5 Reasons You Should Consider a First Look
One of the big questions I often get is whether or not to have a first look on the day of the wedding. If you’re leaving it up to me, then the answer is always yes!
WHAT IS A FIRST LOOK?
The “First Look” (aka “the reveal”) is a moment where you and your soon to be husband/wife see each other for the first time on the wedding day. Traditionally, a couple would see each other for the first time as they walk down the aisle in front of all their guests, but in recent years and following more recent wedding trends couples have opted to see each other beforehand. You can opt to have it privately between just you and your spouse, or invite a few of your bridal party/family members to enjoy and revel in the moment as well. Whoever started this trend was a genius, because there are so many advantages to doing so.
SO, SHOULD I CONSIDER HAVING A FIRST LOOK ON MY WEDDING DAY?
Well, there are 5 benefits to a “First Look”:
THERE’S LESS PRESSURE AND TIME CONSTRAINTS
On the day of the wedding there is A LOT going on and sometimes it can get hectic trying to fit in every photo on the portrait list. Every wedding is different, but for the majority of brides and grooms it is important that they get a lot of photos with their family, bridal party and friends and this takes time. Typically your wedding venue/coordinator will only give you an hour after the ceremony to take all of your photos because the kitchen/caterer is on a schedule and is required to get food served by a certain time. An hour may seem like a long time, but keep in mind we have to take extended family photos, immediate family photos, bridal party photos and photos with the couple together. Especially with a big guest list (I consider 80+ guests big), every minute counts. As a professional in the industry for over a decade, I’ve been very successful at managing my time efficiently and getting all the required photos but sometimes it can be stressful on everyone making sure they’re there for photos on a time crunch. By having a “First Look” before the ceremony, this gives us the opportunity to slow down the pace of the day and get our family, bridal party and couple photos beforehand. Less stress is a good thing for everyone!
YOU’LL GET TO ENJOY COCKTAIL HOUR
Because we’ve taken the majority of our posed photos before the ceremony, this means you’ll have time to enjoy cocktail hour and actually mingle with guests! This also puts less pressure on you to greet every guest during the reception, which means you’ll have more time to party! It’s a win for everyone.
YOU’LL PROBABLY RECEIVE MORE UNIQUE PHOTOS
Probably my biggest advocate of having a “First Look” is for the sheer reason that we’ll have the opportunity to take more unique photos. Because we won’t have any time constraints, we can literally set our own schedule before the Ceremony and take photos wherever we want! A lot of my couples will have a “First Look” so we can spend some time before the ceremony incorporating some absolutely beautiful scenery into their wedding-day photos at some off-site locations without having to worry about time or getting back to guests on time.
IT’S A PRIVATE, INTIMATE MOMENT
This doesn’t go for everyone, but often I find that my couples prefer that the moment when they see each other for the first time to be private and intimate. This gives them the opportunity to not hold back any emotions and enjoy that moment alone or with who they choose.
YOU CAN MAKE IT UNIQUE TO YOU!
Not only can you choose the exact location you want to do the first look, you can also cater it to your own unique personalities and what is special to you!
EXTRA BONUS: WEATHER DELAYS ARE LESS OF A WORRY
I recently captured a wedding where we had a first look and we were able to do the bride and groom portraits, wedding party portraits and ALL of the family portraits beforehand. Ten minutes before the ceremony started, it DUMPED rain and delayed the ceremony by 45 minutes. Because we had done all the portraits beforehand, we were able to stay on track with the reception and everyone was extremely happy and thankful.
ARE THERE ANY REASONS TO NOT HAVE A FIRST LOOK?
In my opinion, no. But, if you are dead set on seeing each other for the first time during the Ceremony, I totally support it and we will absolutely make it work. I’ll still be able to capture your moments, we will just need to plan on using the entirety of the cocktail hour for portraits.
