You’ve booked the venue. The caterer. The photographer. Everything is coming together nicely as you begin planning your marvelous day. You have most of your vendors already set and now you begin creating the schedule of your wedding day, possibly working alongside your wedding coordinator and vendors to make it as efficient and streamlined as possible. The coordinator or the photographer may ask you, “would you like to do a first look”? A great question. The answer to this question is: it depends. Often times couples aren’t even sure what a first look is. Simply put, a first look is a short moment when the couple arranges to see each other prior to the ceremony. Usually, it is done in a beautiful and romantic manner and it involves one person standing with their back turned and the other approaching them from behind and then giving a soft tap on the shoulder, after which the other person turns around and they take each other in. It’s a beautiful moment alone. A moment to embrace, gaze in each other’s eyes and think about how you are about to embark on this journey of life together. This might be something very important to you, to have a moment alone before the hectic nature of the day.
Although the vast majority of couples choose to do the first look these days, there are still some couples that prefer not to have a first look and share this moment of seeing each other for the first time at the ceremony, keeping the old traditions alive. For the couples that choose not to do a first look, we recommend considering doing a “first touch”, where the couple doesn’t see each other, but they get to hold hands or in some cases, even kiss.
At The “I Do” Photography we are big fans of the first look. It usually only takes a few extra minutes to set up and there is something really amazing about having two people alone, reminding each other why they decided to walk through life together. The first look also makes for wonderful photos and videos. There’s less pressure. There aren’t dozens of eyes watching your every move like at the ceremony and we find that the couple usually feels a little more comfortable to be themselves instead of thinking about everyone else.
Another big benefit of the first look is that it adds a chance to take a portion of the couple’s photos together before the ceremony, thus allowing the couple to not have to rush after the ceremony and to get a much bigger variety of photos.
So, should you do a first look? It depends on what’s important to you. Is it a moment you want to share privately with the one you love or is it something you want everyone to see? The choice is yours.
