General qu about time vs intensity.

I'm a total noob to exercise but have started the gym. My short term goal is to lose weight, as I have a wedding dress to fit into! My long term goal (past these next few months) is long term fitness and a healthy body weight. I need to know whether I'm better off doing 30 mins cardio a day and increasing levels/intensity, or should I be aiming for longer duration? Ultimately I can't imagine doing more than 40 mins of cardio a day as I really don't love it and am just waiting to finish up and hit the weights!!