Is it bad if your guests see you before you walk down the aisle?

We are having our first look in a more private place where we know our guests won't see us.

Right but...I have to hurry back to the house lol.

I would ask your photog what his/her timeline looks like. I know my first look will be done well before anyone arrives and I'm pretty sure she planned it that way so no one would really see us. You could always tell your photog your concerns and see if he/she can adjust if necessary...

I am worried about this too. I am getting ready, doing a first look, ceremony and reception at hotel. Only a few guests are actually staying there. I went to a wedding where the bridal also got ready where a lot of her guests were staying and there was a shuttle to pick up guests and bring to ceremony location. While us guest were waiting in lobby, the bride comes down and takes a few pics outside hotel with bridesmaid. She is cool and calm, so she didn't freak out. I don't think it took away from anything. If it happens it happens.

I am going to try to stay as "hidden" as possible because I know if some members of my family see me before the ceremony they might cast all etiquette aside and would run up to say hi before the ceremony. If that happened I know I could not get rid of them and I would get behind on the timeline.

Depends how much earlier before the ceremony your first look is, so you could push it back if you're nervous about it. It's up to you whether you care about it or not. I'm not going to be standing in the lobby or anything before ours, but it's not a big deal to me if some people see me.

Another option is that your FH could go to your getting ready spot so that you both hide in there together. But that depends whether you guys are trying to take pictures before, too.

We are going to take pics outside of the reception/ceremony site because it in this cute little neighborhood with cute old timey buildings

Our ceremony was at 2:30 and our photographer had me go "hide" at 2. Only a few guests had arrived at that time, and they probably saw me from a distance, but I wasn't anywhere near them.

I want to get some photos with my BMs outside before the ceremony, so depending on when that happens some guests may see my before hand. I dont really care. As long as the first time my FH sees me is walking down the aisle, nothing else matters.

As others have said, it's ideal if you can wrap it up before the guests arrive, but my honest opinion is that it doesn't matter that much. I recently went to a backyard wedding where literally every wedding "rule" out there was broken, and everyone still got teary eyed watching the bride walk down the aisle. That moment will be special no matter what.

I think it's fun when I go to a wedding and see a "sneak" peak of the bride! I wouldn't worry about it.

If you can find a way (do the first look about 15 minutes little earlier, hide elsewhere, etc), stay out of sight from any guests who are arriving.

From my experience, when guests see ANY members of the wedding party, they will become overwhelmed with the uncontrollable impulse to stop and chat.... which will probably most likely lead to a late start. This throws off your timelines for everything else; dinner, photos, etc. All your wedding vendors are working in unison with some tight timelines, so when a ceremony starts even 15 minutes late, some sacrifices often have to be made (unless they are super cool, easy going and or close family/friends that are willing to work overtime for no charge).

Remember...¨Out of sight, out of mind¨

What FutureRice0821 and CharDel said

I unfortunately was not worried about this, and it happened! I was soo peeved that they kept coming in through the side gate. (it was only open for the vendors, and that's where we were taking pictures and guests kept coming in! OMG it was horrible!! I told my DOC to please shut the gate, and redirect the gates to the "main" entrance (Why wouldn't they just go to the "main" entrance in the first place is BEYOND me!) and she did thankfully and luckily no more guests were coming through the gate.

But, yes I can see your worry on this one. It was definitely something that bugged me!

Can you talk to someone at your venue about not letting guests into the space until you're done with the first look?

That's a good idea kahlcara. Our first look is going to be outside and the ceremony is outside but the reception is inside. The guests could chill inside and wait. Maybe have something to drink.

Thanks!

It really depends on who you are and how important 'making an entrance' or 'the big reveal' are to you. I couldn't have cared less about either-- our first look happened right where all the guests could see, and many took pictures right along with our photog. Yeah, I didn't 'surprise' anyone when I finally walked down the aisle, but we DID get about a zillion copies of all the posed pictures, cause many guests were snapping away. Also, the guests were not bored, sitting in rows waiting for the cermeony to start-- they were all watching the fun.