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We are waiting. He won't see me for the first time until I come down the aisle. It would be nice to spend some time together before hand, but I think it will work out ok!
Personally, I don't want to see him before the ceremony. We are talking all girl and all guy pics earlier in the day. But the ones together will be after the ceremony and before the reception, so there should be no problems with time. Both our ceremnoy and reception are at the same place.
We ended up seeing each other before the ceremony and I do not regret it at all. At that point I was able to give him his gift that he ended up using during the reception. Since we were at my parents house we were more comfy and more ourselved.
We waited too. Honestly, I barely made it to the church in time and my husband forgot our marriage license, so I think it's good we didn't try to squeeze in some pictures before the ceremony. I would look at your timeline to see if it will fit in. That was probably the biggest reason we didn't see each other beforehand.
We're going to do it for one reason and one reason only: we want to get our pics out of the way before the ceremony so that we don't miss cocktail hour.
I'm not against it if other people do it, but personally I want my FI to see me for the first time when I walk down that aisle with my father. I am very traditional and was raised traditional so I always envisioned that moment. And going to people's weddings were they haven't seen each other before hand it so emotional at the first look.
It might save time but honestly, I wouldn't do it just for that. If you really want to wait, then you can make it work. Before the ceremony you can still do your pics with immediate family and your bridesmaisd/his groomsmen and then vice versa for him and that will save some time after. Don't let your photog talk you into it, do it because you want to. I don't think you'll regret it either way but I think you can make it work if you want to wait. Are you having a cocktai hour between the ceremony and reception? That usually helps so the guests are occupied and not just standing around.
We're planning on seeing each other beforehand. Also because before our ceremony at the registry office we have to go through a final "interview" process to make sure we're not marrying each other so I can stay in the country (or something like that - nevermind that I pay taxes and have done for years!) and it's a lot easier to do it together.
We're seeing each other. We're planning on doing a "first look" and taking all of our couple and bridal party pics beforehand. We are doing a pretty in-depth, multi-location photoshoot for our pics, so doing it between was not feasible. Plus, we are doing everything in one place and "flipping" our room, so it seems kind of pointless to leave between ceremony and reception. We're going to do the family pictures during the cocktail hour.
we're doing a first look and all our bridal party and family pics beforehand. our ceremony starts pretty late, so we'll get natural light for our photography, as well as getting to enjoy our cocktail hour. it actually fits with the Jewish tradition, where the bride and groom do traditionally see each other before the ceremony. like, our officiant prefers to do the ketubah signing beforehand, so we probably will do that as well
we're seeing each other before the ceremony for two reasons. 1) i am emotional, and i know that if we wait to see each other until i walk down the aisle, i'll be a mess. haha. i wish i was joking, but i would cry through the whole thing and look like an idiot. and 2) our ceremony and reception are at the same place. between the ceremony and reception there is a one hour cocktail hour, not enough time for all the pictures we want.
At first, we weren't going to, but we've changed our minds. My makeup and hair will be fresh and ready to go, we'll have the light (our wedding will be in the late afternoon in November), we want to spend every moment we can with our guests, and of all the responses I've read on weddingbee, no one has regretted doing a first look, but there have been people who have regretted not doing one. Plus, those same people that don't regret it say that the walk down the aisle is still special.
agreed with a few of the bees above.
we will be doing our 'first look' and bridal party pics at our reception venue before our ceremony. my best friend from college did it before as well, and we loved the intimate moment they got to share... and just overall "get the nerves out" before being in front of so many ppl :)
we lucked out that we are having our ceremony at 4pm :)
Our reception is also in the same place as our ceremony, so there will be an hour where they'll flip everything around and make it a party place. So we'll have a cocktail hour between the wedding and reception. I think that's why I'm sort of excited about doing our pics beforehand. I'll get to enjoy cocktails with my guests and my husband and then we'll just dance the night away and not have to worry about not having enough time for pictures.
I, too, was worried about not having the special moment of walking down the aisle and him seeing me for the first time then. But like @meggyo, I'm an extremely emotional person, so I hope that by doing this, it will help me contain myself!!!
Thank you so much, bees!!!
<3
We are taking all pics before the ceremony, which of course requires us to see each other. I want to be completely ready before he sees me, and I want it to be just him and I (and the photographer) in a nice little secluded place for nice pics. We have so much fun together and I love him so much, I cannot imagine not being with him for the majority of the day on our wedding day.
we (I) am on the fence about this!!!! i keep going back and forth... i really like the idea of taking pics before and being able to get to the cocktail hour, BUT i also love the traditional idea of not seeing each other. sigh, what to do!
FI wants to see each other because he knows i am a crier (i totally am) and thinks i may be more comfortable seeing each other and getting my cry (s) out before i walk down the aisle.
we'll see!
@krissybee I am a crier too girl!! I am hoping that taking pics and seeing each other before will get it all out of me! =)
in our culture, it's not a big deal for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony; I think traditionally the groom picks the bride up from her house to take her to the wedding. Our main reasons for seeing each other before the ceremony is 1) it'll be a private time for us to see each other for the first time, and 2) we don't want to add to the nerves leading up to the ceremony!
I definitely understand the romantic idea of seeing each other for the first time when you're walking down the aisle though!
as romantic as it would be to see each other for the first time as i'm walking down the aisle, the practical benefits of taking the pictures beforehand and allowing ourselves and close ones to celebrate as much as possible totally won out. i want me some cocktails and hors d'oeuvres! no way my guests are going to eat them all without me!
I am a crier..so I am positive that I'd cry either way. (I just had to put that tidbit in...I replied above)
@Tonya- haha! good, glad to hear i'm not the only one! but seriously, i think thats why we may do a "first look"......... i don't want to be doing the ugly cry down the aisle :)
When we first started planning, we were SO against the first look. We REALLY wanted that moment down the aisle to be super special. But, we were convinced by our photog to do a first look, and I'm SO happy we did. Best timing decision we made.
The first look was so great. We picked a pretty location, and we had that time together before all the craziness of the day. After the ceremony, we took 20 mins of family portraits, and we were off to cocktail hour! It felt SO good going into the ceremony knowing that those pictures were done. Also, my make-up and hair were fresh at that point, too, which was an added bonus.
good insight @Miss Chapstick- fresh makeup!!!!!!!!!!! and the stress-free feeling that pics are done is nice too! hmmm.. i may be making up my mind right now.
We will see each other before the wedding. Our ceremony and reception are in the same location with a 5:15 ceremony so taking pictures only after the ceremony didn't make any sense. I am also glad that we may have to show up at the cocktail reception.
A first look means a lot to me because it will be a couple of minutes with just me, FI and the photographer. We can hug and kiss and tell each other how excited we are. I think my walk down the aisle will be emotional too!
All of you ladies have such awesome experiences/opinions. I enjoy reading through your responses. Thank you all so much!!
I have a feeling that seeing each other before the wedding is going to be awesome. It's what you make it, right?! I hope that this is when I'll get all of my tears out so then I'll have a fresh face and be excited and ready to walk down the aisle with all of my jitters out!
@Tonya2010- You made a good point, too... I couldn't imagine NOT being with him for the majority of our wedding day. It's OUR day!!!
@MissPug- I couldn't agree more!! Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres here we come!!!
If you want to wait don't let anyone talk you into it!
For us, we just wanted to see each other all dressed up for the first time when I was walking down the aisle at the ceremony (not a supersitious thing at all). EVERYONE tried to talk us out of it and I am very happy we held firm! I love that our wedding photos are of us married, not about to get married - we did our separate bridal party ones before and there is a different glow after our amazing ceremony. BUT that was just what worked for us, for a lot of people, enjoying their cocktail hour is more important!!
I think we will see each otehr before. I really like the idea of getting the pictures out of the way and being able to enjoy your own cocktail hour. Plus I know from weddings that I have been to that the wedding aprty always arrives late- after the cocktail "hour" so it would be better to eb able to arrive at the same time as your guests. For anyone who is on the fence or against it- here is the actual tradtion behind not seeing each other. In the old days, a lot of weddings were arranged. It was tradition for a bride to wear a veil and to not be seen before the wedding in case the groom didn't like what he saw and wanted to run away!!! No joke! SO I say screw the "tradition" and maybe the veil too.
I said I was on the fence, even though we have made our decision. I'm not "for" seeing him beforehand, in fact I really really wish we could save our first look for when I'm walking down the aisle, but the benefits of being able to have time to take good, interesting, well-composed photos without the pressure of everyone waiting for us post-ceremony was enough to change my mind. I value quality photos very highly, so I'm making the sacrifice.
Question - for those of you who will be doing a first look and are excited to get to your cocktail hour, will you be announced going into the cocktail hour? Or not until the beginning of the reception? I would L-O-V-E to participate in our cocktail hour but our DJ isn't contracted to start until the official reception, and I want to be announced all fancy like dammit. :)
I think we're going to be announced at the reception... The big sha-bang!!! I think that you should still participate in the cocktail hour, but have a big grand entrance for your reception!!
<3
I think you've made a great choice!!! We had our "first look" (our photog called it "the reveal") before the ceremony and it made our day SOOOO much more enjoyable. We had plenty of time for pictures. we were relaxed. And the only pics we had left after the ceremony were our posed portraits at the church. Because of this we were able to attend our own cocktail hour - which was fabulous! AND this was with NO gap between the ceremony and reception (the guests went immediately over to the reception). Our cocktail our was 1.25 hours long and we got there .5 hours into it.
To answer your last question, we were introduced during our cocktail hour. Then we mingled for a while (again, fabulous!). our wedding took place at a club where the evening moved between different rooms on different floors. So we did our "receiving line" at hte bottom of the grand staircase as guests filed up for dinner. It worked out perfectly! Every reception and venue will be different, but you can really make it work however you want with a little bit of planniner. I will tell you though, the best asset we had that kept our wedding (and guests) moving was our DJ. He directed people, announced dinner, kept the toasts rolling along - he was GREAT!! So, find yourself some great vendors and you can make it work!
Im sleeping at my moms because I still live by that saying 'its bad luck to see the bride on the wedding day before ceremony'. That way we will miss each other to death and when we finally meet eye to eye at that alter, it will be like high school again
For people who are having ceremony and reception at the same site, did anyone do pictures afterward? I thought it would be weird to have people watching....but it would be nice to see him for the first time walking down the aisle. Thoughts?
@RxBrideToBe- we are having our ceremony and reception at the same site. That's another reason why we're doing our pics beforehand! Honestly, I didn't want to do pics beforehand, but we have a great photographer who guided us in that direction, so we're for it. My FH keeps saying that it'll still be awesome seeing me come down the aisle... (so sweet!) I hope this helps...
<3
I want the once-in-a-lifetime, takes his breath away moment of him seeing me in my dress first as I walk down the aisle. Also, I really like photojournalism style photography, so hopefully my photographer will be cool with us not doing any of the 'posed' pics beforehand! I'm not at all superstitious, and FI has seen my dress on a model, but he will NOT see it on me before the ceremony if I can help it!
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My FH and I weren't sure that we wanted to see each other before the wedding. But on the other hand, we wanted to make sure that we weren't being rushed through pictures, that we could enjoy the time with our guests and just make the most of every moment.
With that being said, we have decided that seeing each other before the ceremony and taking all of our pictures beforehand would be the best way to utilize our time, that way we can enjoy everything, and remember everything.
How is everyone else feeling about this?? Our photographer (who is AMAZING) likes to do pics beforehand, so that's how this topic originally came up.
Thanks, Bees <3