First look vs waiting until I walk down the aisle

I'm having the same debate with my FH and Mom. They both think it's important to wait until the walk down the aisle but we have the same 4:30/ 5:00 timeline and I just feel like it won't be enough time. FH isn't super adamant about it, but if yours is maybe you can talk to him about it and see why he has gone traditional all of the sound.

I have asked him why he wants to do it the traditional route and his only reply is because "it's tradition". lol we had the same photographer do our e pics and it took him and his assistant 6 hours! We got a lot of great pics, but I'm not sure how well they will look if he only has an hour

I always have wanted to wait until I walk down the aisle, but with the timing of everything I think we will do a first look. It will be nice to have a moment alone too, before we get swept up in everything. Then we can do most of our photos beforehand too.

I always wanted to wait til I walk down the aisle, but when we met with first photographer he suggested it because ceremony is at 6 and sun will set at 635. So that would only give us 5 mins to take outside pictures with the sun, so we decided on first look. His mom thought it was good because at his brothers wedding they took pictures before and than after it poured so bad they had to move the ceremony inside, so they were happy they got photos outside before they couldn't.

Edited to add: Another reason we want first look is so we can enjoy cocktail hour and mingle with all our guests. Since basically I will be meeting majority of FH's family that day, I can spend more time talking to them.

We're going to wait for the walk down the isle for a few reasons:

1. I really love the idea of the 1st time FH sees me in my dress being when I'm walking down the isle to meet him.

2. Our ceremoney starts at 10am so with getting ready & all that we won't have time to do a 1st look.

3. I really love tradition and we're doing a lot of traditional things during the wedding.

But I can totally see the plus side to doing it 1st, one of which is it wold totally ease nerves. and you probably won't have to worry as much about messing up your make up since you will have already seen each other... though not so sure about that I will probably be a mess no matter what

FH was dead set against it when I first brought it up and our photographer actually convinced him it was a good idea. When he saw how much of our budget was going to photography, he realized that doing a first look would allow us to get the most for our money. He also liked the idea of being able to join cocktail hour and using that time to take care of our greetings, so we don't have to spend all of dinner doing table visits.

One thing that I'm doing to make the walk down the aisle different is wearing my veil. I won't be wearing it for the first look so he will get the real "bride" experience when I walk down the aisle.

We are doing a first look so we can have ample time to spend with our guests after the ceremony.

We did a first look. I'm SO glad we did. We had more time with our guests. I didn't even look at him as I first entered, so I totally missed the look on his face (I was super excited to see my guests; some I hadn't seen in 8 years!). I just really loved the moment with him.

I'd say that about 3/4 of my couples do a first look before hand. Many of them love having a truly private time together before they face the guests. Many do it because most of the venues here do their second ceremony at 6:00-6:30, which doesn't give the couple a lot of time afterwards at most times of the year. Then there is cocktail hour; you've invited all these people to celebrate with you and they can't wait to see you.

Of course I am right up there with the first partner when the second one comes up the aisle, and the reaction is always priceless; they are seeing their intended in front of all their friends and family in a totally different context. It's so moving, and in a way, I think it makes a day full of stress more comfortable to face it together.

We are waiting. FH is really excited about seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle. I'm pretty traditional so I wanted to as well; funny thing though - is he's not super traditional, so he surprised me by that. I'm excited that's he's so excited. haha.

I think we'll have plenty of time for pics - our ceremony and reception venues are a few blocks from each other, and if we're a little late for dinner, I'm ok with that too. (just need to remember that, the day of and not freak out!)

For us we also want to wait until the moment of walking down the aisle... just for us thats a special moment..but i totally get how first looks can really help with the timeline of pics I guess since thats his only request Id go with it!

We did all our separate pics before the ceremony, then ours, and full bridal party/family during cocktail hour. He didn't want to do first look and I respected that.

I thought about doing it but I just want to wait I think.... My mom will probably have a cow if I tried to do it

I can't believe your eshoot was 6 hrs! What on this earth!?

I'd be asleep for the last 4 hrs.

We had them at the huge park and started with the dog shots, went walking around the entire park for all of the cool scenery, then ended with doing a tea candle heart and sparkler still motion shits. Those took forever!

Our photographer is just starting out and us s perfectionist when it comes to his shots. But as soon as we got home that night, we passed out!

We are doing the first look for the fact that we do not want to feel stressed and rushed through pictures. We want to take our time, and then we will take just a few photos after the ceremony and join our guests at cocktail hour. Our photographer requires at LEAST an hour and 1/2 for photos if we do not do a first look so double-check your contract. I am not superstitious in the least and I want to make sure our wedding is fun and enjoyable, NOT that we are stressed and bickering when we should be enjoying a special day together.

I am not doing a first look. I want too see my FH face when I walk down the aisle and I'm sure he wants to see my smile. It will be a very special moment for us that I hope I'll always remember!