One of the first, and most important questions I have for a bride is “are you going to see your fiance before your wedding ceremony, or will he see you for the first time at the altar?” While I’m not going to tell anyone how to set things up on their wedding day, there are advantages and dis-advantages regardless of how you answer this question…..

On the one hand, if you wait until the ceremony, you get images like Meghan and Nathan did above. Completely natural, unscripted, emotional responses from the groom as he sees his bride for the first time on their wedding day. It’s also more traditional and some would say it’s bad karma to see your husband/wife on your wedding day before the wedding ceremony starts. The only down-side to this approach is the wedding photographer is limited by everything from the church, the way the chairs/pews are set up, other guests who might jump into the aisle, to even the Bride’s father who might slightly move one way or the other and block the shot. It’s also difficult to get the bride’s reaction without the use of a 2nd photographer.

Or you can go the route of Carrie & Brian and Tracey & Trent. They saw each other prior to their wedding ceremonies, but we were able to set it up in a way that still created some suspense, and resulted in some great reactions between the two. Because the situation is a bit more controlled, you tend to end up with more photographs  of the “first look” which makes for a great storyboard type layout in their wedding albums.

Again, there’s nothing right or wrong with either approach. The decision is completely up to the bride & groom and I have no qualms with either option, as long as everyone understands the advantages and disadvantages of each choice.