As Catholic wedding photographers, we typically arrive at the church at least an hour ahead of time, and sometimes more if the couple wants to do family photos before — even if they aren’t seeing each other before the nuptial Mass. We recommend at least two hours if you want to capture photos of the groom and bride separately with immediate families, siblings and others.
We more often arrive about an hour before Mass, which gives us time to capture the final parts of getting ready: the bride putting on her dress; the groom and groomsmen pinning boutonnieres to their lapels; the groom and each groomsmen; lay flats that include the wedding invitation, program, rings, a rosary, shoes and cuff links; flowers in the church and other key details.
As photographers, we don’t like to arrive less than 30 minutes before the Mass to give us time to get our gear in place, speak with the priest and on-site coordinator to understand any restrictions or needs from the church’s staff and more and conduct other work as we prepare to capture this all-important sacrament.
So, below are a few of the photos we often capture before a nuptial wedding Mass in Catholic churches.
Bride’s First Look with Bridesmaids
Brides usually arrive at the Catholic church already having hair and makeup completed before, and they typically put their dress on at the church with their mothers and the maid of honor. This offers the chance to do a reveal for some of your closest friends and family in a semi-private moment before you walk down the aisle. Many of the bridesmaids will not have seen brides in their dresses before.
First Look with Bride and Groom
Sometimes the bride and groom sometime want to see each other before the wedding, though it tends to be less common with Catholic couples. If the couple desires to, we’ll find a spot outside the church, usually in the shade because most Masses begin in the early afternoon when the sun is high in Colorado and the shadows are most harsh. We position the group facing away from where the bride comes up behind him, then move the bride a few steps from him, ask the groom to turn around and capture the moment they first see each other.
Bride’s First Look with Dad
Many brides want to do a special first look with their father’s before their wedding Mass, even if they aren’t seeing their future husbands. Doing a first look with the father of the bride offers a chance for one of the parents who raised her to see her beforehand and receive a blessing from her father before the sacrament of matrimony.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen Pray over the Bride and Groom
Consider inviting your bridesmaids or groomsmen to pray over you just before lining up for the processional. It’s a simple way to pause during the day-of rush and enter the sacrament of marriage intentionally by thanking God for the day and asking grace for your marriage. We capture the moment in an unobtrusive way and then step aside to let you finish the prayer in private.
The moment centers the day in prayer before Mass, settles nerves, and includes your closest friends and family in a tangible way. We generally recommend picking either a private room, in the church’s narthex or standing just outside the church. You can also consider asking the priest or deacon for a blessing at this time.
Prayer in the Adoration Chapel
If your parish has an adoration chapel, a brief prayer together before the nuptial Mass is a powerful way to enter the sacrament focused on the real presence of Christ in his church. As above, it centers your mind on the sacrament and the vows you’re about to make to each other. We also treat this discreetly, photographing the approach and the first moments of prayer before stepping out to give you privacy. We’re also careful to not disrupt other adorers present in the chapel.
First Touch
For Catholic couples who do not want to see each other before the wedding, we can still arrange for a final prayer between them before the start of the wedding Mass. We’ll arrange the bride or groom around a corner in the church or outside usually around 15-20 minutes before the ceremony begins. We’ll take a few photos from a few angles and then step away and let the bride and groom finish their prayer together in private. We’ll then return and escort the bride and groom back to their respective waiting rooms, ensuring they don’t see each other. This is especially helpful if the church doesn’t have an adoration chapel.
Family Photos
If you have a large family and not much time after the nuptial wedding Mass, taking separate family photos before the service can be especially helpful in ensuring you can leave the church within 30 minutes after the ceremony. We often see couples capture five to ten photos with immediate family, siblings, grandparents and others separately, then combined bride-and-groom photos after the Mass. It’s also a great time to get photos just of the groom and groomsmen and just of the bride and bridesmaids in front of the altar or outside the church, if we haven’t done so at the place where your wedding party got ready.
