First Looks
First looks can drastically change the pace of the day.
Traditional weddings without first looks leave couples sacrificing time with their guests, missing cocktail hour while they try to cram in all the family, wedding party, and their own portraits before starting the reception.
First looks offer the benefits of having a much more relaxed wedding schedule, letting you and yours have fun and enjoy yourselves as much as possible, and lets me document the moments without missing anything and without rushing you!
Jessica was opposed to doing a first look, but with a tight schedule, lots of portraits needed, and winter sunlight against us, it made the most sense. After it all happened, here’s what Jess had to say;
“I was very against a first look during wedding planning! Mike was gracious enough to meet with us a few times before the wedding day and we came up with a timeline together that incorporated a first look.
The thought process was that if we didn’t do the first look, we’d have to do all the running around, family portraits, portraits of me and Alex, and bridal party group shots all during cocktail hour. Sunlight was also a factor since it would have been dark out already when the ceremony was over.
A wedding is short and expensive enough, we didn’t want to waste a minute of the party away for pictures! We also wanted some quick family shots that had to be done in the venue post ceremony so that was already cutting into our celebrations at cocktail hour.
We ended up doing the first look on the hotel rooftop where we got ready, before heading around the city a bit with the bridal party and then traveling to the venue for the ceremony. It was intimate and so perfect. After a hectic morning of getting ready, having the opportunity to see Alex before the ceremony was just what I wanted and needed that day, and we got some great shots out of it with Mike!
I was against the first look because I had this vision of a traditional wedding experience of walking down the aisle and seeing my husband for the first time that day and I didn’t want to lose that emotion. I promise, the emotion was not lost! If anything, we just got it double time that day- at the first look and then again walking down the aisle for the ceremony.
I still cried when the doors opened for me to walk down the aisle even though I had already seen Alex that day (lol). I am SO happy that Mike talked us into the first look!”
