Why have a First Look.
You hear the increasingly common wedding phrase “first look” and you react one of three ways. You may react by excitedly nodding at your photographer as they voice a depiction of a touching moment just between you and your honey. You can’t wait to add the first look to your wedding line up. Or You may have no idea what your photographer is even talking about! Or finally you hear your photographer say those words and immediately but politely insist on not having one because not seeing your future spouse before that walk down the aisle is one tradition you would like to hold on to, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Traditions are precious! I want to share my sisters experience with their first look, that they had at their wedding and why it is something I and they would highly recommend to all couples.
Photos by Jeremiah Skinner Creative
Two and half years ago on a Friday morning I was preparing to marry the love of my life. I spent the morning running through a physical and mental check list of details that had to happen. Stress was trying to creep in but I knew I would get that moment with just me and Adam to help calm my nerves. I ate, laughed and got ready with my girls to walk down the aisle. We arrived at the venue and hid away in a room until our first look happened followed by full bridal party pictures. Before we dove into our bridal party pictures, the scene was set for me and Adam to have our moment. What had minutes before been a scene of flurry and scurry died down into a tranquil scene beneath a massive majestic tree.
Adam stood at the base of the tree with his back turned to me. I walked towards him fully arrayed in my wedding finery and I felt like the luckiest woman in the world. I tapped his shoulder and he turned to me with a smile that lit up my heart. We hugged and kissed and took a moment to pray together before saying our forever vows. Believe it or not our photographers were there capturing this precious moment. Adam and I hardly realized that they were present let alone capturing this moment forever.
After our first look we joyfully began our bridal party and family portraits with family members that were present. I cannot begin to tell you how much pressure this took off of the rest of the day! Our timeline for our wedding became less rushed and honestly more fun and relaxed because our photographers were able to capture those must have pictures that all bride grooms want to remember their day by. After that our main focus was purely on saying our forever vows and enjoying the company of our friends and family that had come out to support us on our big day.
We snuck away from the festivities for about 30 minutes for golden hour bride and groom portraits. The rest of our pictures were beautiful candids of us enjoying the first few hours as a married couple! I would recommend the first look as THE area to bend on tradition because its benefits are too numerous to count! It de cluttered our timeline, gave us a moment just to ourselves, and let us get the majority of our pictures done so that we could enjoy our family and friends with fewer interruptions.
- Adam and Angelina
And that’s the thing about first looks. You know your photographer is going to be there but they somehow completely fade in the background. You feel like it is just you and the love of your life. I will forever cherish our first look because it gave us the opportunity to connect just with each other without a crowd watching us. I was able to see his reaction to me clearly and without any distractions. It gave us a moment to regroup and revel in the commitment that we were about to make to each other forever. We had 10 minutes alone before the busyness of the day continued.
Hear what some of my Bride and Groom’s had to say about their First Looks
Our first look was one of the best experiences of our wedding day. Our nerves where set in high gear the whole day, and the first look helped calm them down some. Having the opportunity to see my husband before walking down the aisle was an amazing thing. The day goes by so fast, and throughout the reception, we barely had time to spend together.
We spent a lot of time mingling with our family and friends, dancing and laughing and it was wonderful, but again we didn't have that us time. Our first look gave us a few minutes to see each other and hang out, talk and laugh, and enjoy that time together. Additionally since we took this time, we were able to hang out with our friends and family that traveled from out of state for a longer time because we weren't hung up taking these pictures.
I highly recommend taking the time to do a first look, because I am thrilled that I had a chance to have those precious moments with my husband, and I will never forget that feeling when we first saw each other. I don't think it would have felt as beautiful if the first time was walking down the aisle.
- Kenny and Alex
Going into our wedding plans a first look is not something that had occurred to us as an option simply because neither of us had seen it done much. When Ashleigh suggested a first look we decided to give it some thought. The more we thought about it the more we realized how much we truly loved the idea and we decided to go for it. And we are so thankful we did!
The words to describe our first look would be "surreal" and "special". Having the opportunity to take a few minutes together in the midst of all the excitement and business attached to our wedding day is something we will treasure forever. This day is something we had both anticipated for so long that is almost felt like it had to be a dream when we finally got to lay eyes on each other, all ready and dolled up for the wedding, for the first time. This was our moment. We are the only ones who got to be a part of that. Our wedding was shared with so many people who we love, but we are so thankful to be able to walk away with something that it just ours. No one else was a part of that moment and we get to have it in our hearts forever.
I will also note that there were some extreme perks to it as we were able to have all our bridal party photos done before the wedding, which was amazing! Also having a first look did not detract at all from the moment I walked down the aisle. We would highly recommend a first look to anyone! You won't regret it!- Elizabeth and Skyler
We LOVED the first look, that was probably our favorite experience of the whole day. I wanted to do the first look, but James was undecided. After meeting and speaking with Ashleigh, James was on board and I couldn’t have been more excited.
Let me tell you, I didn’t think I was going to be nervous. James and I have been together for 7 years, so I thought there was no way I was going to be nervous. Well 2 days before the wedding my nerves came full force. I couldn’t eat, absolutely no appetite and when I tried I felt sick.
Then the time came for the first look! Sure I was nervous but more excited to see his reaction. He was turned around not facing me, he was waiting for me to touch his shoulder. When I saw him, all my nerves went away and he hadn’t even turned around yet. The best part was it was just James and I with the exception of Ashleigh and her wonderful team. It was simply the best feeling. We didn’t have everyone looking at us or trying to talk to us, it was just us. It gave us time together to take it all in and breath, it was a breath of fresh air. I love that James and I got to have that moment to ourselves.
We both would recommend the first look!
- Rob and Jordan