Ten things to consider if you're on the fence about doing a First Look on your wedding day.

1: Get Married- All celebrations after no "photo sessions" after, at least much less. The first look allows you to complete all of your family portraits as well as the wedding the photos with the wedding party before the ceremony.  After just enjoy celebrating your marriage!  Many couples choose to travel to a second location for some additional photos but having the family portraits and wedding party photos done before drastically cuts down on the time needed for photos after the ceremony.  

2: Reduce your nerves.  My husband is my person, he is the one I want to cuddle up with when I'm nervous, scared, happy etc.  I want to be near him. He can calm my nerves down better than anyone else.  There are a lot of nerves on the wedding day, which is totally normal, and many couples find that by seeing their future spouse calms any fears and nerves.  

3: Bride and groom get to enjoy their cocktail hour.  Since you're able to get the majority of your photos done before the ceremony, couples who do a first look have time on their wedding day to enjoy their cocktail hour with their guests.  

4: Get family formals done and out of the way- family can let loose.  

5: No need to round up the wedding party after the ceremony- they can get the party started

6: Intimate moments shared between just you two when you see each other for the first time. 

7: Children are usually "done" and "over it" after the ceremony.  Think nap time, snack time, etc, the last thing they want to be doing is posing for portraits.  By doing the family portraits before the ceremony we have happier and usually smiling littles.  I know this was the case for my brother's wedding. By the time the ceremony was completed my 1.5 year old and 3.5 year old were just done, even though they had a nap, by the time the late afternoon ceremony was done they were only cooperative for short periods of time.  They were sick of sitting still and wanted to play, which is normal toddler behavior.  Had we done portraits before nap time, we would have had a better shot a cooperation.  

8: Elderly can relax, take a nap, eat a snack, or whatever your grandparents are into.  It is extremely important to include your grandparents in your formal portraits on the wedding day.  The first look allows you to complete these portraits before the ceremony so that after your grandparents are free to do whatever it is they need to do.  It gets to be a long day for some of them and rest is needed.  They won't have to worry about hanging out after the ceremony.   

9: The couple is always less stressed. In fact, I’ve never had a couple regret doing a first look, however, about half of my non-first look couples mention at their wedding image reveal that they wish they would have done the first look

10:  Less downtime between the ceremony and cocktail hour/dinner. Your guests won’t need to worry about filling 4-5 hours until the reception begins.