First look?

spanglerwedding2012

What are your thoughts on doing the first look? Or are you waiting to walk down the aisle to see your future hubby?

I'm obviously playing online instead of doing any work today....wayyy too active on the knot this afternoon

jenmac628

me too!
I am doing the "first look" b/c we decided to have a non-traditional wedding and wanted to get married outdoors. We are doing both the ceremony and reception in the same venue so the reception immediately follows the ceremony.. and to be honest- I wanted to be at the cocktail hour! We are spending way too much on the night to miss any of it, in my opinion!
Its kind of a pain though b/c I will have to coordinate my family to be there early for pics and they will just hang out, I guess until the ceremony but I really wanted to be at the full cocktail hour and reception so I think it will work out.

Ideally- I would like the "gap" between the Church and reception to do all the pics and not see each other beforehand but oh well- we are going to make the best of it!

jelybeancg

We are not doing a first look. Although I always pictured seeing my new H for the first time at the end of the altar I am not opposed to first looks. FI on the other hand is firmly against them. Since he feels so strongly and I am really "meh" on the whole thing, he wins.

spanglerwedding2012

jelybean - that's so funny, my FI is the same. I suggested it, for the sake of photos, and he was upset that I'd even want to see him before. Haha. We do have a large gap between the church and reception though, so it's probably better to save that for photos.

mana8503

I'm glad you are on here asking questions, I'm so bored!

We want the "first look" to be when I walk down the aisle with my dad.  We might not be traditionalist, but that's one we wanted to keep.

Can you do all the BM together with you, you and your family, and then groomsmen with your FI, him and his family before the ceremony?  That way in between ceremony and reception all that's left if a few posed  whole family pics then you with your FI?

rachelk456

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_first-look?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:19c87318-c538-4ded-9abd-6e6980fb7538Post:356d93e5-a328-445a-9017-32b219b27a4f">Re: First look?</a>:
[QUOTE] Can you do all the BM together with you, you and your family, and then groomsmen with your FI, him and his family before the ceremony?  That way in between ceremony and reception all that's left if a few posed  whole family pics then you with your FI?
Posted by mana8503[/QUOTE]

<div>We're doing this, so we expect to  miss about half of the cocktail hour for pics that have both of us. I don't blame people for not wanting to miss the cocktail hour and doing a first look, but it was just too important to me that the first time is when I'm walking down the aisle. </div>

paprika28

Yeah, FI is against the first look. Completely against it. I kinda wanted our first look to be as I'm walking down the aisle- I love that shot of his face when he sees the doors open... Then again, I'm a hopeless romantic too.

We'll be doing all of the maids and I, and all of the guys and him together prior to the ceremony, him w/his parents, me w/mine, etc. and then all the rest afterwards. We have a pretty large distance between church and venue, so we'll have to work out the logistics pretty soon.

RecoveringActor

We aren't doing the first look either. Gzilla wants to see me for the first time in the church, and vice versa. 

And I know this is super cheesy, but I love that line that Katherine Heigl has in 27 Dresses when she says you know when the bride comes in, and everyone is looking at her?  That's when I look at the groom.

Because I do that.  Every wedding.  And I feel like if we did a first look, that moment wouldn't be the same.

spanglerwedding2012

RA - your post just made me sooo happy we decided against the first look. That's my favorite moment of every wedding.

mana8503

My venue made it clear they will serve the WP and family the cocktail hour yummies while we are taking pics... so at least we will be fed haha.  i'm ok with missing the cocktail hour, or part of the cocktail hour for great pictures

BlissPhilly

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_first-look?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:19c87318-c538-4ded-9abd-6e6980fb7538Post:b199d63f-e830-4d25-a525-c9d71d2a2332">Re: First look?</a>:
[QUOTE]We aren't doing the first look either. Gzilla wants to see me for the first time in the church, and vice versa.  And I know this is super cheesy, but I love that line that Katherine Heigl has in 27 Dresses when she says you know when the bride comes in, and everyone is looking at her?<strong>  That's when I look at the groom. Because I do that.  Every wedding.  And I feel like if we did a first look, that moment wouldn't be the same.
</strong>Posted by RecoveringActor[/QUOTE]

This!

dolfin662

FI and I aren't doing first looks either.  However our photographer is awesome and said that a week before the wedding we will go to the site and decide where we want pictures of us taken, that way come the day of, the pictures are as quick as possible.  It might be something you may want to think about doing!

bballgirl8789

My FI and I are not doing the first look.  We are being traditional and the first time we see each other will be when I am walking down the aisle

rockstarnat

We are doing the first look.  The details aren't worked out but I want the WP and family members to be there so it will be intimate and special. 

As PP said, we both don't want to miss the cocktail hour, especially since a lot of our guests will be from out of town. We are having both ceremony and reception in the same venue so we have a shorter cocktail hour/"gap" than if they were in different locations. 

I do like that scene in the movies. I think that no matter what, the moment of walking down the aisle and seeing FI there and him seeing me will be special. I am getting misty eyed just thinking about it! I am so excited! 

nat

paprika28

RA- That is exactly it. To a T.

Whenever I go to weddings, I always make sure I have a good shot of the groom so I can get a picture of his face when the bride first starts down the aisle. I've gotten quite a few good shots.

ashleylovesmark

I'm a big fan of the first look.  We will be doing one at our wedding and it is one of the things I'm most looking forward to.  I feel like it is so much more intimate and special when it is just the two of you.  When you walk down the aisle to see your fiance for the first time you cant grab him, hug him, kiss him.  During a first look you can let all that emotion out and it makes for such a special moment and amazing pictures. My fiance is looking forward to it too because he's a big crier and wants to get it all out before the ceremony   We also really don't want to miss all of our cocktail hour so it will be great to get most of the pictures done before hand.

 As a wedding photographer, it is one of my favorite parts of the day to shoot.  It is raw and emotional in a way that it can't be in front of 200 guests.

Bean32

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_first-look?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:19c87318-c538-4ded-9abd-6e6980fb7538Post:2d119b2a-2625-4488-8250-b31f2e447baf">Re: First look?</a>:
[QUOTE]We are doing the first look.  The details aren't worked out but I want the WP and family members to be there so it will be intimate and special.  As PP said, we both don't want to miss the cocktail hour, especially since a lot of our guests will be from out of town. We are having both ceremony and reception in the same venue so we have a shorter cocktail hour/"gap" than if they were in different locations.  I do like that scene in the movies. I think that no matter what, the moment of walking down the aisle and seeing FI there and him seeing me will be special. I am getting misty eyed just thinking about it! I am so excited!  nat
Posted by rockstarnat[/QUOTE]

Exactly this.

jenmac628

Ashley- you made me feel better about my decision- thanks!
Logistically, its the right thing for us to do but I didn't want to take anything away from the "moment" but after reading your post, I feel better!
We will do some pics after but we really didn't want to miss the cocktail hour either- more importanty, we didn't want our WP to. Their families and friends will be there as well and we want them to spend as much time with them as possible as most are out of towners.

kristinrotondo

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_first-look?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:19c87318-c538-4ded-9abd-6e6980fb7538Post:a2a4843b-44db-4b61-be99-d37b88252ab9">Re: First look?</a>:
[QUOTE]RA - your post just made me sooo happy we decided against the first look. That's my favorite moment of every wedding.
Posted by spanglerwedding2012[/QUOTE]

<div>This. This. This!</div>