The great debate: should the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony on the wedding day? Traditionally, the answer is no. Absolutely not. (Grandma – I’m sorry I even mentioned it!) But as a modern day bride + groom you have more choices than your grandparents did. You can custom tailor your day and make it completely perfect for you.
A “first sight” is something you probably started hearing about pretty soon after you started planning your wedding day. You may or may not already be familiar with everything that entails, so I decided to write a little post to help explain everything for you. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will choose to see your groom before ceremony, but just in case you are considering breaking the tradition, here’s a little information to help you make your decision. I wanted to write on this topic before – but waited until I was a bride myself so I could give my true opinion on it.
What is a first site? A first site is when you and your groom choose to see one another before your wedding ceremony. We set you up in a private location and usually the groom is waiting backward while the bride walks toward him. The bride tells her groom when he can turn around and see you for the first time. You still get to relish in the reaction of your groom seeing you for the first time, but you get to enjoy it as a private moment.
What are some advantages, from the bride’s standpoint?
- The stress factor of the day goes way down. After you see your groom you will be way more relaxed. For me, I was so happy once the “separation” of the day was over and Wes and I could start experiencing the day together. It felt much more natural to me and also made me a lot less anxious.
- The first site is pretty much guaranteed to be your only time alone together for the whole day. It’s wonderful to have a chance to breathe, take it all in, and share in the importance of the day together. It’s so nice to have a little time to yourself on a day that, in the end, should be all about your commitment to each other.
- You will have more time to talk and mingle with your guests. For me, this was the most overwhelming part of our wedding. You have a room full of people you love and cherish, but barely have enough time to say hello to all of them. We were glad we scheduled as much time as possible for this.
- Our family + wedding party were free to enjoy the reception from the time it began til the time it ended. We feel like they like us more because of this. That may or may not be true.
What are some advantages, from a photography standpoint?
- We can take all of the photographs, including bride + groom, wedding party, and family photos before the wedding. It is a lot easier to organize everyone at this time. After the wedding, you will be overwhelmed with everyone congratulating you and your family will have tons of people to say hi to as well. It’s much harder to get away than it is before the ceremony! Everyone will arrive to the reception at the same time, and no one will be antsy because they’re missing out on the action.
- Again, the stress factor for the day goes WAY down. We can schedule in enough time before the ceremony to get plenty of beautiful and gorgeous portraits, without feeling rushed.
- You never want to be in the position where you have to take all of your portraits with indoor lighting because the sun has gone down, which is the case if you have a late ceremony time and wait til afterward to do all the photos. Natural light and settings will make you look more gorgeous and timeless than you already do. Almost all the photos you see on the blog have been taken outside – there’s a reason for that!
What if I’m still not convinced?
You don’t have to be! This is simply meant to be informative so that you can make a choice that feels right for YOU. It’s perfectly fine to be traditional in this situation, especially if that’s what will make your day perfect for you! Just make sure you plan plenty of time AFTER your ceremony to get your photos done! As your photographer, I can help you decide exactly how much time you’ll need to get this done.
I’m all about you getting exactly what YOU want out of your wedding day. I hope this information made it a little easier for you to make your decision!
by Amanda
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