Time are a changing in the world of weddings with green wedding planners, modern dresses, highly personalized themes, and big parties. Another part of the traditional wedding day that is also changing is when the groom sees his lovely bride.
Does this have to be during the ceremony in front of everyone you know? I don’t think it does and I am seeing brides and grooms really embrace the intimacy and advantages of a “First Look” before the wedding ceremony.
Here are some reasons to do a “First Look”:
1. Youre photographs will love you for it (seeing each other in a beautiful location for the first time in great light where your photographer can go anywhere he wants means awesome pictures for you)
2. A much shorter family picture time after the ceremony. We can take the family photos and bridal party photos before the ceremony. Many weddings photographers have documented weddings where the bride and groom were able to go straight from the ceremony to the reception without any waiting. Wouldnt that be nice?
3. More time to take modern portraits of the bride and groom. You will have the daylight and time to take the pictures you know you want whereas there is always a rush to get to the reception after the ceremony and these kinds of pictures just end up not happening.
4. Weddings move so quickly and seeing each other the traditional way can be lacking in intimacy with one another. From that moment on you will be surrounded by other people and it can be difficult to just have a nice conversation with one another all by yourselves. With a first look, you pick a place and you are able to see each other for the first time and experience a nice 5-10 minutes all by yourselves with your wedding photographer taking pictures from a distance. Some brides and grooms say it was the most memorable part of their day and they would definitely do it again.
How does it work?
-You pick a beautiful place with the perfect light for great photographs.
-The groom stands in that spot with his eyes closed or his back turned towards the direction that the bride will be coming from.
-The bride enters with the bridal party and the photographer looking on from a distance
-Once the bride is pretty close to the groom we have the groom open his eyes or turn around and see you for the first time. The wedding photographer is taking pictures of his reaction and your reaction from a distance while this happens.
-The two of you just hang out and talk for a little bit. Some clients exchange personal gifts with one another. Its a moment of the day that you can do whatever you want.
Once the bride and groom are finished talking, exchanging gifts, etc; the photograph will walk you around to take some really cool pictures of the two of you kind of like you did during your engagement session, but this time youre all dressed up. This doesnt take too long.
When you are done with all of that you get the bridal party and take those pictures. If you have coordinated to have all the family in the sanctuary, chapel, or ceremony venue you can go ahead and take care of those pictures as well. This is what most photographers recommend so that you can go straight from the ceremony to the reception for a great time!
See a “First Look” that was taken by a Dallas wedding photographer. After seeing these photos it’s hard to think that these two love birds regretted their decision and of course are really enjoying the photographs!