For those of you who may be unfamiliar with what a first look is, let me explain. A First Look is when the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony. The photographer will capture the moment of them seeing each other for the first time. Once the first look is complete the couple will usually go ahead and take their couple portraits. This frees up time in-between the ceremony and reception (when couple portraits normally take place) and allows the bride and groom to get to the reception sooner.
I know I have talked about the pros of doing a First Look on here before, but today I wanted to talk about one of the major concerns couples have when they are deciding on a first look. The concern they have is that they believe that if they do a first look that the groom will not have the "ah" reaction when the bride walks down the aisle.
This is simply not true! Out of all the first looks I have photographed, every single groom still had that look of awe when his bride walked down the aisle. When you have your first look you get to capture the reactions of you both seeing each other for the first time but until you walk down the aisle/see your bride walk down the aisle it doesn't really hit you that you are actually getting married. Therefore, when the groom sees the bride walk down the aisle, he will still get that tear in his eye that his love is actually going to become his wife.
To prove my point, look at the images above of Josh. Josh and his bride Ashley opted to do a first look. Josh and Ashley both teared up during their first look when they admired how beautiful and handsome they each were. However, Josh still teared up when he saw Ashley being walked down the aisle by her father. The three photos above show his reaction to Ashley walking down the aisle.
While deciding on if you would like to do a first look or not, please do not think that the walking down the aisle "awe" moment will not happen because it will!
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Monday Wedding Madness is a blog series that occurs every Monday and answers the questions you have about wedding photography. Have a question you would like to have answered or something that you wish you would have known before your wedding or are you a wedding professional who would like to contribute? Send your questions to jasmine@jasminenorris.com.
