Firstly, what is it?

A “first look” refers to you seeing each other for the first time and doing the majority of your location portraits prior to the ceremony. 

Where does it take place?

Anywhere really! At the accommodation you are getting ready at, the venue, somewhere in between or anywhere that resonates with you! Ive photographed a first look at a park nearby to where the couple lived as they walk there often and it allowed them to have some portraits in a place that held significant meaning to them. Ive also done a first look in a cafe that the couple have breakfast at every Saturday! In both these cases, they made time later in the wedding day for a few more photos at the venue as well. In most cases it will be done at the venue that the reception is being held.

How much time do we need to allow?

This answer varies too! It depends on where you are doing the look/photos. If you are doing the photos at the venue you are having your ceremony at then I would allow 30mins before guests arrive to get you hidden away for touch ups/a drink before heading out to greet guests or walk down the aisle. I always say allow approx 1 hour for the first look/portraits so if your ceremony was at 4pm, that would mean we arrive at the venue at 2.30pm, set up the first look and continue to shoot through until about 3.30pm when guests would be arriving.

Depending on where on the property you are wanting to take photos vs where guests will be arriving you may need to add more/less time. Obviously if you are planning on having the first look elsewhere you will need to allow travel time and a nice healthy buffer too- nothing worse than feeling stressed that you are running late to ruin the magic of the “first look” and portraits. 

If you have a specific budget in mind, and are trying to keep coverage short, then it needs to be taken into account that doing a first look adds an hour and a half generally to the coverage time and therefore might mean less of the dance floor photos.

Daylight Savings

If your wedding is during summer/daylight savings, chances are you are going to have plenty of time for photos after the ceremony. Choosing to do a first look during the summer months however may be predominantly about spending more time with guests and I completely understand that. But one thing to consider about doing a first look in summer is this; the light. While I’m no hater of full sun (and love shooting in it at times) I would generally try to find some open shade to shoot in most of the time and to be completely honest the light isn’t going to be nearly as pretty or as flattering as it will be later in the day. For this reason I would always suggest still allowing 10/15 minutes at sunset for a few more shots of just you guys. Its worth noting that provided things are running on time, I always endeavour to get you back to your canapé hour before guests are seated, even if its for one drink. Quite often with summer weddings that don’t have a first look I will break the portrait time after the ceremony up; 1/2 hour after ceremony and 15-20 mins at sunset/golden hour. That way you get to party with guests a little more and still get lots of photos. 

However if your wedding is in winter/outside of daylight savings then having a first look is a great way to ensure you aren’t going to run out of light for some location portraits! Unfortunately I have shot a wedding where the ceremony ran so late because of a late family member that we completely ran out of daylight to shoot in. We had about 5 minutes of dusk and while we made it work and got some beautiful shots, we didn’t get many and we didn’t get to go to location the couple had hoped for. If getting more than a couple of portraits isn’t a big deal to you then this isn’t a problem. 

Weather

If you’re getting married in summer you need to consider that if you’re doing a first look in the afternoon before your ceremony that you may be dealing with full sun and temperatures of 30’c plus. Likewise if its due to pour down, you’d need to make sure that there is a suitable wet weather back up option at the venue if you don’t want to be a little bit soggy by the time you stand in front of guests. Neither are by any means a deal breaker or mean that you wont get beautiful photos, but depending on the type of person you are it just means that you may be a little uncomfortable and may want to leave a little extra time for make up touchups after. Or if the thought of either of these two things really scares you then perhaps forget the first look and leave the portraits until your guests have seen you. 

Guests

If we are shooting your first look at the venue it may be worth considering that there is always a guest wandering the grounds, keen as a bean, well before the time printed on your invites, ready to chat your ear off, hang their coat on their seat and take your photo. I always try to have you back and hidden away before guests arrive however the thought of the odd early bird guest seeing you before the big reveal may bother some people. 

Getting the dress dirty

Depending on the type of person you are this may or may not bother you! It also really depends on the dress you are wearing as some fabrics will hold up to being tousled around more than others. Ive done a first look before where the venue had a fair bit of rain the days leading up and the bride wore a heavy, long train. Because she didn’t want to get it dirty, her only option was to hold it up under her arm while doing the first look thus leaving a few creases here and there in the fabric which really bothered her and therefore really hindered how much she could relax and enjoy the portrait time. We also were limited to only getting full length shots inside where she could put her dress down. Im always so mindful and careful of where I place you and what I walk you through during this time but if the thought of creases, dirt, tiny bugs in your dress will really affect how much you can let your guard down and enjoy the first look then I would recommend not doing it (or packing a steamer and some spot cleaning solutions!).

Walking down the aisle moment

It goes without saying that if you’ve always dreamt of that walking down the aisle moment and seeing your partner at the end of the aisle for the very first time then a first look isn’t for you. On the other hadn't if the thought of that terrifies you then definitely do a first look! A first look gives you the benefit of having that moment all to yourself. and a little extra time to be with your partner, calming any nerves either of you may have.

Bridal Party

Its completely up to you whether you want to have the bridal party present for the actual first look or not. They can either wait behind me, cheering you on from the sidelines, or if you prefer to keep it private we can leave them waiting in the wings somewhere and go grab them for some photos afterwards.