- You can get the formal photos out of the way • Want to enjoy your own cocktail hour? Want to split up the 60-90 minutes of photo-taking into two pieces? Scheduled your ceremony at sunset? If you do a first look, then you can do some or all of the “formal” photos, like wedding party, family, and couple shots, before you even get married. It’s food for the organized couples’ souls.
- Calm yo nerves! • Weddings are stressful, both in good and not-so-good ways. Either way, you’re probably going to have some nervous energy and the one person you want to see to help ground you is? Ding ding ding, that’s right! Your fiance. Touching base and holding each other is an excellent way to remind each other why you’re doing all this craziness in the first place!
- You can really appreciate each other • I think it sucks that it’s not “acceptable” to show your true feelings when you first see each other. Yes, one or both of you may cry and you’ll be smiling and that’s amazing! But don’t you wanna make out and hug and say, “oh my god you look incredible!!!” “Let me see the back!” “A number of other things I want to say to you!” When you’re up there in front of everyone, it’s almost like a performance, and most wedding ceremonies don’t leave space for genuine reactions.
- The moment you walk down the aisle is still intense • I’ve heard this time and time again: nothing can prepare you for that moment of seeing your partner walk down the aisle toward you surrounded by friends and family. Nothing. It’s like…”oh shit! This is really happening!”
- It’s archaic • Waiting to see the bride until after you sealed the deal with a kiss is a European, arranged-marriage tradition. The groom didn’t know what his bride looked like, so the intention was to make it official before he could protest. Nowadays couples are nearly always living together before they get engaged. Pretty sure you know what your partner looks like in basically every way imaginable by now. 🙂
A bonus reason to consider is timing things with the best lighting. If you scheduled your ceremony as the sun goes down, then you might want to consider doing a first look so that you can do all the formal photos before your ceremony.