When you grew up you probably thought about seeing your soon-to-be spouse down the aisle. Every movie that has a wedding scene in it mostly like depicts the bride walking down the aisle. It’s what we grew up thinking was the norm. Well I’m here to tell you that you have a second option. The “First Look”

What the heck is a “First Look” anyway?

Simply put, a first look is when you see your fiancé before the ceremony. The day goes by so fast as it is. The first look allows us to stretch out the day a little bit and take some time to focus on just the two of you, in an intimate setting.

Danielle & Ray’s First Look

I shot Danielle and Ray’s first look in June 2017 and their wedding always sticks out to me. They are some of the coolest, most genuine people on the planet. When I pitched the idea to them about reading the cards as they stand back-to-back before they see each other, Danielle was like, sure! Little did I know that it would be one of the most memorable first looks I’ve ever shot.

They both are reading their cards, and I see Danielle crying. Then she looks up and she whispers, “Thank you, thank god.” DUDE, I had to fight to not cry myself. Then Ray turns around and his upper lip goes up. He hugs her and then rests his head on her shoulder. UGH. Seriously one of the most amazing moments ever.

I tell the story about Danielle and Ray a lot because it 100%, absolutely shows their personalities, their hearts and their love for one another. And as a photographer, there’s nothing better that brings those qualities out so we can capture them for our clients to remember forever.

Logistics On the Wedding Day Can Sometimes Be Stressful

Scheduling is something that Abigail and I care a lot about. We want to make sure we have time to capture all those perfect moments, portraits and details throughout the day. But most importantly, we want to make sure our wedding couples have the best wedding day experience. We’ve experienced a ton of weddings and we’ve seen everything when it comes to wedding day timelines.

One of, if not the biggest, benefits of doing a first look before your ceremony is that we can spread the day out a little bit. We can get a bulk of our portraits done before the ceremony even starts. This is one of the lines I use when couples say they want to spend a good amount of time at cocktail hour.

Most of the time, our couples who do a first look only have 10-15 minutes of extended family portraits and then get to spend the rest of their time at cocktail hour mingling with family and friends.

The first look can be done with just the two of you, or you can include family and friends as spectators. Most couples opt to do it alone where they can have some one-on-one time.

When it all boils down, you can see each other for the first time any way you want. Just make sure you include your wedding photographer in the loop so they can plan accordingly. Happy Wedding Planning!