5 Reasons To Do a First Look

5 Reasons To Do A First Look!

First looks are fairly new and upcoming. But it’s not just a trend. Hear us out. There’s many benefits in doing a first look and I’m going to tell you why!

We know it’s tradition to have your partner see you for the first time when you walk down the aisle. But let’s be honest, traditions are something of the past! Shouldn’t your wedding day memories be things you absolutely want and not because of tradition? Heck, maybe you’re not a traditional person and that’s exactly why you’re here! (You’re reading this blog, so it must be) Let’s get into it.

1. Knock out the nerves!

Yes! We know this day is a so big and special. So you must be filled with a ton of nerves. What better way than to get those nerves out of the way earlier on in the day! Another thing to consider are the emotions. I don’t know about you, but Matt doesn’t show his emotions too often so he wouldn’t really cry in front of people. If you want true genuine emotions with just you two, this is it! It allows for all the intimate moments together before celebrating with your whole friends and family.

2. Better for the Timeline!

As a Wedding Photographer I can say that it is in fact better for the wedding timeline. Think about it. You’re freshly ready. You do the first look looking your best! Wedding Party joins you right after the first look to do the full Wedding Party Portraits with all your important people. Next you’re joined by your immediate family for Family Formal Portraits and all before the ceremony. Doesn’t that sound amazing, all important portraits done before the wedding ceremony! Which means, no makeup touch up needed after the ceremony for portraits and most importantly, you get to enjoy your cocktail hour! Which brings us to the next reason.

3. Enjoying Your Cocktail Hour!

Believe it or not, most couples have to skip out on their own cocktail hour. Why is that you may ask? Well Cocktail hour usually takes place right after the Ceremony. But right after the Ceremony is when most Photographers do Family Formal Portraits. Give or take, we carve out about 30 mins for family portraits followed along with another 30 minutes for the Wedding Party Portraits. Yep, that’s a full hour! An hour that you completely missed to enjoy with all your guest.

4. More Private Time Together!

Most couples don’t think about this but most of the day you’re spending greeting every one of your guest and it’s filled with a lot of moving pieces. Such as the getting ready portraits, the ceremony, family portraits, wedding party portraits, dinner, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss, the first dance, special dances with parents, speeches and toasts and of course couple sunset portraits. That’s a whole lot of things happening in one day! Also it’s happening with all your wedding guest. When will you truly have time alone and together?  The first look gives you the opportunity to spend  private intimate and uninterrupted time together. You’ll get to soak it all in before spending time with everyone else.

5. More Photos!

Hey, that’s why you hired a Photographer right? You want photos of the whole wedding day so you can relive it over and over again. A first look gives us wiggle room in the timeline because it creates more time for portraits. This will assure that we do capture all the important photos first (Couple Portraits, Wedding Party Portraits and Family Portraits). Which will also give photographers time to be more creative when capturing the rest of the day because we know we got the important shots done. Plus, you’ll get more portraits of you and your partner from first look photos, couple sunset photos and all the mingling photos with your guest.

If you enjoyed this wedding day tip and would love to read more, check out our tip on hiring a wedding calligrapher.

Donna and Matthew are Wedding & Elopement Photographers specializing in romantic, timeless and ethereal inspired images. We serve all of Northern CA and the Bay Area or anywhere your love takes us.

We’re available for destinations weddings, elopements and engagement sessions! Contact us for more detailed pricing.