First Look & Pre-Ceremony Pics?

jessNlane52804

I am slowing coming around to the idea of doing a first look before the ceremony and taking pics of FI and I then. I always thought I wanted to be traditional on this and see FI for the first time when walking down the aisle. However, the more I think about it, there are some huge pros to doing a pre ceremony viewing. I might be nervous/emotional and I would get that private moment with FI to calm down before the cermony and be emotional in private. FI and I are 100% against receiving lines, but we also know that talking to each guest is a must, so this would allow us to visit with all the guests during cocktail hour and enjoy dinner/dancing later. Everything is in one location, so transportation and timing is not an issue.

Are you ladies doing the first look? Why or why not? Married ladies, do you have any regrets on this?

angeliu27

We did a first look and took pre ceremony pics.  I'm very happy that we did these because it allowed us to have one very special moment for the two of us (and the photographer) before the whole entire event.  Also it allowed us to take many more photographs without feeling rushed. 

raeyn

We are doing this too. At first FI didn't want to, but the reasons to do it so greatly outnumbered the reasons not to, that it didn't take long for him to change his mind. Here's why we're doing it:

• Our ceremony ends after sunset and we want photos in daylight.
• I want the first look to be an intimate moment between us where we can hug and kiss each other to our hearts' content, rather than seeing each other and then having to wait half an hour for the end of the ceremony to kiss.
• There is no break between our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, and I don't want to be limited to one hour max for photos.
• We want to actually attend our cocktail hour because A) Our guests are coming from far away and the more time we have to spend with them the better, and The butler-passed hors d'oeuvres we're having are TO DIE FOR!

berrytr

We're not doing only b/c we are having an early morning Mass (8 am).  Our day is starting very early and it would just add more stress to the morning.

thealphabride

We are doing a first look and all the family pics before the ceremony, because of the huge pro's you mentioned.

Why are you against recieving lines? It's a great way to greet your guests. We are doing one immediately following the ceremony. I can see if you are having a huge wedding why you wouldn't want to because it would take forever. But with a smaller wedding why not? Just curious.

mandybear7

Yes, mainly for timing purposes, but the more I think about it, I am happy that we are.

We are having a Catholic mass and like raeyn said, it will be nice to kiss and hug right when we see each other. We're having a receiving line right after the ceremony and the church does not allow you to have both a receiving line AND take pictures after the wedding mass.

jessNlane52804

In my experience, receiving lines are just really awkward and the guests were all complaining about it. Maybe it's because the ones I've been to had the whole bridal party and the whole family on both sides in the receiving line. At the last wedding, out of everyone in the line, I knew 2 people in the line and FI was my guest and knew no one. It was the only time we got to speak to the bride and groom all night and they were kind of out of it right after the ceremony (understandably- I probably will be too). Also, a good 80-90% of our guests will be from out of town and I think it would be better to allot a little more time for each guest. I agree that each guest needs to be greeted, a receiving line just doesn't fit for our crowd.

Thanks for all your advice so far!

thealphabride

Hey Jess,
Good points about the recieving line. It will only be FI and I greeting people. We are only having 2 attendants on each side, our fathers are deceased, so we decided we would greet our guests alone. We have small families, and most we will be greeting are our friends and people we work with.  Perfect for us. Only about 125 for the wedding, and since we are doing all of our pics ahead of time we will follow straight to cocktails after the recieving line, and enjoy the rest of the evening with our guests.

LisaJ_MOH

we are seeing each other and taking ALL pictures before the ceremony. 

I was married once before we didn't see each other before.  We had an hour between & it was a huge rush.  We ended up arriving later than planned to the cocktail hour and we still didn't really have enough photos so our photog kept trying to steal us away during the reception.  I hated it.

This time I am forgetting about tradition and superstitions and doing what makes sense.  I don't want to be rushed nor do I want to keep my guests waiting for hours or miss out on great photos.