The First Dance from a photographer’s POV

Photo by Caroline Allen Photography

Still not sure whether you should plan a choreographed first dance for your wedding? Well, I thought I would ask Caroline Allen Photography , a local (and incredibly talented!) photographer to give her thoughts on the topic. Because who’s better to give advice than the person who will be capturing all of your precious memories on the big day?!

I think you might be interested in what she has to say:

“As a photographer, capturing a couple's first dance is one of the many important moments on a wedding day. However, the first dance is often underutilized when it comes to getting some pretty amazing photos. Yes, it’s technically easier for your photographer to capture photos of you slowly dancing in one circle. But those photos are going to be repetitive and although unique to the couple, they’re going to look the same as everyone else’s first dance photos.

Having a choreographed first dance not only creates dynamic photos but it will keep your guests engaged. I can’t tell you how many times in the background of my couples first dance photos that their guests are completely checked out. But what I can tell you is 100% of the time during a choreographed first dance there are no guests staring at their phones and that’s just facts.

What I like to do with my couples who are doing a choreographed first dance is make sure I roughly know the choreography so I’m aware of what’s coming up and where I need to be to freeze those moments. Usually they’ll have a video on their phone that I can watch or during cocktail hour they'll go into the reception space and practice. Either way, getting eyes on your first dance gives your photographer the opportunity to make sure they can position themselves accordingly and the end result is always magic. Choreographed first dances are not only photographer approved but HIGHLY recommended!”