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First looks have my heart. They are some of the most heartfelt images I have ever taken because they are truly candid and capture real emotion.

They can have a huge impact on your wedding day timeline, so you are going to want to decide whether or not you would like to do a first look early on in the process of planning your timeline. In fact, I send each of my couples two sample timelines–one with a first look and one without a first look. It will impact what time the photographer and the hair and makeup vendors arrive to make sure you are ready to go at an earlier time.

First looks have a ton of benefits. The top four are:

1. You will receive about 30-40% more portraits. Portraits are such a romantic time of day. When you have just the two of you (plus me, of course!) and plenty of time built into the timeline, it’s a much more relaxing experience than rushing after the ceremony! And let’s be real, the portraits are the ones that end up being framed on the walls!
2. It’s one of (if not the only) time that you’ll have alone with your groom. I kid you not…when Caleb and I got married, we did not have a single moment alone until we were driving to the cabin we were staying in at like 10pm the night of our wedding. Think of the reason you guys are getting married–because you want to spend the rest of your lives together…so why would your wedding day be an exception? You won’t regret making the time for just the two of you!
3. You will be able to get to your cocktail hour/reception even quicker! Because your family formals can be completed before the ceremony, that expedites the portrait process that has to take place after the ceremony.
4. Believe it or not, it really doesn’t affect the emotion of the groom when you are coming down the aisle. Seriously…I’ve actually seen more emotion from grooms who have already seen their brides due to a first look than the other way around! Because the groom feels less pressure to have a certain reaction, he’s open to have more emotion, rather than having 200+ sets of eyes on him expecting him to cry/smile/be emotional.

In case you can’t tell, I am 100% a proponent for first looks! When Caleb and I got married, I was adamantly against having one…but it’s the only thing I would have changed about our wedding day.

Just keep this in mind when you are planning your wedding day timeline and you will absolutely have plenty of portraits and even some alone time!

Comment below to tell me your feelings about first looks!