As you plan for your big day, one of the foremost decisions you have to make revolves around when you and your fiance will see each other for the first time.  Will you follow custom and have the groom avoid seeing the bride in her gown prior to the ceremony? Or will you break with tradition and have an intimate and private first look arranged?  First look or wait for the ceremony:  Is a first look a good fit for you?

We all love the romance and excitement of the big reveal of when the groom gets to see the bride in her gown for the first time as she walks down the aisle.  This custom originated when arranged marriages were standard.  The arrangement was actually a business deal in which the father of the bride negotiated a union between his daughter and the most prosperous suitor he could find. However, he feared that if the suitor saw his daughter prior to the ceremony and was not please, then the union would be called off.  It became tradition for the bride and groom to meet only at the ceremony...to ensure the deal was sealed.  As arranged marriages slipped by the wayside it became superstition that it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her gown prior to the ceremony.  Couples began to believe that you would have good luck in your marriage, if the groom avoided seeing the bride until she walked down the aisle.  As a practice, this is a wonderful sentiment and supports many family traditions. Many couples elect to have a big reveal of the bride in her gown as she walks down the aisle.