8 Reasons To See The Bride Before The Ceremony

8 Reasons To See The Bride Before The Ceremony

One of the most common questions we get asked is “Should we do pictures before or after the ceremony”? What they are really asking is “should we see each other before the ceremony”.  Most brides ask this question because they have always envisioned having their groom see them for the first time when they are about to walk down the aisle. They are struggling to make the decision to see each other earlier in the day because they don’t want to break tradition and ruin the magical vision they have had since they were little. We totally understand and since it is YOUR day we will do whatever you decide, however we are advocates of doing pictures before the ceremony and we would like you to consider all the pros to doing so.

1. Magical First Look Documented | We will be there to photograph this intimate moment so that you can remember it forever. You will be able to enjoy this moment without 300+ of your friends and family watching so you won’t have to hold anything back. You can cry, hug, kiss or just stand in awe and we will capture it all. This is something that cannot be done if you wait to see each other. Think about it, once you walk down the aisle it will be difficult for the two of you to find a spare moment to talk, kiss or just generally enjoy each other without lots of people watching or hurrying you along to the next wedding event. It’s important to note that this WILL NOT in any way ruin the moment when the groom sees the bride coming down the aisle. It’s a completely different experience when the bride gets to the top of the aisle and is ready to walk down to meet her groom. It’s the official moment, everyone is watching and this is it, you’re getting married! All of your guest will be standing in Awe seeing you for the first time in your beautiful wedding dress and your future husband will be waiting for you with as much excitement and anticipation as he had a few hours earlier for the “first look”.

2. Nerves | Everyone is nervous on their wedding day. Having a “first look” before pictures start will allow you to experience that special moment alone together.You can also get all the formal portraits done and out of the way so you can enjoy your wedding and not have to stress about the pictures.

3. Perfect Beauty | The bride will look her best. Starting pictures right after her hair and make-up have been done will ensure that her hair is not flat and her make-up is perfect.

4. Flow & Enjoy The Party | Yeah Baby! All the formal pictures will be DONE. It will make your wedding day flow seamlessly for your guests. They will not be waiting around at the reception for you to finish pictures. The bride and groom will be free to go straight from the ceremony to the reception and enjoy the party.

5. Bride + Groom Photos | You just paid thousands of dollars for your photographers so pictures are obviously really important to you. If you do pictures before the ceremony you’ll get A LOT more because you’ll have more time. You will be able to travel to different locations, do different poses and  relax because there will be no rush. You can even try out all those Pinterest ideas you’ve been pinning.

6. Family Photos | Your family members will not be distracted by the wedding guests and they are more likely to be ready to go for their portrait. Family portraits can be really difficult if you do them after the ceremony because your family members will want to socialize with the rest of the guests. You will probably spend a lot of time trying to find just one person to complete one picture combination only to discover that another family member has wandered off.

7. Bridal Party Photos| These are your closest friends so it’s nice to have time to take not just the traditional pictures with them but also lots of fun ones. If you do pictures after the ceremony we will probably be rushing to just get some pictures really quick so you can hurry up and get to the reception, this leaves no time for fun and creative poses.

8. Start A New Tradition | The superstition that the groom must not see his bride before the ceremony stems from the days when marriages were arranged and the groom might never have seen the bride. There was a chance that if he saw her… he might bolt! Other sources say that to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony can bring on bad luck. Whatever the old reason for waiting might be it is really no longer an issue. In today’s time the bride and groom have already seen each other, they have chosen each other, built a deep relationship of friendship and love and they are ready to commit to marriage consensually. We have never heard of a marriage having bad luck or not working out because the groom saw the bride before the ceremony. So fear not the old conventional superstitions and start a new tradition!

We have photographed a lot of weddings and we have never once had a couple tell us that they regret doing their pictures before the ceremony, if anything they will make a point to tell us that they are really glad they did.

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