First looks

My husband really didn’t want to, and I only wanted the logistics of it but my photographer told me there was plenty of time don’t do it for that. So we didn’t do it and we loved the anticipation, my husband was tearing up and it was so sweet looking at each other walking down the aisle. And my photographer was right, our cocktail hour was the perfect amount of time for pics. I didn’t feel the need to mingle with guests during the cocktail hour bc we had a welcome dinner the nigh before.

We are doing a first look! Our ceremony is at 2:30 and the reception starts at 3. We are planing on leaving between 5:30-6 so we didn’t want to miss so much of the reception because of our photos, Bridal party, and family photos!

We did one and have no regrets. Our reasons were we wanted to be in our own cocktail hour to enjoy that food and we didn’t want to do table visits during the reception. It also helped a lot with nerves.

Not planning to but I am old school and do not want him to see me or my dress prior. I am planning the timeline with my soon to be photographer for pics to ensure I get the timing of day correct.

We are doing one partially for logistics. Like Madelyn and Kelly, we didn't want to lose time in the wedding just to take pictures. Plus our venue is too intimate (read small) for a proper cocktail hour. And I wanted to have a private moment with my FH before the ceremony and craziness begins because I don't like crowds and being the center of attention but he is my rock.

We debated doing one but my husband says he wants to see me at the end of the aisle for the first look. I’m so excited about it! We picked my walking song and he teared up just listening to it!

We aren't doing one. My FH made the final decision. I didn't care either way, but he wanted the first time he sees me in my wedding dress to be when I am walking down the aisle. I agreed with him and really love the idea of that being the first time he sees me.

I did a first look with my father, but not with my husband. We missed cocktail hour to take pictures but we didn't mind. When I walked down the aisle and he saw me for the first time, it was a beautiful moment for both of us.

We are doing a first look. Ultimately we don't care about the first moment seeing each other being as I walk down the aisle. My FH still wants that shock of seeing me for the first time, and I want that moment to be more private which makes a first look great! It also allows for us to take more pictures and get some of the jitters out together before the ceremony. Also, as Catholics, they told us the whole not seeing each other was a dated and not a really great tradition due to its history, and advised us to do what was best for us a couple rather than holding to this tradition.

We are doing a first look because our reception is only four hours and we didn’t want to waste time taking too many pics of just us. We’ve been together 5 and a half years and we’ll technically be married the day before, so we thought we’d have some fun with first looks before the ceremony!

We are doing a first look. I left that choice up to my FH. Originally he didn’t want a first look and then we were talking about the timeline of things and he changed his mind because he wanted us to have pictures mainly out of the way so we could spend more time with our guests, which I support and so far he hasn’t changed his mind again lol

We are planning on doing one, party to ease the nerves and partly so that we have lots of time for photos and won't miss our cocktail hour.

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Hey Kelly! I've seen you post a couple times that you did a first look so that you could be in your cocktail hour. We want to do the same thing, but I was wondering if you could share a little bit about how that worked for you. Did you leave towards the end of your cocktail hour and still do a big entrance/intro at your reception? Or did you just skip that? Our cocktail hour and reception will be in the same room if you have any suggestions.

View Quoted Comment We didn’t! We just walked into cocktail hour and walked into dinner. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way, we just didn’t care about formal entrances and stuff like that!

I think it all depends on you two. I knew that I didn't want to cry in front of everyone (I'm very private with my emotions and am not comfortable at all crying in front of pretty much anyone except for a few people) and that logistically it would help in taking pictures beforehand (we didn't want to miss out on cocktail hour, which is what usually happens if you don't do a first look/pictures before the ceremony) and it worked so well! My husband and stepson (6 yo) were in the ceremony room and i tapped my stepson first and his first look reaction pictures are ADORABLE! And then my husband's are so sweet. Turns out, I didn't cry, but it took all of the pressure off of us, which we were grateful for.

There are great reasons to do one and great reasons not to.

Right now I'm leaning towards not doing one because I like the idea of seeing each other for the first time at the ceremony. Neither my FH or I are very public with my our emotions, but to me there is something so special about having the people closest to you see that moment with you and feel the love you share for each other. I feel like it just wouldn't feel the same if we saw each other beforehand. We're having a smaller wedding (60-80 people) so we should have ample time to mingle with all our guests at the reception even if we miss the entire cocktail hour. We also have small wedding parties and small families so photos shouldn't take too long, and our ceremony and reception are at the same venue. I'm really into photography and like the idea of doing photo time when the light is better (after our ceremony, not before) and don't want to wear our rings before we say our vows and don't want our wedding portraits to not have our rings in them. I also think my FH will be more relaxed in photos if we already have the ceremony over with at that point.

First looks can be great if you have a big wedding, want some time just the two of you, have a lot of formal photos to do, and/or want to spend more time mingling with your guests.

Our final decision will probably come as we figure out our wedding day timeline more and logistics more.

I did it because logistically speaking we really needed to do photos before the start of the wedding

We are planning on doing it because we both know my FH and I would have been A MESS and prefer to have an intimate moment togther before the madness. He thinks it will help our nerves. I wanted it but would be ok with not doing it, but my FH did not want to miss any of the cocktail hour for pictures... That's the one thing he was VERY adamant about so we're doing formals and everything before the ceremony I just recently teetered back and forth with it but he agreed that it's best to just do it before hand.

We are doing one. We want to take pictures together before the ceremony so we can be part of the cocktail hour to mingle