With mere moments before he would turn around to see the love of his life, he was shaking. His nerves were shot. He couldn’t stand it. Was it time? You could see the excitement written all over his face as his eyes shifted. “Are you ready? Because here she comes!”

I knew the second I got engaged that I wanted a first look! I had the whole thing already playing in my head! Birds would sing! Baby deer would escort me to my Husband-To-Be, he would turn around, and immediately faint from my awesomeness! Okay maybe not that exact scenario! But you get it! I had my heart set! And very soon after, Troy said six devastating words… “We’re not doing a first look.”

UGH WHY!? Well, here’s the thing, Troy is a traditionalist. A man’s man. He was very worried that A: It was bad luck. And B: It would ruin the moment of me walking down the aisle.

So what did I do? I took the time to explain why this was so important to me. I was after all, marrying my best friend. And the last thing I wanted was to have the first time I saw him on the biggest day of our lives, to be in front of everyone else. I needed time together for us to be alone and time to just see my best friend. I let him know it would probably be the only time for us to share together alone. That it would actually end up buying us more time together on the big day!

Slowly but surely, he started to see it from my point of view. And sure enough, when we got close enough to the big day, he decided a first look was the way to go!

On our wedding day, when we shared our first look, all of the benefits that I was telling him about, came true! And all of his fears, never surfaced. He still cried when I walked down the aisle. And I can say with 100% certainty, that had it not been for our first look, I would have not been able to make it through our vows. But because I saw Troy before I walked down the aisle, I was able to destress and take a calm breath with my soul mate.

Also, our first look in no way ruined our aisle moment. It enhanced it. It gave us extra time, it allowed us to take more photos before the ceremony and have additional time with our guests. And those are all huge WINS in my book.

The true test is always, “If I could go back, would I do it again?” and the answer, from me and Troy, is a huge resounding YES! Now as a wedding photographer, I get to share the wonderful benefits of a first look that I have seen time and time again. And maybe the birds don’t sing, and the baby deer are no where to been seen, but the time you get together, on your amazing wedding day, is truly invaluable.

Now, is a first look for everyone? Nope! And that’s OK! But I wanted to share this post because I have not only seen, but experienced the benefits time and time again! So there ya go! Why I just love first looks! And for added fun, here are a few that I just can’t get enough of from this years HE couples!

For Brittney and Jeff’s first look, Jeff didn’t just turn around, he JUMPED to see his bride! It was awesome, and a perfect start to

their wedding!

One first look I’ll never forget was Hannah and Leighton’s! The second he saw his bride, he just had to tell her “You’re so beautiful!”

Kali and Aaron both had so many happy tears during the first look! And looking back at these photos, you can just see how overjoyed they were to have this moment together!