First look?

I wasn’t going to because I want to get his genuine reaction as I walk down the aisle... but after looking at some of the comments I’m thinking about the first look..... lol

I wanted to do one but it was important to FH to do things traditional in this aspect.

I didn’t really care if we did a first look or not. My husband was totally against it, and since he did not voice a lot of opinions on most of the wedding details I figured it was important to him. I will always remember the moment I saw him for the first time standing at the end of the aisle. Gives me goosebumps just thinking back to that moment.

My photographer said the same thing but some of these ladies are making good points and have put me on the fence now lol

I don't see why convenience should break tradition. My fiance was appauled by the idea as well so that nipped it in the bud
Also, every first look pics I have seen are so cheesy and staged looking as well.

We plan to do a first look and do lots of pictures of the two of us, plus different family groups, etc. before the ceremony. We went to a wedding once where we waited over 3 hours for the couple to arrive at the reception after the ceremony, and we were all hungry and bored. There were a few snacks, but not a full cocktail hour provided. We do not care about seeing each other before the ceremony and do not want our guests to wait forever at the reception venue for us. I hope we can go straight from ceremony to reception with only travel time in between.

We are doing a first look. Friends of mine that have done it had great things to say about it and those who didn't wished they would have. We are getting married in December at 4 PM and in order to get some outside pics in the daylight we have to do a first look, which also helped in the decision making. We are super excited to be able to enjoy the cocktail hour with friends and family.

We are. We're both anxious people and awful with crowds, so we're doing it so that first moment is just between us (and the photographer) with no pressure about how our faces need to look or how we react, and we can get out a lot of the nerves first. It'll be more intimate. I don't want a horde of people around the first time he sees me- I want that moment to myself. Then we'll be more relaxed for the actual ceremony.

We are not doing one. FH and I both felt very strongly that he would see me first walking down the aisle. I would think it very strange for a bride and groom to be at cocktail hour, I would want to go straight into dinner and not have to wait around if they aren't taking pictures since that is what cocktail hour is for.

We are not planning on doing one just because we want it to be more genuine and special at the ceremony. Also I honestly think the pictures look too staged and almost cringy but that’s just my personal opinion!

View Quoted Comment This is a good point. My photographers are documentary photographers, so they specialize in capturing the “moment” and don’t do staged photos (aside from the portraits with the wedding party and family). They’ve worked really hard to cultivate first look photos that aren’t cheesy and staged. So if I changed my mind and wanted to do a first look, I’d be confident the pictures would be good. Knowing your photographer’s strengths and weaknesses is important for these types of photos.

I was so stressed about this decision too, but decided to do one mainly for logistical purposes. I wanted to have as much time as possible to enjoy my wedding and my guests that are mostly coming from out of state. A first look will give us about an extra hour to hour and a half to enjoy our wedding that would otherwise be spent on photos. We put so much time into planning, we should get as much time to enjoy it as we can! I don't think the walk down the aisle will be any less special.

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I absolutely agree! I also don't see the same emotion in first look pictures. My FH didn't know what a first look was and when I explained it he made it very clear that he would not be doing that, and luckily we were on the same page about that.

We did a first look and it was beautiful and fun. No regrets. We didn't get too many photos in during the first look so we still had some photos taken after the ceremony too so we missed our cocktail hour but it's ok.

View Quoted Comment Yeah, this is one of my biggest reasons why I don't want to do a first look. I want everyone to see.

I was so set on not having a first look. But when talking with our photographers they made me love the idea. It allows us a momment to ourselves on a crazy hectic day.

We aren't doing a first look. FH said hope. He's not into it.

We are not doing a first look because I really want to be the first time we see each other to be when I'm walking down the aisle. That moment is really important to us. I'm viewing the cocktail hour as a way to keep my guest happy and occupied while we get a key photos in.

I was very against having a first look when we started wedding planning but two things swayed me. 1. My photographer suggested it. I wasn't sold, but her telling me how much smoother/quicker photos go had me considering it. Then 2. We had a venue change after booking out photographer (thankfully our vendors were flexible!!) And now I have a long (in my opinion) walk to the actual isle. Which is fine, but I will be far enough away that FH won't be able to see me well and I won't be able to see him until I am well into the isle. Seeing his genuine reaction and him being able to take in the full look is more important than the 'traditional' no peeking!

We're not; this is one thing I'm SUPER traditional about in weddings so I won't see FH before the ceremony