Wedding days go by in a flash. It’s a concept that everyone will tell you about, but you won’t truly understand until you have the opportunity to experience yourself. There are endless amounts of benefits to doing a first look, but perhaps the most significant is that you get to spend so much more time with one another on the most important day of your lives. Grooms tend to be a bit more apprehensive about the idea of a first look than their bride to be, but realizing the substantial amount of time it returns to you being together on your wedding day is something that almost always changes their mind! The grooms below share the reasons why they decided to do a first look as well as why, looking back, they wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

 

From Adam and Colleen, Hershey, PA Wedding
A first look was not always something that I was sure I wanted to do initially. However, after discussing it with my then fiancé, we both agreed we’d like to have more time with one another on our wedding day. I would highly recommend it and am so happy with our decision. Not only did it allow us to have a private moment but it allowed us to release all of our wedding jitters beforehand. The first look was also a great moment for all those candid pictures – some of my wife’s favorite pictures are seeing the look of my face and my first reaction to her dress. As she walked down the aisle, I was more relaxed and able to enjoy the moment, the details and all the love that was surrounding us.

From Will and Kathleen, Congressional Country Club Wedding
Kathleen and I were pleasantly surprised by how much we loved doing the first look.  We never thought that we would be interested in doing one, but looking back we wouldn’t have had it any other way. It completely took the wedding day nerves away; our ceremony wasn’t until 5:00PM, and I know the anticipation of waiting until that time would have been a lot to handle.  By having the first look, we ended up enjoying our day that much more — we got to spend much more time to be together, which made our wedding feel less rushed and more intimate.  We are so glad we chose the first look option!

From Matthew and Claire, Chapel Hill, NC Wedding
To be totally honest, Claire and I weren’t sure if we were going to do a first look, knowing the old wives tale of it being bad luck. After speaking with several of our married friends, it came highly recommended and we decided to make the leap. We both enjoyed sharing some time alone with each other before the wedding festivities began, as well as being able to get to the party right after the ceremony to celebrate with our friends. Despite the first look calming our nerves, we both still felt that rush of butterflies as she walked down the aisle to become my wife. 

From Rob and Alicia, Potomac Point Winery Wedding
When we were planning our wedding, I really didn’t have a preference one way or the other when it came to the first look. Looking back on it now, however, I’m so glad we did decide to do one and wouldn’t have had it any other way.  Seeing Alicia for the first time when it was just us, alone, was so much more comfortable and intimate than I could have ever imagined.  It eased any nerves that I had and we got to take a deep breath, together.  We laughed and shared stories of how our day transpired so far and were able to look forward to the amazing day we had ahead of us. It also ended up freeing so much time in our day that we were able to then spend with our friends and family. 

Photos of our wedding by Seize the Day Photography