In 2010 two-thirds of my couples decided to do a first look and this couldn’t make me happier! About a year ago I wrote a blog post on why I think doing a first look is the best decision you could make for your wedding day, which you can read here. But I figured why take my word for it? Why not get the insight of brides and grooms that have done a first look? I’m so thankful for my clients who loved their first look so much that they wanted to share their experience with you! So, I’ll let them do the talking ;)
Sara & Rich
“In my opinion, there is no better way to have pictures taken for your wedding than to do a first look. The idea behind the first look is that you see your soon to be spouse before the ceremony and have photos taken of your reactions seeing each other for the first time. This is an amazing idea for a few reasons.
First, all you will want to do before the ceremony is see that person who can calm your nerves a bit. When I got to see Rich before our ceremony it was so nice to be able to talk to him about my morning so far, give him a giant hug and steal a few kisses. It really helped make me less nervous about the rest of the day. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if the first time I saw him was up at the altar.
Second, it was amazing for us to have a few private moments before the ceremony and reception. It’s a great opportunity to get some photos that are incredibly special, and that you may not take the time to get if you know everyone is waiting for you at your reception. Not to mention, our first look photos are my favorite from the whole day.
And finally, if you think that it will make walking down the isle or saying your vows any less special, I promise you it won’t. You will inevitably have lots of emotions on your wedding day… enough to spread out through the entire day! (At least that’s how it was for me) So from my experience, doing a first look really is a bonus because it adds one more special and relaxing moment to the day. I highly recommend it!!” – Sara
“Our wedding was the greatest day of our lives and we wanted to document it so we could relive it for years to come. Thinking back just 6 months ago, a lot of the day is a blur… Specifically, the first time I saw Sara in her dress. Emotions and excitement were high. So many of our favorite photos turned out to be from the first look that we did with Erica.
It was an amazing opportunity to make sure that we took the time to get the shots of just the two of us. To be completely honest, it was never a question in my mind to do the first look photos. From a practical standpoint, it makes the most sense to take the photos of us before the wedding so we can spend the most time with all of our guests afterward. Erica did a fantastic job and I am incredibly happy we decided to do the first look photos.” – Rich
Mora & Brian
“When Erica first mentioned doing a first look at our engagement shoot I was really nervous. I thought my family would object to the lack of tradition. When we got closer to the big day and made a time line, I was really worried we would have not time to relax and enjoy the day. We really wanted our day to be focused around celebrating with our family and friends. I started asking my mother, grandmother, matron of honor and aunts what they thought about a first look, and they thought it was one of the best ideas they ever heard. So I reconsidered it and decided with Brian that we would go for it.
One of my favorite moments of our wedding day is my dad driving me to the first look. He picked me up at the hotel and stuffed me into the truck. He was so nervous, even giving me the option to keep driving. I calmly gave him directions to get me to Brian. That was my goal that day: get to my husband. And instead of being anxious about getting to him, I got to spend my whole day being with him because of the first look. There was no secrecy and running around at our wedding trying to hide the bride from everyone. The bridal party and family members got to have this separate wedding experience, running around the clubhouse taking amazing photos, eating cheese platters secretly with the flower girls and spying on the arriving guests through the secret clubhouse window.
I still got butterflies in my stomach the moment before beginning the big walk down the aisle and I still fought tears of happiness. For me, the first look gave us extra hours of our wedding day to spend together with everyone we love and took nothing away from our wedding except the need to feel rushed and anxious.” - Mora
“When I was first approached about doing a first look prior to the wedding, I had all the typical feelings, uneasy, unsure, and concerned. I felt like I would be betraying some sort of…unwritten rule of tradition. But, at the behest of Erica, I took some time to think about it. The more I thought, the more I realized, we, and those who helped finance, were spending all of this money on a big lavish party essentially for us, by us. Did I want to spend the time during the appetizers, dancing, and hilarious moments of our wedding reception taking pictures? Or did I want to minimize the amount of time that me, and my wife to be, would be taking pictures?
I went through with it, and now I can honestly say I recommend it to those grooms out there with the big question mark on the subject. It gives you a moment in your life to really take in what it means to be married. Looking back at the pictures, they weren’t fake “oh look!” moments, but genuine ‘breath taking’ moments. And, we not only shortened the picture process for us post ceremony, but also for the families and wedding party. Everyone made it to cocktail hour, and a tremendous time was had by all. A special thanks to Erica for allowing this groom to take advantage of a great new idea. Don’t worry about ruining “good” luck, go make your own luck with your new wife, from that moment on.” – Brian
Catie & Michael
by Erica M
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