Tips / Tricks : To See or Not to See

I hope everyone enjoyed our first Tips / Tricks!  For our second outing, I thought we'd go over the decision of whether or not the bride and groom should see each other before the ceremony.  For the more traditional bride out there this is a no brainer.  Not seeing each other before the ceremony is a time honored tradition, and one that most brides stick to, especially down here in the south.  And traditions are popular for a reason.  The emotion expressed when the groom sees the bride for the first time in her wedding dress is usually one of our favorite shots of the day!  But there is a case for the other side too, and brides who are not as concerned about tradition may have a tough choice to make.  Here are some examples from weddings we've done that hopefully will help you make that decision:

Aerin and Alex went the traditional route and waited for the ceremony to see each other for the first time that day.  And when they did they were both overcome with emotion!  Luckily those were tears of joy and Aerin did eventually make it down the aisle.  It was a sweet beginning to a beautiful ceremony!

Colbie and Jake opted to see each other before the ceremony so we did a First Glance for them.  This is what we call a little time set aside for them to have a moment together, so Jake could tell Colbie how beautiful she looked.  We got some amazing photos and I hope that they will help them remember this moment forever.  Having this time together gives the bride and groom a chance to get in a final I love you before they  become husband and wife, and we've also heard seeing each other before gets rid of some of the nerves of walking down the aisle.  

There are also some practical reasons for seeing each other before the ceremony.  Darcy and Tom met in the hotel lobby before sharing a limo ride to the church with their bridal party.  When we got there we shot all of their formal pics with enough time to spare for Darcy and Tom to relax a little bit before the ceremony started.  After the I do's were said they were able to head straight off to the reception and get the party going!

Buck traditional altogether and have a pre-wedding photo session in your wedding outfits like Mary & Kenneth did.  We think this is a great idea for those brides who don't mind the groom seeing the dress before the big day because it makes sure you have plenty of wonderful photos of yourselves in your wedding day finery.  A lot of times on the day itself schedules get rushed and we have to hurry through formals, maybe only getting 5-10 minutes with the bride and groom at the most.  And while we understand that you're in a hurry to get to the reception and we do our best to get you there, we would love to have more time to get that perfect shot. So this is an option that might help take some of the pressure out of the wedding day.  

So there are some pros and cons to think about when deciding whether or not to see each other before the ceremony.  In the end it's a personal choice, and one we're happy to photograph either way!  Have an opinion?  Let us know in the comments section, especially if you picked one way or the other and thought it was the right choice!