Why a First Look Editorial Wedding Photoshoot Might Be Right For You - Poise & Ivy Imagery, Utah Wedding Photographer
Hi! I’m so happy you’ve found my work and I’m excited to share it with you. If you’re considering a first look or editorial wedding photoshoot, read this!!
Adriana and Jaiden (pictured above) included a first look / editorial photoshoot before their wedding day. This is a perfect opportunity to showcase your stunning wedding attire in a way that won’t take away from the experience on your wedding day itself, and, first and foremost, we are able to provide a space meant only for you and your fiancee to share together. This is an incredible option for so many reasons; let’s look at them together and see if a first look photoshoot makes sense for you.
A self portrait from a time when I still had a pixie cut! I love this one because I feel so cool lol
But first, let me introduce myself.
I’m Ivy, a wedding photographer specializing in emotional imagery that FEELS like YOU, TELLS YOUR STORY, and STANDS THE TEST OF TIME as photos that you’ll love as much as you do now as in 20 years.
You might be thinking, “Hm, a rare talent. Not sure if I believe it,” but here’s the secret:
I’m highly empathic and emotional and if you’re in love, you bet your buttons I can feel it. I’ve practiced seeing and feeling the emotion in those around me, and putting that to work in my camera to get you the most incredible images you could dream of for your wedding.
This matters because:
If you want photos that truly have SUBSTANCE and make you FEEL something, you need a photographer who can work with simplicity to bring out your personality and find your story.
Wedding photography isn’t just about smiling at the camera and posing for hours with your new spouse. It’s about honoring the moment and the love that you feel toward one another and coming together with an artist such as myself to tell your love story in a way that will be felt for years and years to come.
Now let’s get into it! ♡
As far as first look or editorial wedding photoshoots go, I have one big bold claim to make:
A first look photoshoot protects your wedding day experience, your memories, and your peace.
And I can back it up. Here are the points:
A first look photoshoot prior to your wedding day:
Protects your emotional space
You are able to react genuinely to each other presenting themselves as your bride or groom without pressure to perform from hundreds of eyes. Many couples feel as though many of their friends and family attending their wedding ceremony expect to see some grand reaction from the bride or groom standing at the altar. In fact, there’s a running joke in the wedding space that goes something like “If they don’t cry when I walk down the aisle I’m going to be so mad.” It’s a joke, but it speaks to the person’s desire to feel cherished. However, if your partner is shy or doesn’t feel comfortable being so vulnerable in front of everyone they know, feeling safe enough to cry openly in front of an audience could be out of the question. A first look photoshoot provides a private space away from a large audience where you can both react honestly and authentically with each other.
I even use a lens that allows me to be positioned farther from you when I photograph these sessions so as to allow you a more intimate moment together without me distracting you, but I’ll still be able to get the shots you want to see from this sacred moment together.
Preserves the memory
No, I don’t just mean that you get better photos of the moment (although also true). A first look photoshoot allows you to spend the moment together without the stress of your wedding day bustling around you. High stress moments blur and distort memory, and a wedding day is just about as stressful as you can get. Taking this cherished experience out of the hustle of the wedding day helps you preserve the memory of first seeing each other as a bride or groom with more clarity and more of your mental faculty.
It’s my job to capture the memory in photograph for you to cherish forever, but above that, I want you to be able to recall the moment when you look at your wedding photos. I don’t want your wedding gallery to feel like something you don’t remember. A first look photoshoot helps you experience your first look to its fullest.
Allows for emotional regulation
This point ties into the first; if you or your partner are shy or uncomfortable with such vulnerability in front of an audience, this is the perfect opportunity to get your nerves cooled down. Experience everything new before the wedding, take it all in, and then during your marriage ceremony, you’ll be able to focus on your union rather than being stuck in a stressful and emotionally heightened state. Again, you deserve to remember your wedding! Let’s remove as much of the stress as possible so that you can be fully present on your wedding day. and move through the day with presence and clarity. You owe that to yourself as well as your partner.
Stronger ceremony presence
I touched on this point above, but it deserves its own bullet point. If you are able to reduce the stressors on your wedding day, you will be more present in the moment. This is so important as you devote your love to your partner and the life you’ll build together. There is precious little that deserves more honor than such a vow, and if you are floating through the moment in a state of anxiety and stress you are doing your own memory a disservice. We can get those initial nerves and jitters out before the wedding so that you and your partner know what to expect from one another during the wedding ceremony. It is my hope for you that you’ll be able to fully experience your wedding, and often a first look photoshoot will help you do that.
An opportunity for intentional words
If you want your vows to be more private, this is the moment to share them! You won’t be standing in front of a crowd of your most cherished, and I’ll be far enough away from you to allow you the privacy to feel fully intimate and authentic with one another. Expressing your love and your gratitude to your significant other is no small thing. Love, friendship, and experience is all this life is for, and expressing that your partner makes all of the meaning in your life better is what life is all about and more. You should be able to feel authentic and NOT performative when you tell your fiancee in your own words how they matter to you.
If you want to wait to share your vows for the first time at the altar, there is NO PROBLEM with that! I suggest sharing them in private only when it would help you feel better during the ceremony. The marriage ceremony itself is there for you to have witnesses when you not only perform the legal aspect of a marriage, but also in the vows, simple or complex as they may be.
More guest interaction
Your wedding guests are there to celebrate your wedding WITH you! Leaving your guests for an extended period of time to take photos (as much as I love it) can make your guests feel out of the moment, confused, and at worst, it can make your wedding day feel too performative. Having this photoshoot before your wedding day allows you to spend time with your friends and family who came to celebrate your cherished union. Relationships is what it’s all about, and that includes the relationships of those you have in your life besides only your spouse.
Now, there are logistic benefits as well, but I’ll list those out a little more quickly:
Flexibility in your wedding day schedule
We’ll have done editorial portraits before your wedding day, so the portraits we take ON your wedding day don’t have to be as in-depth. If we’re running late on other parts of your wedding timeline, this is a helpful buffer to bump into.
Daylight control
Sometimes sunset portraits are difficult to get around to during a busy wedding day. If we do a first look or editorial photoshoot before the wedding, we can control more easily what time of day we are able to begin our session.
Better lighting, photos you WANT to display
Wedding ceremonies most often happen before sunset, so if you wanted to prevent possible harsh lighting situations during your first look, scheduling a first look editorial photoshoot prior to the wedding day will allow us to navigate the sun during the ceremony with more ease.
Location choice
I’m sure your ceremony spot is beautiful! Let’s get all the ceremony portraits for sure. Let’s also set up a stunning location that you LOVE aside from your venue so that you can feel so beautiful and honored in your wedding attire. We can create absolutely incredible scenes for you that you’ll be so thankful for for years to come.
A first look will not take away from your ceremony experience. Seeing your bride or groom down the aisle for the first time REMAINS a sacred experience even if the outfit has been seen prior to the wedding day.
I had a couple do a first look before their wedding day, AND on the wedding morning, and the groom was still emotional seeing his bride walk down the aisle to him. You love your partner, and seeing the dress or suit before the wedding ceremony is not going to make that moment any less special. It simply provides an emotionally safe space before and during the ceremony for you to navigate with clarity and presence of mind. You DESERVE that. You deserve to retain these moments in your memory rather than be too stressed and anxious to properly experience your wedding day.
THAT SAID,
If you want to save your first look for a more traditional first look down the aisle, please don’t stress! I love that too ♡
I really am a sucker for traditions that you align with, and if you are as cool as a cucumber about your wedding and you want to see your partner as a bride or groom for the first time at the aisle and altar, we will capture that moment in its fullest for you.
Curious about what this type of photoshoot looks like in the gallery? Check out these photos below from Adriana and Jaiden’s first look editorial photoshoot.
Adriana and Jaiden’s first look was so touching and I was honored to be able to capture such an important moment for them. Photoshoots with me are not just about the photos or the end result; they are about YOU first and foremost. I want you to feel more in love and pulled together after our photoshoot than you did before. This is an experience that will bring you together as a couple, and that’s what I will capture for you.
If you want to capture your love, reach out to me below! I absolutely love telling each couple’s unique story and I would be so honored to be part of your wedding in such a way.
As always,
All love,
Ivy
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Attributions:
Photography: Poise & Ivy Imagery
Pictured: Adriana and Jaiden Waggoner
Wedding Gown: Saint Bridal Couture at Lovely Bride Houston
Tuxedo: Saint Laurent
Bouquet: Satine Rose Floral