The Daddy-Daughter First Look

The Daddy-Daughter First Look

One of my goals for this blog is to inspire brides-to-be. Wedding planning can be stressful and confusing, and when you don’t know what you want the stress just builds. Some of you have probably thought about doing a daddy-daughter first look already, and some of you are probably wondering what that even is. And that is OKAY. You can’t expect to be an expert at something you haven’t done before!

A daddy-daughter first look is when the bride arranges for her dad (or grandpa or another special man in her life) to come and see her when her hair is perfect, her makeup is done, her dress is on and she’s all ready to go. I’ve seen people do these outdoors in a secluded place, but I’ve also seen dad come to the bridal preparation room. Either way, I LOVE photographing these moments. They are so sweet and filled with emotion and years of love. I’ve seen dad’s beam, cry, laugh with happiness, and everything in between when they see their little girl who they’re about to give away. These are the photographs you’ll show your kids and grandkids; the ones you’ll look at in 50 years and rejoice that you have.

Here are a few things to think about if you’re considering doing a daddy-daughter first look:

1) Where to do it. If the bridal prep room is big enough and has plenty of windows with beautiful light, by all means, do it there. That way you don’t have to worry about any of your guests seeing you before you want them to. If the room is small or has a lot of distracting elements (think Sunday school classroom) or few windows, is there a secluded-enough place outside where you could share this moment?

2) How much time do you need? If you’re going outside this will take a little longer than if dad comes up to the bridal prep room. Keep that in mind when you’re building this into your wedding day timeline!

3) When do do it. Most of the time these moments fit best immediately after the bride is finished getting ready and before she heads outside for portraits with her groom and/or the wedding party. This also gives us flexibility on doing it outside without wasting time going in and out a lot. Other times I photograph these moments after any portraits that occur before the ceremony but before the ceremony itself. It mostly depends on how early your dad is planning to arrive at the venue and whether you’re planning to do any family portraits before the ceremony or not.