Should the Groom See the Bride Before the Wedding?

More and more, you see wedding photographers who are encouraging the bride and groom to see each other on their wedding day, before the actual ceremony.  Here in Tampa Bay we get a fair amount of couples who meet before the ceremony, often because it's hard to avoid if they are getting married on the beach.

I always encourage my clients to do a "reveal" before the ceremony.  Most decline because they want to preserve the surprise for the walk down the aisle.  I don't push it at all... I don't really care much either way.  What's important is that the couple are happy with their decision.  I'm not unhappy if they don't want to do it.

That being said, I'm now going to tell you why you should do a reveal before the wedding. 

Think about it:  You want your husband to see you in that dress and be knocked out.  You want him to have an emotional reaction and you want to see it and share it. So, you reveal yourself to him in your dress for the first time, 50 feet away in a room full of people who are standing and staring at you both, with your father walking next to you!  Your husband will be having an emotional reaction but he will be fighting it with everything he's got because he's being stared at by 150 people and your Dad!  No man wants to start crying in front of his father-in-law. If he does have an emotional reaction, you can't see it because you're in the back of the room.  Add to that the fact that both of you are trying to concentrate on the ceremony (so complex that it requires a full-rehearsal) and you realize that there is a very special moment here that is being shoved aside for other concerns.

Allow your husband to see you in your dress for the first time in a setting where he can truly take it in and relish the moment.  He wants to hold you... he wants to kiss you... he wants to tell you how beautiful you look.  He can't do any of that during the ceremony.  He has to wait until it's all over to tell you how incredible you look and by then the rush of the moment is gone.

Let me make it easy for you.  If a man is going to propose to you, would you rather he do it in an intimate setting with just the two of you or on the Jumbo-tron at a ballgame?  My guess is that you picked the intimate setting.  It's hard to be "in the moment" with 50,000 people staring at you.

Do a "reveal."  Allow yourself to have a special, intimate moment before the wedding that is yours and yours alone.  Then, go do the ceremony as a team.  You'll both be more relaxed and confident.  Don't worry, there are still 150 people who are going to gasp and cry when you appear.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, you also get great pictures.  :)

Booray Perry is a great wedding photographer with a funny name who works in Tampa Bay, FL.

Wedding Photography Win in Tampa

Well.... not exactly.

Last night was the monthly meeting of T.A.P.P.A., the Tampa Area Professional Photographers Association and, as usual, I entered three images in the print competition.  I entered in the "Weddings and Social" Category.

I won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place!  Woo-Hoo!

The only problem is that I was the only person who entered this month.  :)

I just don't feel right bragging about a sweep when it was a lock from the start so I'm coming clean on this one!

However, it did afford me the chance to see how my images stack up against each other.  I often find that other photographers rate my images in a different order than I do so I purposely entered three distinctly different images to see if they would rank in the order that I would put them in.

They did.

Here they are: 1st, 2nd and 3rd!

Still an educational night for me.  Chuck Vosbergh, a great photographer, told me that he voted for #2 because he liked the motion and energy.  I'm always happy to hear what other photographers think about my images.

I also wonder about image #3 and wonder if it would have ranked higher if I had included the original image before being retouched.  There is actually a strobe sitting on a tripod right in front of the couple, providing the light.  I think that most people assume that the light on the couple is from the sun.  Would someone rank that image higher if they knew that it required a strobe that was then removed with Photoshop?  Is a picture "better" if it's harder to do?  I don't know but it's a good question...

The Florida Professional Photographers Association has voted to accept a new member designation, "Non-Professional Photographer."  In the past, to be a member in the guild you had to have a business license.  They are now moving toward letting photographers join who are pure hobby shooters.  I think it's a good idea.  I meet people all the time who are passionate about photography but don't want to get a business license just so they can join the guild.  These are people who would benefit enormously from the programs that we offer and the mentoring of professionals who are available to teach them how to excel at their hobby.  It will be nice to be able to bring some of these people into the guild.  Imagine being someone who loves photography and who can now sit down and have dinner with a table full of professionals every month and ask questions about technique, lighting, etc...


Booray Perry is an award-winning wedding photographer in Tampa Florida.
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