BRACKENRIDGE RETREAT

Brackenridge is a country-style wedding venue in Martinborough, Wairarapa. Their venue can host up to 130 guests for your reception and ceremony, and has a number of on-site cottages available for accommodation. We love photographing and filming here as everything is in one place and their team of staff and coordinators will have you covered in all areas making our job more enjoyable.

MARTINBOROUGH TREE CHURCH

Martinborough Tree Church is an outdoor ceremony space planted in 2015 which can seat 180 guests. They have recently expanded this venue to include a reception area called The Vue, a renovated 100-year-old historic woolshed. There are so many places on-site for photos after or before your ceremony.

ROSE & SMITH

Rose & Smith is a boutique venue at The Tauherenikau Racecourse, located 15 minutes from Greytown and Martinborough. Rose & Smith was named after the “Rose & Smith Builders” who built the newly renovated Racecourse Tea House in 1923. The Tea House can seat 200 guests and their onsite accommodate in The Ranch House can sleep up to 37 guests.

Couples sometimes ask me what my thoughts are and my preference is for having a ‘first look’ and all wedding/bridal party photos prior to the ceremony. Ruby and James had a first look before their ceremony so this is a perfect example of how the day can look doing things in this order!

I personally don’t have a preference because it’s completely up to each couple and their priorities for the day. For our own wedding, we hired a photographer for 4 hours and did the bulk of our photos before our ceremony so that afterwards we could relax and party (talk about some weird priorities considering photography is my job!)

PROS OF DOING A FIRST LOOK

There are some really sweet and intimate moments that can be captured when it’s just the two of you. You might feel nervous and worried you’ll lose your cool in front of all your guests (which is not a bad thing by the way, I love and respect vulnerability), but if this gives you anxiety then it can be a great way to keep the moment just between the two of you.

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll get more time to socialise with your guests after the ceremony. This was really important for our wedding since a lot of guests travelled from afar who I hadn’t seen in a while. Doing photos after your ceremony could mean being away from guests for 30 minutes - 1 hour (I even hear stories of this being longer if there is travel to a particular location).

should you have a first look for your wedding

CONS OF DOING A FIRST LOOK

The main downside for a photographer is the lighting conditions. It will mean doing photos earlier in the day which is often when the sun is at its brightest. BUT if you have a venue with some shaded areas with tree cover and a great photographer this should not be an issue. For Ruby and James’ wedding, we had some clouds in the sky which really helped defuse the bright light at 1pm and I used this driveway which was mainly covered by trees and in the shade.

Wedding party standing in front of vintage car on wedding day

Bride and Groom sharing a glass of bubbles on wedding day

Once we finished family photos after their ceremony, Ruby and James were able to spend 2 hours with their guests before heading into the reception. Lots of time to mingle, enjoy the canapes and drinks, play some tennis and get some photos with your friends!

Tarureka Estate wedding reception photos

Later in the evening Ruby and James were happy to head out for more photos of just the two of them while the light was really nice. They said they appreciated just having this short moment for the two of them after such a full on day.