How do you plan a first look?

Yeah I agree with Valerie. If you have the time, go for it! And you don't have to take all of your photos before the ceremony. You could just do the first look and some of the portraits and then do the full wedding party and family pics after the ceremony. It shouldn't take too long and then you could still join your guests for the cocktail hour. One thing to keep in mind is that the more time the photographer spends with you before the ceremony, the less time at the reception they'll have unless you pay for more time. Most packages are 8 or 10 hours. We didn't do a first look and our photographer and videographer showed up 2 hours before the ceremony to have time to shoot us getting ready, detail shots like our rings/flowers/decorations and take pics of the venues before guests arrived. We ended up adding an extra hour on so that our photographer/videographer would be there through the cake cutting.

Your vendors are the pros so you should reach out to them to get a timeframe and go from there. When it comes to the wedding planning, it's all about not doing unnecessary work so it's best to talk to them first before you put all this effort into a schedule and then they tell you that it won't work. You should also do a walkthrough of your venue with your photographer in advance so you can scout some good locations for the first look.

I will be seeing my FH the morning of the wedding since we live together and have 5 kids so it's not practical for me to go somewhere else. Plus we are running together with a bunch of people in the morning.

We won't do a first look but I told him he could not look different than he does before I leave to get ready. He had a beautiful beard and shaved it off in January and he looked like a different person. I need to recognize the person I am marrying!

We are taking all of our photos before the ceremony... Wedding is at 5 and we are doing photos at 3... This way we get to do a receiving line outside the church and once all the guests have been greeted Hubs and I will have approx 30 min to ourselves before dinner.

Hi Amy! I'm so happy to hear you're choosing to go for a first look! I'm sure it will be an incredible moment for you two You can take a look at this chart it will give you a good idea of a timeline:

You can also take a look at these discussions in the community for ideas:

Which first look are you looking the most forward to?

First look, yes or no?

What is your favourite romantic picture?

Who do you want to be there for the first look? Will it be just you or your family and/or bridal party?

To be honest, I wasn't sold on doing first look at first... But after reading so many reviews and comments from our photographer, we've decided to go ahead with it

We have chosen to do our first look at our high school where we initially meet. Our bridal party are also going to be a part of it as half of the bridal party also went to the same high school as us so we feel that it's going to be a good stroll down the memory lane

We are planning to do the first look photo session between our tea ceremony (chinese tradition) in the morning and before our wedding ceremony at 5pm

I would have loved just to have those few moments alone with just the 2 of us... but I wasn't SO set on it, so I let FH have his way haha. I'm sure in the moment I won't even notice the other people, I just have never met most of his side of the family and it's always in the back of my mind that people expect you to cry or laught or react to things in a certain way at certain times and I usually don't visually react that way and then people talk crap about it (like oh [FH] was so emotional, how sweet, but weird that Valerie didn't cry). I shouldn't care, but it just annoys me (happens like every year at Christmas).

My FH too! He has been fine with SO many things, borderline hasn't cared. But First look! Nope no budging. Lol Because he hasn't asked for much, I know this is going to be that one thing that I compromise on too. (I'm skipping the shower for the same reason.)
I think doing a first look with your FH and a photographer in a room is lot easier and less stressful than in from of 70 people.

I'm in the same boat! I really wanted to do one, the photos are always so beautiful and I hate doing things that people expect a specific reaction to in front of people (like opening gifts, part of why I'm skipping the shower). But it's been one of the few things FH has been really opinionated about so I compromised on this one

I agree with Valarie....Check with your photographer. My photographer is doing alot of first looks now! It's the in thing! It's sweet! I still like the anticipation of not seeing eachother until the walk down the aisle. We are even sleeping in seperate hotel rooms the night before. The attached picture is what I would like to do!!! Our photographer will do whatever we like however when I asked for her opinion on getting pics done before the ceremony and she didn't recommend it because the lighting is the best later in the afternoon! I was thankful she discussed those pointers with me or I would have never taken it into consideration. The wedding day will go by rather quickly so I think you might want your whole bridal party together when you are getting hair and make up done. Especially if you are only having 1 shooter! It will make it really hard for the photographer to get in all the pics if no one is around and everyone is off doing their own thing. It's best to save time wherever you can because will run behind schedule, it's a given. Hope this helps!!!

I really want to do a first look. From the photos that I have seen they can be really emotional and I dont know if I or my FH will be able to keep it together in front of our family and friends. My FH does not want to do one, he wants the first look to be when I walk down the aisle.

I was going to suggest talking to your photographer as well. Ask them for suggestion, what they think, and what has worked well for them in the past. They are probably the best people to assess what you need, make sure that you get all the shots that you want and they will for sure be able plan your timeline properly.

Haha darn autocorrect! I'm not doing a first look (wanted to, but FH is adamant about waiting), but maybe ask your photographer how much time they recommend. They've probably done them a few times (as they are becoming more and more popular) and might have an idea of how much time they will need. Then I would plan my timeline around what the photographer suggests. It also depends if your bridesmaids are getting ready with you or on their own and if you want them in some of your more formal pictures. Also the location of where you're getting your photos taken (if you have to calculate travel time into the timeline) should be taken into account.

I would ask your photographer what time they recommend, give the time you need to be ready to your hair/makeup artist and see when they would need to start andjust kind of work backwards like that.

And by first floor I mean first look. Autocorrect got me!