Hello, soon to be bride or groom!

To First Look, or not to First Look?

June 20, 2011

If you’re planning a wedding, you might have thought about whether or not you and your fiance will see each other before your walk down the aisle. You may have envisioned this moment and how it will feel and what it will look like for years now … or it may be an afterthought!

I am a huuuge fan of the first look and I recommend it* … with the following footnote. I understand completely that many couples prefer to save that special moment for the ceremony and should you choose to do that, no problem! I will absolutely accommodate your decision either way. But I’d like to offer you a few reasons that, in my experience, make a compelling case for seeing each other beforehand:

A first look is time before the ceremony is time together – uninterrupted. I can’t emphasize this enough: while a wedding day is such a wonderful occasion in part because you get to spend it with the family and friends you love most, it is also a day in which you will probably very little time to yourselves. Even five to fifteen minutes will feel awesome.

A first look is an amazing opportunity to take both candid, unscripted photos and wonderful, relaxed portraits together. Schedule and then take your time together – as much as you’d like to. There is no “right answer” here – only what sounds best to you – but often I will hang back and use a telephoto to capture the spontaneous emotions unobtrusively, and then we can take portraits if you’d like. And there’s actually a good reason to opt for portraits now, as opposed to after the ceremony. Why, you ask?

Think about what will happen after you’ve said “I do” and walked your recessional together for the first time. You may choose to greet your guests in a receiving line, or it may be time for the family “formal” photos. What doesn’t usually happen during this time – or throughout the past few hours previous – is food. So when the three of us finally get to shoot your portraits together, you are hungry. And tired. And ready to get to the reception and have some dinner and get off your feet! This has happened more than a few times in the past with my clients and while we will always make the most of the time we have together, you’re more likely to be at very best if you’re more focused on the moment … and less on getting to dinner.

Thanks for reading! And please do drop me a line so we can talk about how we might shoot your first look!