in a daytime activity inside the horticultural center. On most days, it’s easy to avoid having crowds in the background of your images and it only takes a minute or two of waiting for any small groups to pass by the perfect spot you’ve been eyeing.

Green Spring Gardens Park is also one of the least expensive engagement session locations in Northern Virginia. It’s very common for some of the best locations to include a hefty permit fee for one-time use, especially in curated garden areas like at historic houses and vineyards because of their cost to maintain it and efforts to reduce any damage that unfortunately some irresponsible photographers cause (or allow their clients to cause) while on location for a shoot. Because Green Spring Gardens Park is part of the Fairfax County Parks, professional photoshoots require the use of the annual Fairfax County Parks photography permit. This permit is $25 for the year, for use at any and all Fairfax County Parks locations (like Cabell’s Mill in Chantilly which we’ve also photographed!) – so as long as your photographer already has the permit, you shouldn’t be charged any additional fees to host your engagement session at Green Spring Gardens Park, and if they don’t have it already it’s only $25 even if they pass that cost on to you (at Beauty of the Soul Studio we don’t pass along this particular permit fee to the client because we’re able to re-use it for other clients throughout the year). All that said – Beauty of the Soul Studio’s wedding clients never have to worry about the permit cost of any location they’re interested in for their engagement session, as we cover the permit fee for our clients!

The park staff does ask that you or your photographer email them in advance to notify them of your interest in shooting at a particular day and time; this is primarily so they can alert you if there will also be other photographers there at that time, any major events going on that will inhibit your access to the property, or any weddings already scheduled. And on that note – Green Spring Gardens Park weddings are beautiful and this is a highly underrated option for a garden wedding in Northern Virginia!

Interested in seeing examples of full sessions at Green Spring Gardens Park? Here are a couple:

• Christy and Kyle’s Summer Engagement Session

• Sarah and Max’s Peony-Filled Spring Engagement Session

• Diamond and Chris’ Maternity Portraits

• Kris and Andrew’s Romantic Garden Elopement

The Historic House

In the main area of the park, the first sight to welcome you from the parking lot is the historic house on the property. And this is one of the most charming historic houses I’ve seen in Northern Virginia! The teal green shutters, doors, and back stairs add a little pop of color but the red brick looks classic and clean, so the home has a very timeless look. It’s surrounded by a little bit of greenery as well, so you still get garden vibes from this less garden-y spot in the park. It’s worth noting that during active park hours, photographing in front of the historic house is off limits because the house is used for park events and they don’t want photographers blocking access for the general public. Outside of that time, however, there’s no reason not to make use of this cute spot as a way to break up the abundance of greenery that you’ll enjoy for the rest of your session. Plus, there’s a brick walkway around the back of the house that is completely out of the way and perfect for a slightly more private set of photos if you’re there at a busier time when there are a lot of people walking the main path of the park.

The Little Garden

My absolute favorite spot at Green Spring Gardens Park during the warmer months is the tiny garden right behind the historic house. It has pretty blooms galore! There are larger bushes and a trellis in the back, a circular path in front, a bench nestled into the side, and blooms all around. Get some photos nuzzling close on the bench, walking along the path between the flowers, or pose in front of the larger greenery. This tiny spot only a few meters wide holds enough for an entire mini session on its own! And because it’s so small, there’s generally not a lot of public traffic wandering through here – and when people do come by, they usually just walk past the front leaving the back half of the circular pathway free and clear for you to pose.

The Larger Garden

In addition to the little garden right by the historic house, further down the path is the main garden for the park which is a bit larger. There’s a large, beautiful tree that glows during the evening golden hour as you first approach the garden, and then as you walk through there are a few branching paths and benches between the often vibrant greenery. This area tends to be busier than the little garden, but on most days it’s just a few passers-by who are happy to step out of the way or pause while you’re in the middle of your photos, and people generally keep moving through the garden without hogging a particularly pretty spot for too long.

The Gazebo

Further down the main path, just past the larger garden, is a classic white gazebo. A gazebo isn’t my first choice of location in a park as beautiful as Green Spring Gardens because it tends to be very shaded and dark even in the middle of the day, but it can add a little variety to your session and there are still ways to work with the natural light both inside and outside the gazebo itself. It also makes for an adorable spot for a wedding at Green Spring Gardens Park! It is definitely one of the most underrated and beautiful places to get married in Northern Virginia particularly for an elopement or small wedding. This area is usually pretty deserted, aside from maybe a couple people wandering through as they aimlessly explore the park, so you tend to get the entire area around this gazebo all to yourself. Near the gazebo you’ll also find some purple trellises along the paved plaza, and on the other side is another park bench sitting under a large overhanging tree that would also make for beautiful photos.

The Ponds

From the parking lot, going east and toward the historic house will lead you to the gardens but there is another path going north that will take you to a separate picturesque area of the park – a pair of ponds, connecting under a foot bridge with a sweet and more rustic-looking wooden gazebo nestled into the side. While there aren’t curated gardens with vibrant blooms in this area of the park, there are more neutral tones that make for equally as timeless and classic portraits and once again add variety to your portrait session. You can also have a wedding at Green Spring Gardens Park in this area by the wooden gazebo – a testament to its romantic potential!

My Hidden Gem for Perfect Golden Hour Portraits

One note about Green Spring Gardens Park is that while you can find beautiful early golden hour light in the gardens, it’s a little harder to find TRUE golden hour light right before sunset because of the presence of so many trees in the area. That said, there is one “secret spot” that I absolutely love to use but isn’t as conventionally attractive to the naked eye… right next to the paved entrance to the park, there is an opening in the trees (because of the presence of the road cutting between them) that allows the western setting sun to pour perfect golden light into the park and if you angle it right, you won’t get the parked cars, dumpsters, etc. in the background. There aren’t any flowers here but there is plenty of greenery and typically no other background distractions which means you can still get buttery romantic golden hour portraits, which is a major bonus to any engagement session location in Northern Virginia!

Honorable Mention: The Flowers!

It wouldn’t be a post about a garden as the best place for an engagement session in Northern Virginia without mentioning the beautiful variety of flowers. My favorite way to incorporate them? Engagement ring photos! It’s important to leave the flowers undamaged in the gardens, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get up close and personal with them. Balancing rings on delicate petals or stems in the middle of a patch of flowers always results in a beautiful showcase of your sparkling ring. No matter what time of year, you can pretty much always find some sort of bloom at Green Spring Gardens Park, which is one reason this is one of the best locations for an engagement session in Northern Virginia.