Why this Bride and Dad First Look Photo is My Favourite | Wedding Photographer Manchester

As a wedding photographer, I’ve captured countless beautiful moments, but there are certain images that stay with you forever. Recently, I had the privilege of photographing a wedding that was set to take place at two venues, the beautiful Saint Annes Church in Sale, Greater Manchester and then moving on to the stunning Victoria Warehouse, also in Greater Manchester. It was a fabulous day and I photographed literally hundreds of memorable moments. But this one image in particular became one of the most moving I’ve ever taken. It’s a photograph of a father hugging his daughter, the bride.

A dad hugs his daughter. This was a special moment in more ways than one.

This single moment not only tells the story of that moment when father sees daughter in her wedding dress for the very first time. It captures the enduring love they both have for someone who was absent yet very present.

A Love That Transcends Time and Place

Weddings are always emotional, but this wedding was particularly poignant. The bride’s mum had passed away some time before the wedding. Despite her absence, you could feel her presence throughout the day, not just in the memories people shared but also in the small details that kept her close.

A box full of memories. The bride had several items of her mums close to hand throughout the day

Both the bride and her father wore special pieces of jewelery in memory of her. The bride wore a necklace that had belonged to her mother, while her father wore his wedding ring, a lasting symbol of his marriage. These subtle yet significant details reflected their deep love for the woman they had both lost, and how they chose to carry her with them on this important day.

Capturing the Moment

I had a great chance to get to know Tom, the father, having had a good old chinwag with him about football and his favourite team Everton during the wedding rehearsal. We’d also spent a bit of time nattering away whilst I was photographing the groomsmen preperations earlier in the morning. This all meant that when he came into the room to see his daughter for the first time that day, he wasn’t at all distracted by me, he knew what I was doing there and who I was. This meant that he only had eyes for his daughter, exactly the way it should be.

That first look, Tom enters the room

As he strode across the room, I could feel the emotion rising. Both the bride and her dad had mentioned mum and wife to me whilst chatting away that morning and it was clear that she was there in spirit but nothing could have fully prepared me for the emotion that radiated from them. Toms face, marked by both joy and sorrow, showed the emotions of the moment. Simply overjoyed to see his daughter embark on her new journey.

Gemma, the bride, held her father tightly. It was a moment where I could feel their emotions - love, joy but yes also loss, woven together.

Why This Photograph Matters

My aim as a wedding photographer is to capture the unique, unscripted moments that tell a deeper story. This photograph does exactly that. It tells the story of a father’s enduring love for both his daughter and his late wife. It tells the story of a bride who, despite the sadness of losing her mother, was able to feel her presence through the emotional connection she shares with her father.

At the end of a beautifully emotional speech by Tom later that day

In weddings, we often celebrate the beginning of new love, new chapters, and new journeys. But this image reflects a love that endures despite loss. It’s a love that honors the past while embracing the future. And that’s why this image is one of my favourite moments I’ve had during my career as a wedding photographer.

This photograph was not just about that singular moment but about the journey leading up to it. The laughter, the tears, the memories—all coming together in that embrace. It reminds me why I love being a wedding photographer: it’s about more than just capturing pretty pictures. It’s about capturing real human emotion, the stories that will be cherished long after the wedding day is over.

No more than twenty seconds after I captured this moment with my camera I silently left the room to allow not just the two of them, but the three of them to have the rest of their moment together.

The Power of a Photograph

Years from now, the family will be able to look back at that photograph and remember not just the day itself but the emotions that surrounded it. That’s the power of a photograph—it freezes time, capturing a moment of raw emotion that words often fail to describe.

For me, moments like this are why I do what I do. Travelling around Greater Manchester to photograph weddings for people. It's about more than just documenting a wedding; it's about preserving memories and capturing love and connection. Every wedding goes by in a breeze, a whirlwind of every emotion throughout the entire day. But this particular moment in a small room in Sale Town, will forever be immortalised in this photograph.