First Looks between a Bride and Groom are becoming more and more popular so I wanted to address this post as to why that is.

– First of all, a “First Look” allows you to see your soon to be husband in a private moment without all your guests looking at you.  It’s about the two of you.  It is just the two of you seeing each other for the first time, no one else is around (well except for your wedding photographer to document it).  When you walk down the aisle, you might no necessarily see your groom’s expressions as you are worried about tripping, have a sea of people in front of you etc.  When you do a first look, there is none of that stress.  It’s all about the moment and you will remember that forever.

–  Second reason for a first look is it reduces stress.  It is really stressful to take formals after the ceremony because family and friends want to congratulate you, chat with you etc and its hard to collect everyone needed for the pictures and have them paying attention.  You have groomsmen running off to get drinks, guests waiting on you for the reception to start, a grandmother that has gone MIA.  It is so much more relaxing to get all those formal pictures done beforehand.  It really makes the day run a lot smoother and cuts down on a lot of wedding day stress.

– Third, you can join the cocktail hour and spend more time with your guests.  So its win-win for you and your guests 🙂

I have done an interview so to say with some of our past brides that have done a first look and here is what they had to say.

Why did you choose to do a First Look?

Lacey  – I knew that I would be so nervous walking down the aisle. I knew that if I saw Sergio beforehand, that it would ease my nerves. Plus, I wanted to have that private moment between us. I wanted to be able to look into his eyes the moment he saw me and see the expression on his face. It was great.

Laura – We chose to do a first look because we knew we wanted a lot of portraits and didn’t want to miss half our reception time taking them.

Stephanie – We chose to do a first look so that we would could take some of our wedding party photos before the ceremony. We also wanted to have that intimate moment of seeing each other. It meant a lot to us to be able to talk and express our love to each other before the wedding.

What Benefit did you see to the first look?

Lacey – I was a lot calmer for the ceremony. I had that special moment with my fiance and I was just super happy to be getting married.

Laura – The benefits of doing the first look was that we could take all the portraits we wanted, and more practically, I wasn’t having to hide from Nathan in the hours before the ceremony. I would have been very annoyed if I had to seclude myself before the wedding – I wanted to see and be with everyone!

Stephanie – I think it is extremely beneficial to have a first look. It can be intimate, private and personal. It helps the photographer by giving more time to take group pictures.

Did the First Look help reduce the stress of wedding day?

Lacey – Most definitely. I already knew his reaction. I knew he thought I was beautiful and honestly, that’s all that mattered to me.

Laura – I don’t know if the first look helped with wedding day stress. My stress that day came from disorganized make-up artists, not worrying about if Nathan would like my dress. But the first look certainly didn’t create stress, so that’s good.

Stephanie – The first look definitely helped to reduce stress on my wedding day. It was nice to be able to talk with my husband and hear him reassuring me how beautiful I was and how everything was falling into place just right.

Did you feel like you lost that special moment when you walk down the aisle?

Lacey – Not in my opinion. I felt like I had that special moment – privately with him. I had a million things going through my mind when I walked down the aisle (like don’t forget to look at the camera). I did look at Sergio, of course, but he probably saw me before I was able to lock eyes with him. So, I would have missed his immediate reaction if we had not done the reveal.

Laura – The entire ceremony seemed like a blur… I can’t say that I would have remembered the “walking down the aisle” moment, even if we had insisted on waiting to see each other. What I do remember is finally getting to Nathan and seeing how emotional he was. He wasn’t that emotional during the first look, so there was definitely something special about the real deal.

Stephanie – I don’t at all feel like I lost that special moment of walking down the aisle. I know that my husband had already seen my dress at the first look, but I think walking down the aisle is a completely different experience. It’s more about knowing that you are coming toward the man you will marry than worrying about him having already seen the dress.

Do you regret doing a first look?

Lacey – Not even for one second.

Laura – I don’t regret having a first look. I think it’s a great change to the traditional wedding timeline. When I started planning, I didn’t think I’d want a first look. I thought it would take away from the emotion of the ceremony. But as we got closer to the wedding day, more a reality than a far off dream, it became so unimportant. What was important was getting pictures with loved ones AND spending more time with family and friends at the wedding. The ceremony is special because you are getting MARRIED, not because you haven’t seen each other all day!

Stephanie -I do not regret doing a first look at all. It was very intimate and private and I am extremely grateful to have pictures that captured the wonderful emotions on our faces.

I wanted to share these real experiences with you from real brides because I think a common misconception is that it won’t feel special when you walk down the aisle and that is not the case.  We certainly would never make a first look mandatory but it is something worth considering and is very beneficial to the flow of your wedding day.

Thank you so much Lacey, Laura, and Stephanie for sharing your experiences regarding your “First Look” with us.