I want to begin this post by saying how much we absolutely LOVE First Looks on wedding days! So much so, we actually did one on our wedding day and would recommend it to anyone getting married!! It is worth it! Seeing each other before saved our sanity! Seriously! It helped us to relax before the ceremony and didn’t take away from the whole “walking down the aisle” experience at all. On a wedding day I think every girl wants that experience….the experience of the groom seeing her for the first time and having an emotional reaction! There are VARIOUS reasons as to why we decided to blog about a First Look. They are just so awesome for so many reasons! I completely understand the traditional way, but the traditional way is not always the best way. I also want you to know before I go any further that I am not just trying to pitch this to you to benefit us. This is for YOUR and YOUR families benefit as well. This is YOUR special day and it should be up to YOU as to how you want your wedding experience to be. Not everyone is aware of how awesome they are because they get caught up in how “un-traditional” it is and they immediately write it off. I can actually relate to getting “caught up and writing it off”  because I almost was one of those brides. I didn’t want it to take away from the “REACTION” when Chad first saw me coming down the aisle. I wanted him to be surprised.  My photographers were amazing and explained to me the benefits and so I want to do the same for you so that you can have the best possible wedding day ever! All of my brides who have decided to do a first look (and also me) have had the best of both worlds. When Chad and I decided to share a First Look on our wedding day we were both emotional and also at that very moment any nerves that we had just disappeared. When I walked down the aisle towards him no emotion or reaction was taken away because we decided to do the first look. We have been married for 5 years also and I must say we have had nothing but happiness so the whole “bad luck” thing…not true. 🙂

I am SO happy that I personally decided to do this despite all of my thoughts and anyone else’s. After experiencing this and shooting many other weddings we have come to the final conclusion. Sure, some brides absolutely love “traditions” but the fact is a bride REALLY wants the reaction. Those that are not interested in a First Look usually think that by seeing each other beforehand, they will lose part of that reaction. They also assume that it will not be as emotional as it would be if they were coming down the aisle. What I have found is that every wedding is stressful for the bride and groom. The whole day is focused on them, they need to look their best, need to be on time and the tension just grows and grows as the day goes on. Weddings definitely aren’t what they use to be way back when. It’s usually before the ceremony and the gravity of what is about to happen starts to sink in and the calm, collected groom that was playing golf or just hanging out is now starting to feel anxious. So what happens next? The groom waits somewhere just waiting for his cue. It seems like it’s taking FOREVER. Finally, they are told that they are ready for him. So with clammy hands, he enters the ceremony and what does he find? He finds anywhere from 60-300 people looking where? Right at him! Everyone has expectations and anticipation about his first reaction. This is the farthest thing from a private, intimate moment. Sure, it’s so powerful and wonderful..when I walked down the aisle it truly was. But when I walked down the aisle we weren’t a nervous wreck. Why? Because he had spent the morning with me and our best friends and the pressure was OFF. By the time our ceremony rolled around he was ready to ENJOY the day. The nerves were gone and the true emotions were free to be expressed. When you are walking down the aisle it’s a completely different moment. Why? Because this is the moment where you are walking down the aisle to literally and finally make it official. That is an emotional moment..and seeing one another beforehand DOES NOT take away from that emotion. I keep saying that because that is one of the biggest misconceptions about doing a First Look.

Here are photos from OUR first look:

Quote from Chad: “Not only was it some private time for us to just chat and hang out before we got married..but it calmed our nerves because we didn’t have all the guests eyes on us when we first saw each other! We decided to do the first look to take a little bit of the pressure off. We wanted to enjoy every second of our wedding and didn’t want there to be this immense build up as I was seeing her for the first time in front of all kinds of people that were also seeing her for the first time. We wanted to share that moment together and to be able to sit in that feeling for a moment alone. And trust me, it was WORTH IT. It ended up being the moment that we remembered the most and where I truly felt like I was instantly there. I remember every second because things weren’t rushed. It didn’t take away from seeing her walk down the aisle towards me. It actually helped me to be calm and really feel the emotion of joy that she was going to be my wife!”

Why you should do a First Look on your wedding day:

So many benefits here!!

1. You get to share a private moment together ALONE. That NEVER happens during a wedding day where the bride and groom do not have a first look. Normally, most people will think walking down the aisle is the BIGGEST emotional moment. But people don’t realize that when you come down the aisle ..he can’t even tell you how amazing you look. He can’t speak to you and you have to wait until 30-40 minutes later when the ceremony is over for him to actually REACT and tell you how amazing you look. After those 30-40 minutes the reaction actually isn’t the same as the first look. A first look and walking down the aisle are two totally different experiences. The First look is emotional, calming and walking down the aisle is emotional and exciting in it’s own way. But the best thing of all, we were no longer nervous. Almost ALL grooms that have experienced a First Look admit that seeing their bride beforehand eases the wedding day jitters and allows them to relax and actually enjoy their ceremony! I’d say, literally 1/2 of my couples who have done a first look, the grooms were not fans of it at first. However, because they have never experienced their wedding day before, they didn’t know how nerve racking it can be. I have testimonials from so many grooms that initially weren’t a fan of the first look.. but afterwards admitted to being SO much more relaxed and ready for the ceremony!
2. You are not on a TIME CRUNCH. After your portraits you get to meet up with your best friends. The bridal party portraits begin and they’re FUN!             They’re fun because there is time to make them fun. There aren’t any guests waiting impatiently at the cocktail hour and there isn’t a DJ coming to find the        photographer to get a time check. It’s awesome! First Looks allow you to extend your wedding day. Normally the wedding day would start when you come        down the aisle, then the ceremony would end, you would rush through portraits so that you’re not late for the introductions and then it’s reception time.          With a first look, your wedding day is extended by almost 3 hours! Instead of being rushed for your bridal party portraits… you actually get to enjoy them and  have fun hanging out with your BEST friends on your wedding day.  The WHOLE first half of our wedding album is filled with just images from this time          together before the ceremony. I’m so grateful I had time to relax and get some great images with the people that I care about the most!We have done many weddings, it is VERY RARE that a wedding is ON TIME. There will always be something that will make you get off schedule. A first look allows you to get photos of your bridal party and family to be taken before the ceremony. Therefore the outcome is you getting to your reception faster. It also allows more flexibility and options during the wedding day timeline and photo opportunities. You don’t want to feel rushed during your portraits or be worried that you may miss a guest or keep your guests waiting.
3.  You will get 40% MORE portraits. You’re investing a lot into your wedding photography. With a first look you will receive 40% MORE portraits of the two of you. Those are the images that you decorate your home with and gift your family with.
4.  You can go directly to your reception after the ceremony. Your guests will not be kept waiting. The brides that decided to not do a first look have always said they felt rushed, were starving by the time they got to their reception or were disappointed that they did not get to greet their guests. With a first look none of that will happen. Your guests will get to see you and congratulate you. Only during times when the family is not ready for photos before the ceremony are some photos taken after the ceremony but they usually go pretty quick. SO unless the bride and groom request a sunset photo the photography coverage after this point will only need to be of reception events.
5. Daylight. This depends upon how late the wedding is and what time of year it is. The First Look enables the couples to have natural light photos while it is still light outside. We once had a wedding get off time by 3 hours due to various reasons and the photos weren’t taken until dusk. Therefore they did not look like the style of photography that you paid us for.

Just wanted to share a couple of First Look’s and then ceremony reactions. We have many more! 

 

ceremony reaction

First Look

ceremony reaction:

 

 

 

This is just a quick look at First Looks! Now let me put a disclaimer on here before we continue…our clients are not required to do a First Look… AT ALL. This is totally up to the bride and groom. We’ve seen the benefits of a first look over and over again and so we only share this because we want the BEST for my couples!!