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May 25, 2024
I always encourage our couples to plan for a First Look because they’re AWESOME! However, not everyone is aware of how truly amazing they are. Couples often get caught up in how “non-traditional” they are, and they immediately write them off.
I can talk about those brides because I was one of them! I wanted a REACTION! For Zack to be so overcome with joy when he saw me that he bawled! Isn’t that EVERY girl’s dream? Who doesn’t want that reaction? Luckily, that is exactly what happened! Zack had an amazing reaction to me walking down the ailse. However, neither our videographer nor our photographer captured the moment! If we had had a First Look we would have had a special moment alone. It would have given our photographer ample time to caputure it on film. As it was, we received no decent images of it happening during the ceremony. After the wedding, our family photos ran so long that we again failed to have any time for intimate photos. We don’t want to ever see this happen to another bride!
Orlando and Kiyomi’s First Look was AMAZING! They had this beautiful courtyard at the Guild Hotel all to themselves and plenty of time to savor every moment. You can see more of their wonderful day on this blog!
After experiencing our own wedding and photographing many others…. we’ve come to an important conclusion. Some brides love “traditions”…. but what a bride REALLY wants is for her groom to have a REACTION. Some may think that by seeing each other beforehand, they will lose part of that reaction. They also assume that it will not be as emotional or as intimate as it would be if they were coming down the aisle. What we have found is so ironic! I have seen just as many emotions during the First Look as during the aisle reveal. Probably more. It actually takes away the nerves as well instead of adding more!
Everyone knows that wedding days are a bit stressful for the bride and groom. The whole day is focused on them! They need to look their best and be on time The groom has no idea what side the boutonniere is supposed to go on, and little by little… the tension grows.
What if that could change?
Reden and Kelsey’s First Look at the Vista Optimist Club was one of my favorites! Reden just melted when he saw her! And then he got to hold her! To talk to her! No restraits or constraints. Their whole day was absolutely lovely, but this was the best part of their day. Here is thehir blog so you can see the entire event!
It’s before the ceremony that what is about to happen starts to sink in. The calm, collected groom who was playing golf just a few short hours ago starts to feel a little anxious. So what happens next? The groom waits in a little room somewhere for his que from the coordinator. It seems like it’s taking FOREVER. Finally, the coordinator leans her head in and hurries the groom to get ready. With clammy hands, the groom enters the ceremony and what does he find? …. he finds anywhere from 80-300 people and they’re all looking where? Right at his face! This is because everyone has expectations and anticipation about his first reaction.
This is the farthest thing from a private, intimate moment. Sure, it’s SO powerful and SO wonderful! No matter what, walking down the aisle is one of the BEST PARTS of the WHOLE wedding day!! It’s magical!! But imagine if when you walk down the aisle… your groom isn’t a nervous wreck. This would be the result of him spenting the morning with you and your best friends and the pressure on him is OFF. By the time your ceremony rolls around he is ready to ENJOY your beautiful day!
I just love the way Beau looked at Amber as she walked to him. His eyes brimmed with tears and their time together was so sweet! Their La Jolla wedding at the Cuvier Club was so lovely! Here is their blog!
When the nerves are gone… true emotions are free to be expressed. So, if I were to condense what I just wrote… basically, grooms normally become incredibly nervous on wedding days…. even if they seem cool and collected. A First Look is a way to calm those nerves.
For most grooms, the nerves kick in before they see their bride because this is when everything becomes VERY real! So, instead of keeping the groom in a secluded space until his time to enter the ceremony, what if you took him to a private place? What if there were no people, no on-lookers, no distractions? What if you let his beautiful bride, the love of his life, quietly call his name and have him turn around to see her for the first time…ALONE?
He would turn around and finally get his first look at his stunning bride! Not only would he get to see her… to embrace her… cry with her…. kiss her… and ENJOY that moment with her for as LONG as they wanted. As she shows him her dress, twirls a few times, and then asks him what he thinks… his nerves start to diminish. After all, she’s the one who can make him most comfortable anyway.
Although there were no tears during Ashlyn and Austin’s First Look, their expressions when they saw each other was priceless! This was possible becasue no one (other than the photographers) was watching! Their Mission Trails wedding blog shows the whole thing!
Because the bride and groom aren’t on a time crunch… they casually move into their romantic portraits. No one is around. The coordinator isn’t announcing “15 minutes left”, and there is no pressure. It’s just the two of them and their photographer capturing the excitement and the joy of their wedding day. This is their time to be TOGETHER…and to be ALONE. When does that happen on a wedding day? Without a First Look…. it doesn’t.
After their romantic portraits are done, they meet up with their best friends. Their bridal party joins them and they still have plenty of time to spare. The bride touches up a little makeup while the boys act like boys. After a few minutes the bridal party portraits begin and they’re FUN. They’re fun because there is time to make them fun! There aren’t any guests waiting impatiently at the cocktail hour. There isn’t a DJ coming to find the photographer to get a time check. It’s wonderful!
After portraits are done, the girls and guys separate and prepare for the ceremony. The guests begin to arrive and the ushers are in place. Pretty soon it’s time for the processional music to begin and one by one, the bridesmaids make their way down to the front of the ceremony. The groom clasps his hands, which aren’t clasped out of nervousness, but excitement. The music builds, the mother of the bride stands and all of the guests follow her lead. The groom looks up, and here comes the BRIDE!!! His best friend, his companion, his sweetheart…..she’s stunning…. ABSOLUTELY stunning. The closer she gets, the bigger he smiles…and usually cries AGAIN!
Wil and Alex added gift giving to their First Look at the Crossings at Carlsbad! It was so special! Their entire wedding was Christmas themed and so lovely!
Now let us put a disclaimer on here before we continue. Our clients are not required to do a First Look by any means! We used to feel bad for sharing this option with couples who were against it, because we didn’t want to push anything on them. However, we’ve seen the benefits of a First Look over and over again. We only share this because we want the BEST for our couples!! It’s totally ok if couples choose not to share a First Look! It’s just our preference to do one for several reasons.
Keep reading to find out more of the benefits of sharing your First Look privately! For brides not interested in a First Look, lets start chatting soon about how we’ll create a special timeline to fit everything in, which we can ABSOLUTELY do!
Austin and Caroline are just the sweetest couple! Austin’s smile before and after he saw her was just priceless! He had this look ALL DAY when he looked at her as well. Check out their blog post!
You’re investing a lot into your wedding photography. With a First Look, you’ll receive 40% MORE portraits of the two of you! Also, those are the images you will decorate your first home with! With a First Look, you make the most out of this large investment and get the most for your money. Unfortunately, we have had couples who only had 15 minutes for portraits since they chose not have a First Look and something went wrong with the timeline. Portrait time was cut short as the sun set behind the mountains. You DON’T want this to happen to you! We were still able to get some amazing images, but just not as many as they dreamed of.
We have never had a bride quite like Olivia! Look at that laugh! She did this all day and was just so much fun to photograph!
You actually get to have intimate time on your wedding day with your man when you have a FIRST LOOK. Most brides don’t realize that when you come down the aisle and totally SHOCK him with your gorgeous-ness… he can’t even tell you how amazing you look. He can’t touch you, embrace you, or even SPEAK to you! You have to wait until the ceremony is over for him to react and tell you how amazing you look. And after 30 minutes of the ceremony, the reaction isn’t the same as the initial first glance.
Maderas Golf Course has the best place for a First Look! Look at those doors! Perfect! Eric went just to mush when he turned around and saw beautiful Laura. Who could blame him!
First Looks allow you to extend your wedding day! Normally the wedding day would start when you come down the aisle. Then the ceremony would end, you would rush through portraits so that you’re not late for the introductions, and then it’s reception time. With a First Look, your wedding day is extended by almost 3 hours! Instead of being rushed for your bridal party portraits… you actually get to enjoy them! You can also have fun hanging out with your BEST friends on your wedding day. The whole first half of my client’s wedding albums are filled with images just from this time together BEFORE the ceremony.
Sometimes you seek out lovely places at venues for a First Look, and sometimes, it’s just best to head into nature! That’s what Sonia and Gus did at their Bonita wedding. We had the whole place to ourselves!
First Looks allow you to be TOGETHER and alone on your wedding day. When my brother Jason and his wife Aimee had a First Look, it was their only time to be alone the whole day! They cried and laughed and then cried some more. This put them in the PERFECT mood for their romantic portraits which were the only portraits we managed to get!
Normally portraits are a little rushed after the family formals because you know your friends and family are waiting for you at the cocktail hour. Also, it can be hard to really get back into that “lovey dovey” mode…. especially with family around! When you have just shared your private First Look, you’re READY to love on each other, and we always capture some super sweet images during those moments!
I had no idea Luis was so emotional! He cried through a good portion of his First Look. He and Sydney even took this time to read personal letters to each other and to exchange gifts. So touching! Their whole day was just so much fun. They even had a pinata and a jumpy-jump too!
You get rid of your nerves! I’d say, literally 1/2 of our couples who have decided to do a First Look, the grooms were not fans of it when it was first suggested. However, because they have never experienced a wedding day before, they didn’t know how nerve racking it could be. We have testimonials from so many grooms who initially weren’t a fan of the First Look but afterwards admitted to being SO much more relaxed and ready for the ceremony!
Bride’s, if you have never seen your man cry or get emotional, you can’t expect him to be overly emotional on your wedding day. Some guys just embrace their brides and never cry…. and that’s OK! Some guys show very little emotion when their bride is coming down the aisle and that’s ok too. Just enjoy this amazing day, and try not to put any expectations on him.
If you take this advice to heart, we could potentially be saving you a lot of disappointment on your day. We’ve noticed that the stress and nerves that come with a wedding day can sometimes make it hard for some grooms to truly express their emotions. It’s just a lot to take in all at once. This is a great reason to share a First Look and also to give some grace to your guy! Our encouragement to you is to enjoy this time together, no matter what his reaction is like!
Mark and Loree chose to allow their friends to watch their First Look from a balcony. How fun! Their whole day at the Thursday Club in Point Loma was just like this, fun!
“Aimee and I really appreciated the opportunity the First Look gave us to spend some relatively quiet time together before the ceremony. It helped calm my nerves before the excitement of the day. It also proved to be a great time to take intimate wedding photos in a relaxed atmosphere when we both looked our best. Photos taken before the ceremony allowed more time after the wedding to see our relatives and friends at the ceremony venue as well as at the reception. The First Look really allowed more flexibility in what was a logistically challenging day!”
– Jason Bennett
“Choosing to do a First Look was one of the best decisions we made on our wedding day! It not only helped calm our nerves, but it was a special moment that just the two of us got to share. From that moment on, we were both totally at ease. We were able to just be in the moment and enjoy our special day together.”
– Eric Sams
“On the happiest, most exciting, and one of the busiest days of my life, having even a few minutes alone with my wife-to-be, before the big moment, was one of the best parts of the day. I was a little nervous, and very emotional, and afterwards I felt more comfortable and excited. The rest of the day we were together and had an amazing time with friends and family. It went so fast and we never had a minute alone after our ceremony. The First Look was one of the happiest and most memorable moments of my life! I am so glad to have done it.”
– Nicholas Williams
“Doing the First Look gave us some alone time before the actual ceremony which was so amazing! I hadn’t seen Kelsey in two days and that was the first time I’d seen her. Seeing her in private was so nice! Even though there were two cameras poinrws at me, it still felt like it was just me and Kelsey by ourselves. The First Look made me a lot calmer during the actual ceremony as well. I wasn’t worrying about seeing her for the first time at the ceremony with everyone looking at me.”
– Reden Camonayan
Nicole Reyes photography is based
in san diego, Ca
We are based in San Diego and will travel anywhere in the county. We are excited to also travel outside of the county, the state, and even the country! Inquire for a peersonalized proposal
nicolereyesphotographysd@gmail.com
(619)772-7485
contact us for wedding photography
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