First look!!!

I'm currently thinking about how to make my first look special for both my fiance and I, so I may be able to help think up some fun ideas for you too! Where are you doing your first look at? Your venue? A hotel? Off site location?

Try not to put too much thought or pressure on it. I've heard from a lot of people that they felt pressured to give a big reaction and thought it devalued the moment. Let it happen as organically as possible.

You could also do something abnormal and have you start in a spot and have your groom come up to you to turn around for a big reveal. It's not something I've ever seen before and could put your groom at ease.

View Quoted Comment Also, I totally agree with Courtney - try to make the first look special/meaningful to your relationship, but without the expectation of a big reaction or high pressure to get the perfect reaction from it. There are so many fun ways to make it special while still letting the moment occur naturally!

View Quoted Comment I completely agree. I wanted to do a first look because it worked better with scheduling and being able to maximize our time with our guests. But ultimately, we decided against it because of this very reason. We just couldn’t get past the idea that it would feel forced or inauthentic. I think knowing that the camera is there waiting to capture your reaction creates too much pressure to “perform”. At least for us anyway. Maybe you could have the photographer hidden out of view so it feels more like an intimate moment between just the two of you.

First looks themselves are special moments. I'm not sure you need to do anything other than pick a nice location to do it. Like others have said, sometimes trying to make something overtly special takes away from the moment. Just let it happen 😊

I've helped arrange a lot of first looks as a venue coordinator. I would definitely find somewhere that's intimate and really is just the two of you. Parents don't need to be anywhere nearby, as it should be something between the two of you and your photographer. You can talk to your venue and see where they've had others do them to get an idea, but then yes, just let it happen. Enjoy seeing each other glammed up and at your best and forget about the cameras.

Your photographer will move as they need to in order to get the best shots possible, so don't worry about them.

View Quoted Comment

FH and I are really good at tuning those kinds of things out, which I think will help us. We're also relatively private and don't like to be super emotional in front of people (FH in front of his family in particular), so not having to have that moment in front of the crowd at the ceremony is a big motivator for us. Plus the time aspect, we'll get started a couple of hours before our ceremony and hopefully have about half our family pictures knocked out.

View Quoted Comment

My feelings exactly.

We're just doing ours at our venue, nothing too fancy!

I do have a fun idea though, which is to have one of his friends (who's a pretty big dude), dress up in a cheap wedding dress and surprise him lol. I figured that would be a fun way to get some extra nerves and stress out of the way with some laughing!

It depends! Where do you plan on having your venue?? If anything just try to find a place that has a beautiful environment/scenery where it's just the two of you guys (and the photographer lol).

View Quoted Comment I agree with this. Honestly, we just chose a pretty spot at our venue and then our photographer kind of just did the rest.

We are having our first look at our venue pretty much just because we are getting married in November, the ceremony is at 4pm, and we will only have a little while longer of good sunlight for pictures after the ceremony so we're going to do a first look and pictures before the ceremony with plenty of natural light. I like the idea of a first look because I want my FH to be one of the first people to see me and not with everyone else at the wedding. I think it will special no matter what because it's a moment just the two of us (plus photographer lol) will share before the ceremony!