Should You Have A "First Look?"

A first look is when the bride and groom see each other before the wedding for pictures. When I got married, my husband was very adamant that he did not want to have a first look. If you're getting married you may already know that the groom will say, "I really don’t care..." or "Whatever you want, I'll just show up." This is the attitude that my husband had before we started planning. I quickly realized that he actually had an opinion about EVERYTHING. I also realized that he is a very traditional person.

When we interviewed photographers, one photographer strongly suggested that we definitely do a first look because that would allow us to take more pictures.

I think at the time I felt that I did want to do the first look because I was only thinking about the amount and quality of the pictures.

Ultimately we chose to not do the first look because we wanted to see each other for the first time as I was walking down the isle. I am glad that we made that decision because I love the reaction from my husband when I walked down the isle. Please look at the picture below and keep in mind that this picture was not taken by our photographer.

On the flip side of that, we did get a lot of pictures from our photographer but I do feel that there were some shots that were missing. Our photographer took some detail shots before the wedding and some pictures of us separately getting dressed for the day. After the ceremony, we had about an hour to take pictures. During this time, I was hot and sweating. Also my feet were hurting from my beautifully uncomfortable shoes. Members of our wedding party were getting tired.

When I received my pictures, I loved them but I did have moments of, “Oh we didn’t get this shot.” Or “We don’t have a group picture with this person.” With a first look, we would’ve gotten more pictures.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. My advice to all brides is to do what feels right for you. We chose to follow our hearts and see each other for the first time moments before we would say “I do” and I have no regrets.