Before The Ceremony

Gifts + Letters


Writing a letter to your partner or giving a gift is a cute way to let them know you are thinking of them on the big day and can't wait to join your lives together. I love grabbing photos of this part!


If you don't want to do letters or gifts with each other, you can always do something for those other important people in your life. Parents, siblings, bridal party, etc. It's always a nice way to let them know you appreciate everything they've done to help you get to this point.

First Look


Don't know what a first look is? The first look is when the wedding couple sees each other for the first time before the ceremony. If you want to wait until the ceremony, that's totally okay! But if you were considering it, I totally recommend doing one. It's such a cute, intimate moment with just the two of you before everything begins.


It also gives us an opportunity to knock out a good chunk of photos before the ceremony. We can either get all the family photos done, bridal party pictures, and even your wedding couple portraits. That way we won't have to rush as much after the ceremony and it will give you more time to relax and visit with your guests.


If you don't want to see each other but still want to have a cute moment together, we can position you so you won't see each other and do a photo back to back, or from opposite sides of a door. We can get creative, but it's always nice to share one last moment together before it becomes official!

If you don't want to do the first look with your partner, we can even do one with the bridal party, parent, grandparent, etc! It's always so sweet to get their reactions to seeing you!

Knock Out Some Photos


Say we don't do a first look, totally fine! But maybe we can try to have everyone ready with enough time before the ceremony that we can knock out some bridal party photos. We'll keep the parties separate, of course! That way after the ceremony, we have more time to focus on the wedding couple.

Plan for about 10 minutes for each first look photo + gift photo.