5 Reasons Why You Should Do A First Look On Your Wedding Day

1. It Will Helps to Reduce Your Anxiety and Nerves –I’m an extremely anxious, nervous person, so needless to say I was very worried about our wedding day. I wanted everything to go perfectly and I had extreme anxiety about walking down the aisle and having to stand up there and speak in front of everyone. I woke up on our wedding morning in tears. I’m not joking, I wish I was because there was no reason for it! I was so nervous that I just couldn’t keep it together. Luckily, my mom was there to give me a pep talk (she’s great at giving pep talks!) and remind me that all the people who would be there were only there because they love and support us. I was 100% sure that I was going to puke or pass out while I was standing up there, maybe both. Neither of those things happened, thank goodness, but those are the thoughts that were running through my head while I was getting ready that morning. Once Travis and I locked eyes during the First Look, I felt so much better and all of those nerves just flew right out the window! I finally felt excited to walk down the aisle. It’s a hard feeling to explain. It’s a mix of excitement, nerves, butterflies, love, and extreme emotion all at once. You will feel like crying, laughing, and smiling all at the same moment. That feeling was new and strange but seriously amazing and I’m so lucky that I got to experience that once in a lifetime feeling. Having a First Look with my soon-to-be husband really helped to calm my nerves and feel calm and excited about what was to come!
2. You Get More Professional Pictures –If you know me, you know that I love pictures. Picking our wedding photographer was such an important part of this process and I wanted to get as many pictures as possible! Once the wedding is over, all you have left is pictures and videos. Normally, you will take sweetheart + bridal party + family pictures after the ceremony while everyone else is at the cocktail hour. However, if you have a First Look, you get to do the sweetheart pictures + bridal party pictures before the ceremony and only family pictures + extra sweetheart pictures (during the golden hour) after the ceremony. We wanted as many pictures as possible, so we did sweetheart pictures before and after the ceremony to get different locations with different lighting. I love both pictures equally but they’re so different– the lighting really makes a huge difference! If we didn’t do the first look then we wouldn’t have gotten two beautiful sets of sweetheart pictures! The lighting changes as the day goes on, so pictures taken during the afternoon will have a different feel then pictures taken in the early evening. The pictures that were taken during the First look are super bright, light, and airy and the pictures were taken after the ceremony have the beautiful golden glow from the sun setting and dappling through the tree branches. I absolutely love both pictures and I’m very happy that we got to experience two different times for our sweetheart pictures. I would highly recommend doing a First Look just to get more pictures + different types of pictures.
3. You Get TWO Special moments –When you do a First Look, you get to look forward to the moment when you see your husband or wife by yourself for the first time. I was extremely excited and my stomach was doing backflips while I was walking up to Travis. He had his back to me but once I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, we both started crying out of sheer excitement and happiness.
   One might think that after you have the First Look experience that you won’t feel anything when you walk down the aisle and see each other for the second time. I disagree! I intentionally didn’t wear my veil during the First Look because wearing it was what really made me feel like a bride. Even though Travis saw my dress during the First Look, walking down the aisle wearing my mom’s veil and walking with my dad is what made the experience completely new and different from when we saw each other earlier. It was emotional and special for reasons I didn’t even expect! We were lucky enough to get two special moments instead of just one because we did a First Look.
4. It’s a Private Moment Just Between the Two of You –Just like I imagined, the first time we saw each other was very emotional! I’m glad that our tears weren’t on display for everyone in the chapel to witness. It was private and personal, just between the two of us. It’s not that I didn’t want to share the special moment with all of our guests but we both felt that it was personal and should only be between us. Travis isn’t a big crier, so I think knowing that we were having the First Look alone made him feel comfortable enough to open up and let the emotions flow. If our First Look had been in front of everyone, he might have tried to hold it in. Also, I don’t know about you but I’m not exactly a pretty crier. I’m glad that I wasn’t a hot mess during the ceremony for all of our guests to see and remember. Surprisingly, I actually kept it together for the ceremony because I got the emotions out during the First Look. When you do a First Look, you get to see each other for the first time and really express how you’re feeling, you can console each other and hug and kiss as much as you want. You don’t have to rush right into the ceremony and try to hold all your feelings in so you don’t lose it in front of your guests.
5. It’s a weird and outdated tradition –Many couples follow the rule that you shouldn’t see each other before the ceremony but don’t even know why they’re doing it. Do you know where that tradition came from? I do! In the past, arranged marriages were a normal thing. The bride and groom were kept apart until they said “I do” at the ceremony and the bride’s veil was not lifted until the first kiss because the family didn’t want the groom to back out if the bride was less than pretty. Horrible, right?

We chose to skip a few traditions that many couples do at their weddings. I didn’t walk down the aisle to the traditional bridal march, I didn’t wear a garter, I didn’t cover my face with my veil and we did a First Look.

If it’s important for you to follow a tradition then you should do it but I would encourage you to research it before you do it just because you think you should.

Source: Stacey Homemaker

Wedding First Look sample slideshow: