I was recently introduced to the term “first look” wedding
photos. Being that I am blonde and
very traditional in my ways, I knew that it could not mean what I thought it
meant. My mind was wandering and
straying far away from the reality of this concept, and I came to the
conclusion that it had to be photos of the bride once she was in her dress with
her hair and make up freshly done.
A first look at the total package of the bride…kind of makes sense,
right?
WRONG! We all
know that the traditional practice is for the groom to not set eyes on the
bride before she walks down the aisle.
Well, times are a changin’.
First look photos are a booming new trend in the wedding world.
I’m sure everyone who is reading this is slowly putting the
pieces of the puzzle together on this foreign idea. But, for those of you who are just as confused as I was, let
me break it down for you. First
look wedding photos are a photo op for the bride and groom before the
ceremony. The way it typically
works is the groom is standing in a picture perfect area with his back facing
the bride. The bride walks up to
him (almost as if she is walking down the aisle), and once she reaches her man
destination, she taps him on the back, he turns around, and BOOM – first look
at each other as bride and groom and the camera snaps away.
While your grandmother and mother probably frown at this
idea, I think it is fantastic.
When I attend weddings, I always try to remind myself to look at the
grooms face once he takes the first glance at his bride. This is very hard to do. My eyes are always fixated on the
bride, analyzing her dress, hair, make up…you know. Then when I realize that I wanted to be looking at the groom
I look like a crazy person with my head twisting back and forth. With first look photos, it is all
captured. Another reason why I
think this idea is great, is because you get to share the intimacy of just the
two of you, not in front of anyone else, seeing each other for the first
time. Yes, the photographers are
there but they are too busy doing their job snapping away, and I think that we
can all agree it would be less awkward saying what you wanted to say in front
of a photographer than it would be an officiant…
Until next time,
Elise
(photo by Platinum Touch Events)