Why you Should Consider a First Look for your Chicago Wedding

Your wedding day should be exactly as you want, but there are definitely some things that you can add or change to your timeline to make it run more smoothly logistically. We will say more than 50% of our weddings do a first look, meaning that they will see each other for the first time before the wedding ceremony, and it tends to really help keep the wedding day smoother and less stressful overall. For weddings in Chicago especially, we think that the pros heavily outweigh the cons and no couple has ever regretted a first look - while some have regretted not doing a first look. If you’re not sure whether or not you should do a first look on your wedding day, here are some of the reasons we have found are pros for a first look on your wedding day.

Shared, intimate moment

Truly one of the biggest reasons for us that we recommend a first look for our Chicago couples is that the time you get together in this moment is unmatched to the rest of the wedding day. You can really soak in the moment and get really excited that your wedding is finally here!! Devoting this time together really is so special and you wouldn’t be able to take that time and soak it in at the wedding ceremony. Every time we get to be there for the first look, we can tell that they feel so much more excited and relaxed once they get to see each other and spend all that time together being present with each other and their family and friends prior to the wedding ceremony.

Less stress on the photos

One thing that your vendors love about a first look is that we can plan for as much time as you need for travel, photos, and anything else. When you don’t do a first look, you are either going to use your whole cocktail hour for photos or you will have to build time in between your ceremony and reception to account for the time your photographers and videographers need for getting your portraits done. With a first look, you can plan to allot around an hour and a half for photos with your wedding party and your couple’s portraits prior to the wedding ceremony and get that all taken care of before you even say “I do”! Some couples even opt to do their family portraits before the ceremony and then they don’t have to stick around for any pictures after the ceremony.

Easier logistically

For your timeline, it really makes things a lot less smooshed together if you do a first look before the wedding ceremony. In Chicago, if you weren’t doing a first look, it would be more complicated to try and time your photos if you’re driving to and from photo locations offsite. It’s much easier to build your wedding day around a first look than it is to build it around a block of time in between the ceremony and reception that you guessed was enough time when you were first booking vendors and now realize that it won’t work out without rushing or it’s too much down time. Having the first look in your timeline means that your ceremony and cocktail hour can flow right into each other!

Gives you more hours together

If you don’t do a first look for your wedding, you are stuck waiting to see each other only when your ceremony time starts. Most ceremonies start around 3pm, which means the entire morning and afternoon you aren’t able to check in or see each other! With a first look, you can plan to schedule that around 11am-1pm, which gives you a lot more hours that you can actually be WITH each other on your wedding day. We think that your wedding day should be spent with each other and having that first look together will permit you to actually spend more time together with your love on your wedding day.

You can have whatever emotions without everyone watching

If you’re worried about whether or not you’re going to cry when you see each other down the aisle, or just overwhelmed with the idea of 100 or more people staring at you anticipating your reaction, it really is nice to get your nerves out prior to the wedding ceremony. If you’re also worried that a first look might take away from the moment down the aisle, we don’t think that that happens either! We see a lot of our couples that cry at the first look also might cry when you see each other down the aisle. Then you get to have two sweet moments together instead of one!

Better for your guests

Your guests will really appreciate if you do a first look - obviously not because they know anything about your photos, but because this will allow them to head straight to cocktail hour instead of being forced to find something to do in the long hours between your ceremony and cocktail hour. Your guests want to also get to the fun, mingle, eat, and drink sooner rather than later, and we know that guests often complain when there are awkward breaks in wedding timelines! The best way to make sure your guests don’t feel like there is an awkward pause in between your ceremony and your cocktail hour is to not allow for the awkward pause and by doing a first look to make sure all of the photos are done so there’s no need for those breaks!

You can attend cocktail hour

One thing that couples always tell us is that they want to attend their cocktail hour. They want to get to taste the appetizers, or mingle with their family and friends so they don’t have to worry about making rounds during dinner, or so many other reasons that they want to be there for the cocktail hour. We will always ask right after they say this, “Are you planning on doing a first look?” because we know that that would be really the only way to guarantee that they can attend the cocktail hour without creating breaks in the wedding festivities. Some couples will instead just extend cocktail hour to 1.5 or 2 hours, but we generally think your guests get more rowdy with more drinks and end up getting a little more antsy since this isn’t the standard expectation. Overall, it’s so much easier if you have a first look instead!

Of course there are things that a first look might change about your wedding day like your hair and makeup start times and some other logistics of the day, but we have found that our couples really value the pros over the cons for a first look in Chicago on their wedding day. Like we mentioned, we have never had a couple regret a first look. There have been couples however that regret NOT doing the first look and getting to spend that time together, or feeling like they were being rushed around for photos, or just not getting to see their guests as long. We highly recommend all weddings should have a first look to make sure that things are smoother and feel less stressful.

If you need help figuring out your timeline, we would love to help make sure your wedding day is exactly as you would like it to be. Reach out to us at our contact page to make sure your day runs smoothly, or if you’re looking for a quick fix to your timeline you can get our automated timeline spreadsheet we give to all of our couples for a much lower cost.