Why I Regret Not Doing A First Look

When I was planning my wedding, I thought a "first look" was only a 2 second reaction my soon to be husband would give when he saw me, the photographer would snap some pictures, and that was it. I didn't see the point and I wanted the traditional, he sees me when I walk down the aisle fairy tale moment. So I stuck with tradition, didn't do one and I really regret it.

Even though I was a wedding photographer by this time, I was still in my first full year of doing weddings and I hadn't had that many couples do first looks. I wasn't planning out timelines correctly and any first looks I did were very rushed. I thought I was going to have that movie moment of Matt seeing me walk down the aisle and all we could see is each other. What happened was, I walked down the aisle, saw him but then EVERYONE else, eyes all on me and phones out trying to capture the moment.

The smile on my face was genuine but also a smile of "everyones looking at me so I need to smile big!" I focused more on the audience than Matt. If I had done a first look, I could've had that time just him and I. To talk about how excited we were and for him to tell me how pretty he thought I was, instead of awkwardly saying it in front of our 100+ guests.

Now from a photographers stand point, doing a first look gets you more portrait time. If you're saving all portraits for cocktail hour, chances are you're going to have about 10 minutes time for you and your husband and like 2 minutes for your single portraits. Being able to get some of those done before the ceremony, and getting all your nerves out in the process is the way to go in my opinion.

I want to hear from you! Did you stay traditional and not have a first look? Did you love it or regret it? Comment below!