When I look back on my wedding day, something that I am so grateful for is the fact that I chose to do the “First Look” with my husband.
As a little girl, I dreamed about my wedding day A LOT, and the thought of my future-husband seeing me for the first time as I was walking down the aisle was always this magical moment–and during the planning process, I questioned if I was going to lose out on that special moment by having a first look.
If you’re on the fence about the first-look photos, perhaps you are worried about this too. But, as you can see from the title, I’m here to share why I am a huge advocate of the First Look and SPOILER ALERT: that the moment of walking down the aisle is still as magical even if you have already seen your groom.
I really really loved my wedding day. It was a beautiful July day (ok maybe a little hot when outside) and we took advantage of creating special memories from the morning through the after-party. It was a very full day and I am so so thankful for how everything came together.
While I’m not planning to go through the whole timeline in this post, I will share that my wedding was scheduled to start at 4:30pm. With that hard deadline in mind of when we needed to be at our venue (our ceremony and reception were held in the same venue), we planned with our photographers to have the first-look session around 1pm.
The first thing we did was meet at the corner of the hallway in the hotel and just hold hands. The excitement of knowing we were all dressed up for the wedding and that “so close, yet so far” anticipation was cool to capture in photos. We were able to exchange some sweet words, and then proceeded to our “First Look” location.
There are so many ways that you can orchestrate your “first look” with your future spouse. For me, I thought it would be fun and dramatic to talk down the grand staircase towards my groom. While he faced backwards, my parents and our bridal party was able to watch from the stairs which was fun. Some wedding couples like a more private exchange, so it’s totally up to you! I loved having our closest friends there to cheer and witness the reaction. My hubs had a good reaction too 🙂
After this special moment passed, we all hopped into a trolley and had time to take photos at a few locations in Burlington, Vermont. The trolley stopped at the top of Church Street Marketplace, and then we paraded down the street for some fun “city” shots while pedestrians, restaurant diners and shoppers cheered on.
There are a lot of street performers on Church Street and one of the bands performing had us do a little solo-dance and afterwards gave us a free cd that they were selling that day. I loved the way these candid photos came out!
We did all of our bridal party photos and then changed locations to the Waterfront in Burlington. While we were parading down Church Street, the trolley went back to pick up our parents so we can also take some immediate family photos too.
It was fun and relaxing doing our photos this way. By the time we were finished, we were all able to hang out in a room before it was time to start the ceremony. I LOVED having the majority of our wedding day together with my husband. It’s such a special day that it was great to have him by my side long before the ceremony.
After the ceremony, we took a group photo at the grand staircase, and then while our guests enjoyed cocktail hour, we were able to power through the extended family photos that we didn’t do earlier in the day. Our reception started right on time and we didn’t miss out on precious party time or miss out on special photos because we had it all complete before the ceremony.
I loved it!
Now, this is just my experience and perspective. At the end of the day, it’s your wedding and you and your future spouse should really think about what is your preference and how you can make it all work with your wedding day timeline. Wishing you happy planning!
Xo
Laura
