When first meeting with a couple I always ask if they had talked about seeing each other before the wedding. I always discuss the benefits, but I NEVER push it! I’m all about tradition and respecting the decisions of my couples.
Recently, I have began to think of my couples perspective of their first sight. Did they like it? Would they recommend it to others? I asked Juliana to tell me more about their experience from their first sight back in July. Juliana and Daniel touched on so many other points thats I have never thought of before:
When Daniel and I first talked with Tiffany about the timeline of our wedding day and her recommendations, she posed the question of having a first sighting or not. Our first reaction was ‘no’. We really wanted that ‘movie moment’ when Daniel and I saw each other as I walked down the aisle. When I attend other weddings, I love looking at the groom when he sees his bride for the first time. Just love it. I wanted that moment captured by Tiffany. We were both married before and wanted to approach this wedding differently. We knew we wanted to see each other throughout the day, had a small guest list and decided to forgo most wedding traditions. We wanted it to be about us and not about time lines. I walked into our meeting with only one thing we ‘had’ to have…we really wanted that ‘one moment’ as I walked down the aisle.
However, as our conversation progressed, we started talking about the day and she described how a private first sighting could progress. I fell in love with the idea. It started making more sense to have time alone together and to take pictures of the two of us before the ceremony. We realized that we could still experience ‘the moment’ we wanted with each other and have it captured by Tiffany. We talked about a couple of locations on the grounds of the resort for the first sighting and we fell in love with the idea. We also have four children between us thus private time between is hard to find. It became fun thinking that we would have this time alone together.
As the plans became more concrete for the wedding day, I was so happy to have the ability to have several hours carved out with Daniel away from the stress of last minute details and to have the option of off site pictures before the ceremony. Quickly, the day became filled with planning and details and the person I wanted to spend this special day with the most-Daniel- was the person I had the least amount of time with!
Looking back on the decision, I am so grateful Tiffany gave us the option of having a first sighting. She made it so special. I was pretty particular about how I wanted Daniel to see me for the first time and I was worried it would feel contrived. It didn’t feel contrived and Tiffany was so wonderful about making sure I had the details like I envisioned. It was so memorable having our first time together in a private setting. There are several reasons why I am thankful we made the decision. First, we were able to give each other our reaction immediately instead of waiting until after the ceremony. I will never forget the loving things Daniel said to me and Tiffany did such an amazing job balancing letting us have private conversations with guiding us for poses for the photographs. Due to some logistical snafus on our end, we were running a bit late but Tiffany had the timing down to a science. We weren’t rushed, we were able to enjoy every setting and walked away with some amazing shots. The pictures alone before the ceremony are my favorite of us for the whole day. The memories of our conversations and the photographs captured in those several hours are priceless to us. Also, I felt so relaxed by the time the ceremony arrived and didn’t want the time alone with him to end. When it was time to say goodbye, it was actually difficult! I had gotten the initial nerves out of the way with our first sighting so I was able to focus on the time with my bridal party and father and let the moments sink in before the ceremony. As it turned out, I still had that moment with Daniel when our eyes locked as I was walking down the aisle. It felt just as special if not more so because I knew what he was thinking already! Finally, we didn’t need to leave the reception at any point to take our pictures as a couple so we were able to spend more time with our guests and to sit and enjoy the food at the reception. We had a destination wedding so all of our guests traveled to be at the ceremony. Daniel and I wanted to maximize our time with the guests and were glad to have formal pictures taken care of so we could visit with everyone at the reception.
We are absolutely thrilled we made the decision to have a first sighting and would absolutely recommend the experience for other couples.
Thank you Juliana for taking the time to guest host the blog for me today! You couldnt have explained it any better! And because every post is better with a photo, here’s their first sight spread taken from their wedding album:
