Do you wanna know the number one way you can be more present on wedding your day? By doing a first-look!

My mission as a wedding photographer is to gift you back more of your wedding day. I wanna help eliminate stress, provide you with a memorable portrait experience and ultimately: allow you to be present for more moments of your day! I feel like it’s my responsibility not to withhold anything that could better your overall wedding experience—so for all the couples in house who are genuinely curious:

”how do I know if a first-look on my wedding day is the right fit for me?!”

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom past clients shared with me from their personal experience that I thought might be a helpful perspective for you!

 

🌸 PRE-CEREMONY NERVES

I think the main reason people decide not to share a first-look on their wedding day is because they believe it will steal from their down-the-aisle moment but from all the feedback I’ve received, not a single couple of mine felt like it robbed them from that magical moment! I’ve actually heard more people share they couldn’t imagine *not* doing one because it helped calm their pre-ceremony nerves + remove the pressure in that moment where all eyes are on them!

🌸 A LARGER GALLERY

The reality of weddings days —> you’re most likely running behind schedule, which ultimately means part of your portrait time gets cut short. By opting for a first-look you’re basically ensuring that you’ll get all the portraits you’ve dreamed of and then some! On average my first-look wedding day galleries have 40% more b+g portraits than ones without. 🙌

🌸 BEING FULLY PRESENT

This one is kind of a no brainer! With capturing a large sum of your portrait events (bridal party and bride and groom portraits etc.) before the ceremony, this will free you up to get to enjoy more moments like your cocktail hour and ultimately be more present to celebrate with your people. It’s so easy for wedding days to run behind which means that your portrait time usually gets shortened and if you’re saving all your portraits until after your ceremony it’s setting you up for a more rushed portrait experience and tends to feel more stressful when it should be a fun and carefree experience. By doing a first-look earlier in the day you’ll feel relieved that you’ve captured your portrait “must-have’s” and you’ll be freed up to have more candid moments with your people.

Speaking of first-looks, here is one of my favorites from Kaitlyn & Mike’s Newport Beach sweet boat wedding day!

🌿 If you chose to do a first-look wedding day I would love to hear from you on this! What did you notice or appreciate about it?! Do you have any regrets? Chat with me in the comments. ✌🏻

 

Xoxo, Hannah

 

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