Jake and Carissa's "First Look"

What is the "First Look"? It's that first moment when the groom sees his lovely bride in her wedding dress. It's that moment that his heart skips a beat as he realizes it's really happening. It's that moment of confirmation that she sees in his eyes his deep felt love for her. It's that magical moment when the wedding truly begins.

Why do a First Look session?

• Because it allows us to capture that rare moment in its entirety. When the bride is walking down the aisle, there is a huge distance between the two. No single picture can really capture what is going on at that moment.
• Because it allows the groom to see you up close at the moment of the First Look (again, referencing the distance of seeing you from the other end of the aisle). Up close and personal, he can look into your eyes, he can exam the details in the dress, he can fully "take her in" in that moment.
• Because the quality of the images will be so much better when they can be done at the "right time of day", in a "scenic location" and "without wedding day rush".
• Because without the rush of the ceremony and the crowds that follow we can spend more time photographing you and your fiancée. I can't count the number of times that pictures of the newlywed couple have been "short changed" because they ran out of time. They started late. The ceremony ran over. They had to have family pictures. And meanwhile the guests are all getting antsy waiting for them, so they decide to bail early on the pictures of themselves - the MOST IMPORTANT pictures - because they'd rather get back to their guests. Doing these pictures on a day other than wedding day (or even in the morning or even just a few hours before the ceremony) takes the rush out of the problem.
• Because if you do the First Look at least a week before the wedding then you can put pictures up at the reception for all to see.

This particular session happened to be my very first "First Look" session. There were 2 other photographers there, which means a complete set (from all angles) of that "First Look" will require bringing together all of the images.  But for now, I wanted to share the images from my point of view.

After planning out how the First Look would take place, it was my job to keep Jake (the groom) busy while Carissa (the bride) finished getting ready and hid herself out of view of the groom.

After a short delay, I took Jake outside where the planned meeting was to take place. To help him relax and avoid thinking too much ahead of the game ... I told him we would have him wait there for a bit while we (the photographers) took a few pictures of him.



The path that you can see behind him is where Carissa would make her appearance. We have him purposely facing away just long enough for her to begin her approach. And then ..........



... the magic happens:





Jake and Carissa are so in love with each other. They were as if in their own little world...















The rest of Jake and Carissa's wedding pictures will be online soon here:
http://www.dterryphotography.com/JacobAndCarissa

I hope you'll consider the possibility of doing a "First Look" session on your wedding day.