Look at me, look at me!

Ok, so there's been the big debate over whether or not the bride and groom should see each other before the big moment - the walk down the aisle :)  I think a wonderful post about whether or not to see each other before the ceremony can be found over on Budhoop's blog.  She offered some great truths about the reasons most people are for or against this idea.  And as she said, it's really a matter of personal opinion. 

For some, there is nothing like this moment:

Where the groom sees his bride for the first time that day...all dressed up in white with hair and makeup beyond beautiful.  Let's face it, a lot of guys cry.  It's pretty sweet.  And even if you don't want to see each other before the actual ceremony, there's still some fun ways to get some 'teaser' shots in before that big moment: 

Photo:  Rancho Las Lomas

Jenn over at a Bride's Brain posted about her First Look yesterday.  Check it out here.

As far as why we have opted for the 'first look'?  It's very simple:

1)  I don't want massive anxiety the first time I see Mr Fix It.  I will be all anxious and nervous and if he does cry or gets all emotional, no one will even notice because let's face it - everyone is looking at the bride at that moment!  Mr Fix It calms me down and seeing him several hours before our ceremony is going to put me at ease and keep me in a relaxed and fun mood.

2)  We can't stand having to wait for two (or more) hours for the bride and groom to show up at a reception before we can eat and get the party started.  A cocktail hour should be just that - an HOUR!  But when you have to take hundreds of photos after the ceremony, it's draining and keeps guests waiting.  I personally don't like it.

3)  We want to be a part of our cocktail hour.  We have hired a strolling magician to entertain guests during cocktails and we do NOT want to miss out on all the fun and tricks!  I mean since we are the ones paying him, shouldn't we also be able to enjoy his services?  Besides, the reception is already a difficult place to try to greet and chat with all your guests.  Having that extra hour in a relaxed setting during cocktails is a great way for us to get some extra time in with the guests.

Those are our main reasons for knocking out all of our photos before the ceremony.  Yes, it means that we'll have to start hair and makeup at 8 am for us ladies.  And yes, the guys will all need to show up about 4 hours before the wedding (but they'd have to be there an hour before anyway to greet guests and seat them anyway).  Besides, that 3 hours or so that we will be knocking out lots of photos gives us the chance to not feel rushed and enjoy ourselves. 

So how will we do our first look?  As Budhoop suggested, they are in fact staged to a degree.  Here you see the bride making her way to her groom who has his back to her so as not to ruin the 'moment' they turn to see each other:

Photo Robert Mullins Photography

In this one (and with our own plans) the groom will walk up behind the bride to greet her.  How amazing are all of these next sequence of shots that were taken by our own photographer Robert Mullins? 

The groom takes her hand as she turns to see him for the first time:

He takes in all her beauty:

Look!  He's even getting emotional!

And they get that one special intimate moment with just the two of them to embrace and just be in love:

I can't wait to share the idea we came up with for me and Mr Fix It's first look.  I won't go into all the details as you'll see it on video at some point in the next several months, but I will say that when I told my future sister-in-law about the idea, she started getting teary eyed :)  And yes, our first look will include our family to some degree....not just the two of us.

So, are you / did you opt for the first look?  What do / did you like or not like about it?