For a long time, it has been tradition,
that the groom must not see the bride before the wedding.
In modern times, I hardly know a single bride
that DIDN'T see the groom before.
"The First Look" is touted as a time
that the couple can share alone before the wedding begins.
Often, a sentimental and sweet photo session
takes place if you opt for "the first look".
In our case, I was very happy we did these shots
since our families HIJACKED, and YES,
I do mean hijacked in all caps,
our "after ceremony" photo time.
More on that later...
. . .
In Hawaiian tradition, the bride always gives the groom the first lei.
It's said that giving the groom the maile lei showed him and everyone
that this wahine (girl) wanted his hand in marriage...
* I left out "The Kiss" here... there are still somethings a little private ;)
This alone time, before the ceremony started,
was really the only time we had to ourselves
until much past midnight...
and some of the only portraits we got together...
This is one of my favorite photos...
but knowing what I know about photography now (which isn't much),
I would have expected the photographer
to fix a few obvious blunders in the scene...
. . .
Overall, my advice is to go ahead and do "the first look"
if your time and photographer allows.
Without it, we may have never gotten any photos of just the two of us.
IMHO.
