Wedding Superstition: The Walk Down The Aisle

To me, the extra time to take photos was a lot more practical and important than seeing one another for the first time on the aisle, because of some meaningless superstition. The walk down the aisle was every bit as special.

Neither of us are superstitious. We'll be staying together at an airbnb the night before so we'll wake up together the morning of and probably have breakfast together before going our separate ways to get ready.


I don't think we'll see each other fully dressed/ready until the ceremony though. We want to go to a nearby scenic location for our couple portraits and our photographer thinks it'll be better to do those after the ceremony to cut down on travel time since we only booked her for a few hours. If we were doing a bigger wedding with more guests and a full day photographer, I think we would've done a first look.

We are doing a first look/private vow exchange before the ceremony, but that will be the first time we see each other the day of. My fiancé asked that we sleep separately the night before to semi-honor the tradition of not seeing each other on the wedding day until we're prepped and ready to go, and I thought that was sweet.

Neither of us are superstitious, but when it's so difficult to keep anything a surprise or secret these days, honoring the tradition at least a little seemed like fun!

When we first started planning, my Fiancé was very adamant about not seeing each other the day of the wedding. However, as we got deeper into the planning process for a destination wedding, it just became too complicated (him having to pack an overnight bag and make sure he got everything he needed for the next day, spending an additional $600+ renting an extra hotel room for him for 2 nights since he would need it the night before and most the next day to get ready in), then having to haul everything back into our room the morning after the wedding-when we already had plans with guests that day). So we decided to just get ready in separate rooms (me in our room and him in the best man’s room) then see each other for the first time when we took pictures with our wedding party an hour before the ceremony. Since I knew he had been really excited about first seeing me in my wedding dress when I walked down the aisle, I secretly got two dresses! I wore the reception dress for our first look, then surprised him when I walked down the aisle in my ceremony dress. It was the best decision ever, because his expression was priceless! Those are some of my favorite photos of the day, and I know he wouldn’t have had that sort of reaction had he not seen me in that dress for the first time at that moment 🖤

Since that wedding didn’t end with us being legally married, we had a courthouse ceremony (just the 2 of us) this week. Since we already did the surprise reveal at the altar at the DW, we didn’t feel the need to do it again lol But, to my surprise, his reaction was just as great seeing me this time! I got ready upstairs in my changing room, and he got ready in the bathroom on the main level, so we didn’t see each other until we were ready to leave for the courthouse. We didn’t plan it or anything, but he just so happened to be standing at the bottom of the staircase when I came down in my wedding outfit. His eyes lit up when he saw me. It was like pure love and adoration. 🥰 He really loved what I chose to wear this time, and kept saying it fit me/my personality perfectly. I sure wish we had gotten a picture of that moment! But I don’t think I will ever forget the look on his face in that moment ❤️

As much as we love the idea of a first look and it makes timelines easier we are superstitious so we won't be seeing each other until the aisle !!

We are going to do photos before the ceremony so we will see each other before because I figure that’s when we will both look our best before we have cried or sweated lol so I hope we don’t have any bad luck

I’m doing a first look with my brother and saving the first look with my fiancé for when I walk down the isle so that I get his real reaction in photos !

When I walk down the aisle will be the first time we see each other

View Quoted Comment I had a similar thought! Plus, my husband and I walked each other down the aisle, so we were going to see each other before the ceremony started anyway. Good to hear that walking down the aisle was still just as special for you!

I don't know, I always think that rain on your wedding day being good luck was made up just to make the bride feel better about their wedding getting rained on. That is just me though.

I was planning on a first look, but my fiancé surprised me on being adamant he wants to see me for the first time walking down the aisle.

View Quoted Comment That all makes sense! It also seems like a good way to get the best of both worlds - you still get to be with each other the morning of the wedding, and you still get to surprise each other at the altar with your wedding day look.

View Quoted Comment Aww, that is sweet that he asked to honor the tradition! And I totally agree - keeping things a surprise is SO difficult, and even more difficult to keep it a surprise from the person you are closest to!

View Quoted Comment What a cool way to still surprise him at the altar even after your first look! A bummer that logistics forced you to change plans, but it sounds like it all worked out wonderfully.


The moment you had before your courthouse ceremony sounds like something out of a Hallmark movie (you seem to have a lot of those Hallmark moments, which make for amazing memories!)! A cool gift idea for your husband could be to commission an artist to create a drawing/painting/etc of one of those moments based on your description or perspective of it.

View Quoted Comment That is awesome!! Seeing each other at the altar makes for some beautiful memories. How are you handling the logistics of avoiding each other that day before the ceremony?

View Quoted Comment An excellent point that you will look your best at the first look! Tears, sweat, and even just time can alter your look. My hairstyle definitely looked different by the end of the night than it did right after it was done.

View Quoted Comment I love the idea of doing a first look with a close family member before the ceremony, and doing the first look with your partner at the altar during the ceremony! You will get some beautiful photos from both moments.

The superstition comes from ancient Biblical times when marriages were arranged for a number of reasons (political, economic, etc) and the bride wore a thick veil for the duration of a week of festivities before the ceremony and was not removed until after the marriage was consummated. That was how they kept a groom from backing out because she wasn’t pretty enough or she was not who he thought he was getting.


Because that doesn’t apply, we didn’t follow that superstition, nor do we know anyone who has. As for a first look, we’ve only seen them as a guest a couple times and they really help with the flow. All pictures are done before the ceremony and guests can go straight to the reception with the couple and not have any delay beyond driving time. It’s not done among our families to have any “Catholic gap” of any length. The first look worked great for us. Friends of ours who married recently said they were so much more relaxed with a first look and didn’t have the deer in the headlights panic that is so common.

View Quoted Comment We have a groomsmen & bridesmaid that will
be coordinating us to make sure we don't run into each other. Every time I leave a room where my fiancé could be my bridesmaid is letting them know to wait etc. Luckily we both have groom & bridal suite so we should be successful in not seeing each other. We are having all pictures that don't involve the bride & groom together done before the ceremony so that we can just have our pictures done then go enjoy the the cocktail hour. We think it's more important to be with our friends & family enjoying our wedding than taking posed pictures we will never use. We opted for editorial/ in the moment style photos which is allowing us more time to spend with our friends & family. This is just our preference because we want to enjoy our day and have memorable photos that capture our day rather than spending time posing. This is how we are able to not see each other & still have beautiful pictures.

We will not being doing a first look. FH's idea. He doesn't want to see me before the ceremony. and I have to honestly say, I was glad he chose this option because I had been going back and forth in my head if I wanted to do it or not. Part of me wanted to and the other part of me didn't. So glad he made the decision. And I do believe that we will be spending the night before apart. I think he will be staying at his brothers, I am not 100% sure though because we haven't really had a deep discussion about it. It's been mentioned but never set anything in stone though.