The First Look // Marissa & Eden
Are you planning on having a first look for your wedding day?
A first look is a time before the ceremony takes place for the future newly-weds to have a moment together and also take photos with only each other before they walk down the aisle. It’s private and intimate, and can be planned in so many different ways. Out of all of my brides for 2021 and 2022, I would say about half are all for it, and the other half want to keep it traditional and have their future husbands see them for the first time walking down the aisle.
I’ll start with a few pro’s:
You’re a little shy, don’t love PDA, or showing too much emotion in front of friends and family. Seeing your partner for the first time on the wedding day is so very RAW with emotion, and first looks are too. Ceremonies can be very intimidating for someone who is a bit of an introvert! However, you have that comfortability with your partner to get those emotions and (often times) tears out before you’re walking down the aisle with ALL eyes on you. This is a great time where you can feel comfortable reacting however you naturally and candidly would by seeing each other as Bride and Groom for the first time, without feeling like you need to hold back or keep it together at the ceremony. This is actually a great way to calm the nerves by getting them all out due to the magnitude of the day and relax a bit before walking down the aisle.
You have that one-on-one precious time to just be present with each other on the biggest day of your lives. The wedding day completely flies by and hours sometimes feel like minutes. This is your big day, and you can have the opportunity to pause and just love on each other, calm each others nerves, and feel all the feels.
You can get most of your photos done before the ceremony so you can enjoy most of your day with your guests! Let’s be real - you are spending big money on a very short amount of time to celebrate the biggest day of your life. Traditionally, you get ready, then you have the ceremony, then your guests enjoy cocktail hour so you can go off with family to take photos, then have photos with your wedding party, then between just the two of you. An hour is NOT a very long time to work with, and you miss that big chunk of time you could have been enjoying with your friends and loved ones at your cocktail hour. Get the photos done before the ceremony, and you get that time back into your day to just enjoy it.
Now, not everyone is going to agree with the pro’s I listed above. To be fair, I listed a few con’s below of why you might not want to go for a first look:
You want your hubby to see you for the first time walking down there aisle, as traditionally done at weddings, so you can see and feel the emotion of their reaction. It’s quite literally the biggest emotional moment of the day, and the biggest tradition to have for your wedding day. There’s nothing like when the Officiant announces the Bride to walk down the aisle, and everyone stands to watch as she passes through to her future husband, as the smile on his face lights up the room or the tears start flowing uncontrollably.
You can start getting ready for the day a bit closer to the ceremony time. Maybe you’re planning on partying hard at the rehearsal dinner, or you know the nerves of the day may keep you up most of the night. At least you know that you only need to be at the ceremony location 30 minutes prior, so you may be able to get more sleep.
You don’t have to worry about getting your dress, shoes, or tux a bit dirty. It’s not that you will be rolling around in the grass or dirt, but since you are getting dressed then heading straight to the ceremony, you know you are going to be looking flawless.
Now maybe because I’m a little biased, here are some first look magic shots of Marissa & Eden…
