first look portrait session

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather this week, Summer has apparently arrived. Over the weekend we had the pleasure of photographing Courtney and Zack’s Cinco De Mayo wedding (it’s so amazing, cannot wait to share) but before that, I wanted to share a really cool idea that Courtney and I came up with prior to her wedding day.

Courtney and I are “real life friends” and met a few years back, at a Fredericksburg Tuesday’s Together meet up. We had sat next to each other at the banquet style dinner, and immediately remarked on how we were both drinking red wine and a friendship was ignited. Courtney is an incredibly talented hair and makeup artist and the owner of Hello Darling Beauty. We have worked together numerous times on shoots and she is always my go-to for styled looks, we have become great business friends. However behind the scenes, we have also become great actual friends and have had many hang out sessions that have had nothing to do with business ventures at all. When Courtney got engaged and asked me to photograph her wedding, I was honored.

Originally, she had envisioned a very private elopement, but things grew and plans changed which is very common when planning a wedding. In our wedding packages, aside from the wedding coverage, we also include a complimentary engagement or bridal session. Courtney had opted for a bridal session, since her sister Kelsey is also an extremely talented photographer and had done in-home engagement photos for them. About a month before the wedding we were hanging out one night and the idea of using the bridal shoot for both her AND Zack came up. After at first kidding about doing a whole First Look shoot, we decided that it was actually a great idea.

For those who aren’t familiar with a first look: a first look is when the bride and groom meet privately and see each other before they say I do the day of the wedding. So essentially for Courtney and Zack, we just centered an entire shoot around this exactly one week before their wedding day.

Each couple is unique, therefore I believe each wedding should be how they want to make it — whether very traditional or not. For Courtney, part of her wanted that very intimate elopement experience, and by doing this she was able to have both that experience and a larger wedding. Not only am I excited to share these because they are beautiful and genuine, but also because I want to throw this idea out for other couples. It’s your wedding day, so do things exactly as you want 🙂