Bride pulls wedding day prank on groom with ‘first look’ dress swap

There’s no moment more special at a wedding than when the groom sees his bride in her wedding dress for the first time. Unless it’s your best friend wearing a dress instead.

A man was brought to tears of laughter after his soon-to-be wife unexpectedly pranked him during what was supposed to be the couple’s “first look”. A first look is an intimate moment during the wedding day where the couple getting married see each other for the first time before the ceremony.

In a video shared by Mezia Wedding Films on TikTok, the groom is seen dressed in his tuxedo and anxiously awaiting his fiancée’s arrival for their first look. Instead, his friend – whose white wedding dress can barely zip up the back – taps the groom on the shoulder. When the groom, who is already close to tears, turns around to see his bride, he bursts into laughter when he realises he’s been pranked.

“I was already about to cry!” the groom tells his friend before the two hug each other.

“It was always us,” his friend said, jokingly professing his love for the groom.

The hilarious first look received nearly two million views on TikTok, and viewers applauded the bride’s prank in the comments section.

“That is true friendship,” one person said.

“If my bro doesn’t do this he’s not my bro,” joked someone else.

“Why does he look good in that dress though,” said a third user.

One person pointed out that pulling a first look prank is also a good way to ease any anxiety or stress the couple might be feeling before their wedding. “I feel like this is a cute way to also break any tension and stress for the groom,” they said. “Plus it cracks me up every time.”

Speaking to The Independent, Noah Koehoorn – the owner of Mezia Wedding Films – shared details on how the prank went down behind-the-scenes. Koehoorn explained that the bride was the one to orchestrate it all, after she had shown the groom a similar video of a prank a few months ago. The groom said he didn’t want something like that happening to him at their wedding, so the bride was able to capture the element of surprise.

“We all had a good laugh and then moved the groom do a different area of the venue for the real first look,” Koehoorn said. “Throughout the rest of the day, the groom was telling everyone about it and chuckling every time.”

While this was the first wedding prank he’s witnessed, Koehoorn did offer some advice for couples who wish to pull a prank during their wedding. According to Koehoorn, making sure you have enough time in your schedule to pull a prank is key.

“If someone wants to do a prank like this, making sure you have the time is probably the biggest thing,” he said. “I’m often at weddings for 12-14 hours capturing everything, and if something delays the schedule early on in the day, you can imagine how it affects everything later on. So you certainly want to make sure you have time set aside, rather than just hoping it’ll all work out when it comes to the schedule.”

In February, a bride went viral when she surprised her guests with an elaborate father-daughter dance. The bride’s sister shared a video of the epic wedding dance routine to TikTok, which gained over 3 million views overnight. The father and daughter begin the routine by slow-dancing to “Dance with My Father” by Luther Vandross before busting out their moves to upbeat songs, including “U Can’t Touch This,” “Cotton Eye Joe,” and “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj.

“The bond your sister and dad have shines through this video,” one person commented. “That was the best. What a memory to hold onto,” said someone else.