First Look, Yes or No?

We did one and I'm so glad we did. It was a beautiful moment between the two of us before the craziness of the ceremony and reception. After our first dance and dinner, we were pulled in different directions by our guests for the rest of the evening.

It's personal preference and neither is right or wrong. I think it's a great idea to have one.


If you are in a time crunch, needing to get pictures done before the ceremony rather than missing your cocktail hour, then it's good in that case. Not everyone is traditional and some couples have said in reviews etc that they felt more relaxed by having a first look.
But you don't have to have the dramatic tap on the shoulder.

We are not doing a first look. I can’t wait to concentrate on him when I walk down the aisle. 😊💕

We didn’t do one and I am SO glad. I didn’t want to risk anything detracting from the moment he sees me walking down the aisle (seriously, look at this face!!!) I know plenty of people who did first looks say that it didn’t detract from the emotion of walking down the aisle but really, no one can say that for sure because no one has ever done it BOTH ways lol, and possibly losing even a fraction of the amazingness of seeing this reaction at the ceremony was never something I was willing to risk!

Also, I was never able to get on board with the logic of “it’s nice to have a private moment together when you see each other dressed up before the ceremony” because really, if you wanted a “private” moment then you should’ve eloped lol. We WANTED our guests to share in this special moment with us... that’s why we invited them!

This is totally not to criticize anyone who does a first look, I mean to each their own and I do see the perks of getting more photos before the ceremony (though, we got more than enough photos anyway!) but this is just my opinion and why we decided not to 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also, another relevant factor is we had a 12pm wedding and actually part of the reason for that is so we didn’t have to do a first look 😂 if you’re having a late afternoon or evening wedding I understand wanting to get your photos done earlier in the day, but since I knew we didn’t want to do a first look I made sure our wedding was early so it wasn’t like we were missing too much of the day before seeing each other.

My photos didn’t attach agh, here you go!

No first look for us. We both want the first time we see each other to be when I walk down the aisle. We're both traditional when it comes to this. I may ugly cry my way down the aisle, but oh well.

We did not do one, and I am glad we did not. We didn't even see each other until I walked down the aisle.

That said, our ceremony and reception venue were the same space, and there was a beautiful park right next to the venue.

I nearly ran down the aisle, I was so excited, but it was also really special to have that tension. Our officiant actually had to move us apart, at one point, because we were holding each other so closely.

View Quoted Comment So sweet 😌

Not doing it - he gets to see me walk down the aisle. We may do an after look just to soak in the fact that we tied the knot.

We are doing a first look. Initially, I was hesitant, but we decided to do one for a few reasons: the first look moment would be more private than if it were to occur while walking down the aisle, and since I'm more of a shy person, I liked this idea. It also would allow us to spend cocktail hour with our guests, and we could actually enjoy the appetizers that we are paying for. We also wanted to not feel rushed after the ceremony to get through pictures so we can go see our guests. So by doing the pictures beforehand, we'd get at least most of them out of the way ahead of time, and if needed, we could still do a few pictures after the ceremony without it taking too much time.

I personally do not want one, but I do really like the idea of having more time with my OH during cocktail hour.

My fiance doesn't seem to care either way but that's how he is with everything lol. I want a first look because of the logistics with photography since we don't have a ton of time at the venue, and because I'm very introverted and am extremely nervous about being the center of attention at our wedding. So hopefully a private first look away from everyone will help!

We're not going to do it, I want him to see me in my dress for the first time walking down the aisle & he's fine with either option (he actually asked me what I wanted to do). So no option is wrong, do what you both feel is best.

I think this is one where I would defer to FH's wishes. Mine doesn't have strong feelings and since we're scaling down for this year and "re-doing" our wedding next year too, I think we're going to end up skipping the first look. It just doesn't make sense this year for our tiny wedding, and next year once we're married? I just don't see it feeling that important.

View Quoted Comment

Thats such a great idea!!

I initially wanted one so we would have time to do pictures somewhere nearby, however, after talking more to FH about it I realized it made him uncomfortable. He felt like there is a lot of pressure on him to have a certain reaction with a first look and he didn't like the idea of it being photographed. So, to avoid him feeling like he has to have any sort of specific photographic reaction - we are skipping it.

I like the dramatics of not doing a first look. Its really mainly for logistic purposes, couples seem to do it which I feel is not very romantic at its core. Plus I can still take pics with my bridesmaids and family before. He can do the same so we have less after the ceremony. I see a lot of individuals saying oh I can be at happy hour with my new husband but I have never been to a wedding where the couple was at happy hour. Plus the time between the ceremony and reception is my time to have a moment with him.