We are one of the leading San Francisco city hall wedding photographers and we often get asked to set up a “First Look” or reveal for our brides and grooms. Before I go into detail about some of these great ideas for a “first look” at San Francisco City Hall, let me make sure we all know what that means. A first look Is something that wedding photographers often set up so the groom can see the bride for the first time prior to the ceremony.
For many years the first time that a groom would see his bride was when she was walking down the aisle during the wedding processional. It was once thought to be bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the actual wedding ceremony. There are some who still feel this way, but for the most part brides and grooms have no problem seeing each other before the ceremony these days. Here is a great article discussing the pros and cons of having a first look at your wedding. We also have our own opinion about First Looks, but will discuss some this later in the article.
When it comes to a San Francisco City Hall wedding or any civil ceremony for that matter, it’s difficult for the couple to not see each other before the ceremony. This is because in order to get married at City Hall the couple needs to check-in together and meet with the officiant prior to the ceremony. None of the required procedures prior to a Civil Ceremony can be done separately. The couple needs to be together every step of the way.
Traditionally, it’s always been a big deal and a very important part of a wedding when the groom sees his bride for the first time. So, we set up a fun ritual that allows this to occur while we record it on our cameras. The idea is to capture the reaction of the groom when he sees the bride in her wedding dress for the very first time. This is why the other popular name for this ritual is called the “Reveal”. We have developed a number of great ways to make this happen and have even discovered private places at San Francisco City Hall to do this. Please keep reading To learn more about our 4 ideas for first looks at San Francisco City Hall.
Groom with His Back to the Bride as She Walks Towards Him
I listed this one first because it’s probably our most popular way of doing a reveal or first look. One of the reasons our couples like this one is because there is a bit of drama in the actual reveal. We choose a private area at San Francisco City Hall to avoid any distractions or interruptions by tourists or strangers. We have found that the best place to do this is the third floor on the South side of the building. This hallway seems to be the least traveled area at SF City Hall and is not as popular with other wedding photographers. This tends to eliminate a lot of foot traffic in this area. From a pure wedding photography standpoint, this is probably the best way to do it because you really can show the drama of the moment with both participants in the same frame.
Many of our couples are unfamiliar with the building so we have a way to make sure nobody gets lost when we are setting up this particular way of doing a first look. We asked the couple to provide us with two people with one being the groom and the other being somebody who will know where the bride is hiding. Then we bring both the groom and the extra person to the location of the first look (probably the third floor, but not always). The extra person is then instructed 2 fetch the bride and bring her to our location. Meanwhile, we set the groom up with his back to where the bride will be approaching from and tell him to wait.
City Hall Wedding Photography Drama
Once the bride arrives, she’s instructed to walk up to the groom, tap him on the shoulder until he turns around and sees his beautiful bride for the first time. As mentioned, this becomes a quite dramatic moment with the added benefit of being great to photograph. One of the things that makes it easy to capture memorable photos of this type of first look is the fact that both the bride and groom are right next to each other when the reveal occurs. From a City Hall wedding photographer standpoint, this makes it our favorite way of doing it. It is truly the best way to ensure that both participants reactions are captured on the same picture.
Groom Facing Bride as She Walks Towards Him
This type of first look is similar to a traditional wedding where the groom stands by the altar and waits for the bride to walk in. When he first sees her, she is going to be pretty far away, but this still works great. There is still a considerable amount of drama in this type of first look but it builds slowly as the bride gets closer to the groom. One of the advantages of this approach is that it gives the groom a little more time to take it all in. For this reason, I think this method is preferred by many of the grooms that we have worked with. It’s a little harder to photograph because when the groom first sees the bride she’s going to be out of camera range.
As City Hall wedding photographers, we tend handle this by putting one camera on the bride and another camera on the groom. As the bride walks in we just start shooting as they get closer to each other. The resulting individual pictures makes more sense when they are seen together. So if you are putting together a wedding album it is most effective if you put the photos side-by-side. Since we keep shooting as the bride gets closer you would still get a few photos where the couple are next to each other. This is still a memorable photo, but maybe lacks a little bit of the element of surprise that you would get if the groom had his back to the bride. These are by far the 2 most common methods of doing a reveal. We present these options to our couples and let them decide what works best for them. However, there are a few other creative alternatives that we will continue to discuss below.
Bride Being Walked in by an Escort
I actually learned this idea from a couple who’s wedding I photographed a few years ago. I was getting all ready to photograph the bride walking in when suddenly I saw her being escorted by her dad. This wasn’t how I had planned it, but was their own little twist to our normal first look ceremony. My initial reaction was to explain to them that this wasn’t how we normally do it, but then I realized that this was their plan all along. Of course, it turned out great and the bride felt like she was being walked down the aisle by her dad. Luckily, I was smart enough not to try to stop everything while this was happening.
This alternate way of doing a first look can be used with either of the above methods whether the the groom has his back to the bride or not. I think it would probably work better with the groom facing the bride because then he can see them both walking towards him and then maybe the escort peels off a little bit ahead of time so the two of them meet alone. The point is, there are many variations but this is another fun and somewhat emotional way of doing a first look which really works out great.
Not Actually a First Look – A First Touch
The last one of my ideas is not truly a first look but it accomplishes something similar. Many couples want to have some sort of contact before the ceremony, but still don’t want to actually see each other. The “first touch” accomplishes this, but is a way for the couple to greet each other prior to wedding. We set this up by placing the bride and groom on a corner of an interior wall, with one on each side. Basically, they are around the corner from each other. Both the bride and groom should have their back to the wall and then they reach around the corner and touch hands. They can also talk to each other at this point as well.
As SF City Hall wedding photographers, we like to capture this moment but then quickly move away so they can have some quiet time to themselves to talk briefly. For some couples the reassurance of making physical contact and hearing each other’s voices can help them relax and feel better before the ceremony. It’s a great time for them to express their love to each other, but without seeing each other. We feel that a “First Touch” should be done with the couple alone with no guests around. Ultimately, however, this decision lies with the couple.
First Looks Are Perfect for SF City Hall Wedding Photography
We always explain to our couples that request a multitude of candid photos that a lot of what happens during a SF City Hall wedding photography session doesn’t really lend itself to that. Aside from setting up a few walking shots and the ceremony itself, most of what happens at City Hall is not candid in nature. Wedding receptions tend to have more of these types of moments to capture, but of course not at San Francisco city hall. A First Look is the perfect way to provide the couple with some truly memorable candid moments. We highly recommend that our San Francisco City Hall wedding couples consider doing a first look before their civil ceremony.