Planning…

Having a first look is something that I didn’t even know about when Denton and I were planning our wedding over a decade ago. I don’t even know if there were first looks then!

When Leo and Zulema were planning their day, a first look wasn’t in the plans. It was going to be simple and to the point. Straight from getting ready to the ceremony to portraits and reception.

Somewhere in the middle, Zulema contacted me about the possibility of doing a first look. A surprise first look.

I was instantly in love with the idea. I knew it could be epic if we could pull it off.

The guys were getting ready over half an hour from where the girls were getting ready. The ceremony was half an hour away from all of us. They were in New York, we were in Montana. There was no way to scout out a location beforehand to get it all set up. The place that we chose needed to have some specific assets in mind.

The right light, the right angles to have Leo looking away while we got into position, a place to hide and sneak up from, a hidden approach where he couldn’t see us coming.

Unbeknownst to you, Zulema, I was terrified! I didn’t want to tell you that we could do something and then not be able to pull it off! I just knew we could make it work, though, so we ran with it and started planning.

Zulema had a favorite spot in mind to do the first look, but it was wintertime, so we knew we would have to check it out to see if it could work.

The day before the wedding

When we arrived, into New York, we- along with the bride and groom- had a late night, and were up and running early the next morning.

We had a day. One day to find the perfect location to make all of this come together.

Denton and I got our coffee and we were off scouting. We investigated Zulema’s location first.

It was a beautiful location. However, there were large decorations that had been spread throughout the location that made it less desirable given our needed angles and background. We considered it, but since it was early, we decided to look for something that would be less distracting.

So the hunt began. We went from one location to another taking test photos and not being happy with them, and then returning to a previous location to see if it was better than we remembered. There were many beautiful locations that we could have used, but none had that perfect combo that we needed for the surprise.

At the end of the day, a little defeated and a little nervous, we went back to where we began. We really wanted to make Zulema’s spot work. For some reason, as soon as we walked up this time, we saw the ideal combination come together just a few steps away from where we looked the first time.

The light, the angle, the background. It. Was. Perfect. And it was the location that was the first choice!

Why we didn’t see it the first time, we don’t know, but we were so happy that we went back, determined to make Zulema’s spot work.

The day of the wedding was perfect. A little chilly, but happy and relaxed, and it ended with a beautiful wedding of two wonderful people that we are happy to call friends.

Leo and Zulema-

We wanted to give you a little behind the scenes of your day. We certainly didn’t want to tell you that we were nervous at the time, but we were so happy that everything went better than planned! 🙂 You both are such wonderful people, and we feel privileged to have met you and to be a part of your lives! Your wedding day truly beautiful and dignified-  a fitting representation of the future that you have ahead of you together in Jehovah’s service. There are no better people for each other than each of you. We can’t wait to see you again, and to see what exciting things the future holds for you! We love you both!