seeing groom before ceremony

Benowitz

I can't decide if I want to see my husband to be before the ceremony....he can be the first person to see me in my dress with hair and make-up. it gives us private time to talk and have a private moment and we can get pics taken before the ceremony.

opinions?

PsyDet 2155

We are doing pictures before the ceremony.    Not having a gap was important to my FI.

lyndausvi

we saw each other before.  I wanted our pictures mostly done before the wedding, leaving us more time to spend at the cocktail party.

Our reveal was done in front of the whole WP, parents and siblings.  It was so great to share that experience with everyone.

opalsky007

If you have the opportunity, I'd do it. 

We did not see each other before the ceremony and I wish we had. It would have cut down on the nerves and also given us more time for photos, which felt rushed.

M&R7111

At first I was all about FI seeing me as I walked down the isle - but we both decided we would rather not miss the cocktail hour mingling with our friends and family after.

So we will be seeing each other before the wedding - it doesn't seem to be important to him to wait. 

Then again, we will be together the night and morning before - we will separate when I leave to get my hair done and he goes out golfing with his guys. 

Beachy730

We were both pretty traditional on not seeing eachother before the ceremony.  I've never heard of the first look pics until TK, and I think its a really cute idea.  It just wasn't what we wanted.  Also in my hometown gaps are normal and expected so we weren't too worried about rushing to our cocktail hour. 

pirategal03

We saw eachother before the ceremony and it was one of my favorite parts of the day.  There are great photos of those few minutes, and we felt so calm and happy for the ceremony.  I think the first look thing is great. 

kd.joseph

Well we separated the night before and we didn't see each other until I walked down the aisle. And we wouldnt change a thing. But I think you should do whats comfortable for you and your FI.

iamjoesgurl

I always thought I wanted my DH to see me for the first time when I was walking down the aisle but I regret waiting.  He was so nervous and hated being up in front of everyone.  I really feel now that it would have been better for us if we had seen each other and had that moment privately.  

If we had done that, we would have still waited to do our pictures after the wedding.  We didn't take too many pictures so it only took about 45 minutes.

It sounds like you can think of a lot of reasons to not wait until the ceremony to see each other.  How does he feel?

leah2b

We didn't see each other before the wedding and if I had a do-over, I would have.  Our cocktail hour immediately followed our reception and since we wanted to get there, we had to hurry up and get pics done of both us and our family in about 20 minutes.  I splurged on the photographer and while I like the pics, I am missing many pictures that i really wanted because we were in a rush.

I also don't think it would have taken away from the moment.

tenofcups4me

I did pics before the ceremony when I got married the first time (and the second time, too, but that was a tiny wedding and we turned everything on its head for that one and did cocktail hour before the ceremony.) But that's been the norm in my crowd since I first started attending weddings in the '80s so it never occurred to me to do it any other way. It always seems bizarre to me that some people choose to take pictures rather than attend their own party immediately after their ceremony.

Besides the obvious appeal of being able to go to my cocktail hour and mingle with guests then, it was great to see the ex- before we walked down the aisle. I really think it calmed both of our nerves to be with each other and we had fun taking pics instead of just waiting to walk down the aisle.

It definitely didn't take away from his response to me walking down the aisle -- there was one pic where you can literally see the "awe" on his face watching me.
Plus, from a purely aesthetic perspective, before the ceremony (right after hair and makeup) is when you're going to look your best!

JerseyML

I want to go the traditional route and my FI doesn't care.  So my way goes on this one.  Mostly because I can hear my dad now saying that if he sees me before I walk down the aisle our marriage is doomed.  Italian parents are so fun!

squirrly

We did pics before and it was great!  I definitely wouldn't change that at all.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We did it and loved it. Never had a question about it. We went to downtown LA and took pictures we never would have had time to get otherwise. They were gorgeous! Plus, we got to hang out in the limo with our WP.

number55

I wanted to do pics before and we had it all planned out until about 6 weeks before the wedding when DH decided that he wanted to change the plan. So we went with not seeing each other until at the ceremony. It was fine. We did some pics before without each other and then took about an hour and fifteen minutes afterwards to do the rest. Neither of us were nervous at all though so there were no nerves to get over. Once I got over the fact that we wouldn't be at the 'cocktails and hors d'oeuvres' part of the reception I was fine with it. We even got some alone time after the ceremony, for about 5 minutes in the limo to drink some champagne and then right before we entered the reception we each did a jaggerbomb together.

LD1970

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_seeing-groom-before-ceremony-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5c60d1b9-dcc8-4e15-acf6-9eb03dc5ddc8Post:f292f03b-4582-44aa-a669-dfaf1862fe90">seeing groom before ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]I can't decide if I want to see my husband to be before the ceremony....he can be the first person to see me in my dress with hair and make-up. it gives us private time to talk and have a private moment and we can get pics taken before the ceremony. opinions?
Posted by Benowitz[/QUOTE]
I'm all for it.

Calypso1977

we did all of our pictures before.  it gave us more time with guests.  no  regrets.

TriSaratops10

Thanks for asking this question OP - we just changed our minds and decided to see each other before the wedding, 10 days before the wedding. Now I feel much more comfortable with that decision