First look - what are your thoughts?

It's such a personal decision! An alternative you could consider is a first touch (holding hands while standing on either side of a door or wall or a divider of some sort), or you could do a first look, but not wear your veil until you walk down the aisle.

My fiancé felt the same way! I thought it was so sweet that seeing me at the altar meant that much to him, that it was a no brainer for me to not do a first look for him. For what it’s worth, I asked my photographer about first look versus no first look, and he admitted to me that “first looks” were created by (and for) photographers!- It makes their jobs easier and adds billable hours (ie, they get paid more). He assured me that any skilled photographer can easily get more than enough photos during cocktail hour, without a first look.

Definitely a personal decision. I didn’t have a preference of which I felt more strongly to do. I told my husband (then fiancé) about the first look option and he also felt the same way that he would prefer the traditional way of him seeing me enter the ceremony for the first time along with our guests. So we compromised on a first touch shoot right before the ceremony and it was so cute and pictures were great.

View Quoted Comment Really? This is interesting. I would think bridal party, couples portraits, and family portraits are a lot to cram into one hour.
I, personally, would feel stressed to get all of them done in that short time frame.

View Quoted Comment We’ve been going back and forth for days on this. I’m happy your photographer said it is for their benefit lol

View Quoted Comment A first touch is a good idea. I hadn’t thought of that

We decided to walk down the aisle together (I was originally going to walk myself and he didn't like that), so we'll be doing a first look with our photographer and reading our vows or a letter to each other beforehand as a way to have a special moment and relax a little bit!

View Quoted Comment Yeah, I got the idea off Pinterest and it’s another way to capture a sweet moment right before the I do’s.

View Quoted Comment My daughter and now husband did this before their ceremony and also used the time to read their personal vows to each other. She was caught sneaking a peek at him...

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What a great shot. I do kind of like these, where the couples stand on either side of a door, or similar, so the photographer can get shots of both but the couple can't see each other. I think they're very sweet.

I did a first look with my husband. We had alone time (with the photographer) and we were able to really relax.


When I walked down the aisle, my husband still got emotional (even though we had our first look already)
It was really important to him not to miss cocktail hour with our guests so we got all of our family portraits done before the ceremony as well as private shots of just me and him back at our hotel away from everyone.
Good luck deciding!

View Quoted Comment Wow! This is such a beautiful picture.

Everyone is different and will have different experiences. It was really important to my FH that his first time seeing me was when I am walking down the aisle, so we are not doing a first look. Our photographer has a schedule for photos during cocktail hour for us to keep us on track for getting the pictures we want. Others like the idea of the first look so they can hang out with their guests.

As others have said it's a personal choice. We did a first look. I have to admit I ended up really enjoying having those few minutes of just us. It definitely helped to calm our nerves too.

I highly recommend it! We had ours and got to spend so much time together with just us and no one else around -- besides our videographer and photographer. It helped with nerves for the ceremony and the rest of the day. And then when it came to the ceremony, we both still cried!

It’s personal preference. If you’re going to buck all other tradition, why not that as well? The reason behind not seeing the bride before the wedding was so they could not back out of the arranged marriage if the groom didn’t like how she looked (same reasoning for the veil). It doesn’t go deeper than that. Superstition involved is a whole other unrelated topic.


I love these as a guest because it eliminates the gap between the ceremony and reception because formal pictures have already been taken before the ceremony. A friend of mine was opposed to this when she married and her fiancé didn’t care. The photographer suggested a first look for multiple reasons, including that they were at one location with an evening wedding in winter. They decided to go for it and both said it took away the nerves but the magic of walking down the aisle was still there.

Since everyone has mentioned how it's a personal decision, I won't say anything about that. For me, we're planning on a first look because our entire day is trying to get done briefly. So, all pictures done before the ceremony, a short ceremony, and then maybe just an appetizer reception, with no dancing, that takes max 2 hours. So for our short timeline, a first look makes more sense. This way hopefully we can leave before it gets into the later afternoon.

We did a first look because my FH didn't want to ball his eyes out in front of everyone. Despite doing the first look he still got emotional when I walked down the aisle. I don't think your FH would have to "fake" anything because he will still be full of some type of emotion even if you do a first look. If you want to do it, I say do it. It's a really special moment between just the two of you

I like first looks because it works out logistically where you can take photos before the wedding to save time

View Quoted Comment So cute!! Hadn’t thought of any of this. Wow I may go traditional route amd hope to get all the other photos done in an hour