I thought it would be nice to switch things up a bit, so today, I’m going to let a handful of our past brides take over this post and share with you their experience with doing a First Look! Enjoy!

Brianna + Frank

“I was interested in first looks for a while – every set of first look photos I had seen I fell in love with.  Because we were having a larger wedding I thought this would be the perfect way for us to get some alone time on our wedding day.  Frank was hesitant because he was afraid that doing a first look would change the way he saw me as I walked down the aisle.  We debated for a while and ended up deciding to go for it – and neither of us regret the decision!

I would recommend it for a number of reasons:

• Our pictures our amazing!
• It calmed my nerves.  Getting ready that morning I was so nervous, but after having that little bit of time with Frank I was completely calm.
• Our first look gave us time to enjoy each other on a day that flew by entirely too fast.  Aside from that time, we only had about 5 minutes to step aside during the reception.
• This one is a little more unique to our situation, but…Weather is unpredictable and we had a lot of rain on our wedding day.  I am so thankful that we did the first look before the ceremony because we were able to get some shots in before the downpour started.

After the fact, Frank said that he was glad we did the first look as well.  Even though he had seen me prior to the ceremony, he still got the experience he wanted watching me come down the aisle because he was seeing everyone else react to seeing me as well.”

Gina + Jon

“Initially, I wasn’t interested in the First Look because I wanted to see Jon the first time walking down the aisle. However, after hearing about the opportunity it creates for a more intimate moment and seeing the photos, I changed my mind! It really allowed us to have a chance to see each other and take it all in just by ourselves; we had plenty of time to really process the fact that we were getting married in a couple of hours and to really take in and appreciate how the other looked and keep that private. It was so special to have time to say what we wanted to say to each other with no one else around to hear us. Alison and Mike were photographing this for us which gave us some of our favorite photos, but it wasn’t intrusive at all, as they were at a distance. It is a moment I will never forget! It also allowed the walk down the aisle to be so much more fun because there was less pressure. Lastly, on a practical level, it allowed us to have more time to relax after the ceremony and before the reception because we weren’t pressed for getting portraits; we did that after the First Look and it saved so much time! We were able to actually sit down and have some champagne and snacks before starting the reception. I definitely would recommend this to brides!”

Katlyn + Drew

“We chose to do the first look for several reasons, but probably the biggest reason we wanted to do it was to be able to take most of our  pictures before the ceremony; that way, we could enjoy our evening reception and not leave our guests waiting too long.  Another reason I wanted to do it was because the thought of our first time seeing each other on the wedding day being in front of all our guests was a little overwhelming to me, and the idea of having a private moment sounded much more intimate and our style.

“Nick and I chose the first look because we wanted to have our first moment seeing each other a private, we wanted to be able to talk to each other before having to see each other in front of 200 people and having to wait till the ceremony was over to actually talk. Also, we really did the first look to calm each others nerves since we are each others best friends. We both knew that seeing each other rather than waiting until the actual ceremony would help settle us both down.”

Jessica + Angelo

“I talked to Angelo about why he wanted to do the first look…in his very practical mind he thought it was a great way to save time on the day of the wedding. The more we talked about it, the more we realized how important it was to have that one private moment together. It allowed us to be emotional in private rather than in front of all our friends and family. Angelo said that was important for him. The first look let us be ourselves and share time with each other before all of the events of the day. It made both of us more calm and comfortable. We were so nervous! The superstition about seeing the bride/groom before the ceremony is outdated. We loved our first look!”