SEEING EACH OTHER BEFORE THE CEREMONY!?!?

errah1122

Thoughts on this??  Originally my fiance and I both wanted to go with the traditional - him see me for the first time when I walk down the aisle.... but after talking with a few photographers, it might make sense to see each other before the wedding.  We are having our ceremony and reception all at the same place, so if we dont see each other we probably will miss a good portion of our cocktail hour....
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thank you!

fallbride1109

We decided to do it at the last minute and we are so glad we did.  It is some of our favorite memories and pictures of the day.  All the stress just melted away and we were able to enjoy everything together.  I have pics in my married bio under Reveal.

It's a special moment no matter when you do it so just do what is best for you--you won't regret it either way.

[Deleted User]

I can tell you from both points of view since me and my husband shoot weddings together. We just got married 3 weeks ago and did a "first look"...thank goodness cause we had barely any time to enjoy each others company after the ceremony since we got bombarded. We have photographed both ways, no "first look" and with a "first look" and the "first look" always gets the best photos as a couple since they are not rushed.

crose317

My fiance and I are doing a first look.  We are having the ceremony and reception at the same place as well and want to enjoy our party after we get married.  We are also getting married at sunset and won't have enough daylight for a lot of our pictures if we waited until after.  I think it will make a lot of my stress melt away and I will be relaxed and happy during the ceremony if I get to talk to my fiance beforehand.  Our photographers are setting up a location where I can still walk towards my fiance to capture that look when he firsts sees me.  I highly recommend doing pictures beforehand.

WaterPig83

We're actually not doing a first look. It's not that we think there's anything wrong with it or want to be uber-traditional or anything, we just won't have time. We don't mind missing part of the cocktail hour because we'll still get to see everyone (we only have 37 guests) and we'd rather use part of that "magic hour" for pictures.

youn0728

My dad's a photographer and the "first look" thing as far as pictures go is so unnecessary. All you do is look at each other for a couple seconds and kiss a couple times. Pretty sure you wouldn't want a big picture of that in your house. I think you should definitely do a thing with the two of you in a separate room with no photographers or personal attendants or anything. Plan for a couple minutes alone before pictures in a separate room to remember why you're there in the first place. But, it's YOUR wedding, so these are just suggestions! Do whatever you want on your big day  

Lauren19.

We're not doing a first look, just because we're traditional. Honestly though we'll have 2 hours between the ceremony and cocktail hour to take pictures, and there are only 2 people in the wedding party, so I'm not worried about not having special 1-on-1 time then.

kateyes107

We're planning on doing the first look also.  I think it will save a lot of time on pictures and I think I'll be a bit more relaxed once I see him.

hboo2011

As a bride who did a first look, I can say I would 100% recommend it especially for you since you are doing what we did- ceremony and reception at the same location.

H and I saw each other about 3pm. We did an 'around a corner holding hands' kind of shot so the photographer got both of our faces in the same shot. We got ALL of our pictures done before the ceremony (6:30pm). 

This gave us the ability to walk around our cocktail hour with our guests and start to talk to guests right away. 

After dinner, we didn't make it to each and every table, but we felt better knowing we talked to a majority of people at cocktail hour.

fallbride1109

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_seeing-other-before-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:30Discussion:cd12ed2c-63ee-486b-8ae7-4f216819b98dPost:d6047098-1d54-4f8f-a7b3-3c32b5188d53">Re: SEEING EACH OTHER BEFORE THE CEREMONY!?!?</a>:
[QUOTE]My dad's a photographer and the "first look" thing as far as pictures go is so unnecessary. <strong>All you do is look at each other for a couple seconds and kiss a couple times.</strong> Pretty sure you wouldn't want a big picture of that in your house. I think you should definitely do a thing with the two of you in a separate room with no photographers or personal attendants or anything. Plan for a couple minutes alone before pictures in a separate room to remember why you're there in the first place. But, it's YOUR wedding, so these are just suggestions! Do whatever you want on your big day :) 
Posted by youn0728[/QUOTE]

Actually, in my area, B&G portraits are done after the First Look, thus saving time after the ceremony.  So it's alot more than just looking at each other and that's it.  Plus the picture I have of my husband's face when he saw me is priceless.

mrssmiff

My fiance and I are doing the "first look". I want him to see me before I walk down the aisle so we can have our special moment. We will also have over 300 guests at our wedding and dont have time to take pics for an hour after the ceremony. Do what suits you guys best!!

2BMrsES

We're doing a first look, really just so we can do pictures with the bridal party beforehand.  It's really more practical for us (we could not go downtown where I want the pictures taken after the wedding and make it to the reception).  Most of my friends have done photos beforehand, and everyone I've talked to said it was a good idea.  Good luck!

jessicaemery30

I was dead-set on doing a first look until FMIL teared up when she talked about FH seeing me for the first time down the aisle. I understand how it can help with the timing of the day, but I also think it's important to have that "special" moment. I want FH to be nervous all day. I think during that day he will think more about exactly what he's doing more so than if he saw me before I walked down the aisle. And I'm not traditional AT ALL. But, now that we're not going to do the first-look, I'm really excited! Either way, it will be a great day

pearlsandcurls84

We have friends that did it and it is really cute, she has fantastic photographs that catch great facial experessions. My other friend just got married and they didn't do it, but the moment he was told to look at her (their priest had him wait until she was close to him before he turned and looked) was so moving.  It's really a personal choice. I will not see my fiance before, not because thats the traditionl way, but for me I don't wan't anything to take away from the emotion we will feel when I walk down the aisle toward him! But we will be giving up that first look style of photographs so it's really about whats most important to you guys! I bet no matter what you choose you will love it because it's your wedding day!

Slabachs2

Call me old fashioned, but I don't want to do a first look and neither does he. We want that anticipation and 'surprise'

LittleMissCutiePie

If you want to do the traditional route, why not just extend cocktail hour a bit to give yourself some time?

errah1122

thank you everyone!!!   my fiance told me yesterday that he would rather wait & see me for the first time as i'm walking down the aisle!   so, i'm considering extending our cocktail hour!!  thank you for all of your input!!

blue1981

A first look is really great becuase it allows you to get so many more pictures without feeling rushed right after the ceremony.