How on earth has it been 7 months since our wedding day!? Time is flying by, and I’m way behind on  completing the rest of our wedding posts – however, today I’m sharing our first look photos and why we chose to do a first look! 

First of all, can we talk about how sweet Shane’s reaction was!? He had a face full of tears before he ever even turned around. I’ll never forget that moment, or his reaction, and I’d choose to do it over and over again. Doing a first look can be a controversial topic amongst couples and their families. My family was super supportive of the entire wedding planning process. However, their only hesitation in our decision making was to do a first look. My mom wasn’t keen on the idea, and felt it should be traditional in that the bride and groom don’t see each other until the ceremony. I disagreed. Being that we got married on New Years Eve, sunset was at 5:15 PM. I knew that the second the ceremony was over, we wouldn’t have any time to just enjoy each other for a few minutes between bridal party photos, family photos, and getting to the reception before sunset. I wanted to see Shane’s reaction and be able to feel his emotions with him in private, and be able to enjoy our cocktail hour with family and friends.

 Doing a first look allowed us all of these things. We got 90% of our pictures out of the way, we got a really special private moment together where we just let it all out without judgment, and we got to enjoy our friends and family after the ceremony. And guess what? Shane’s reaction was still authentic and emotional as I walked down the aisle. The feelings don’t change. If the emotions are really there, they’re going to show regardless of a first look. Shane was still in tears as I walked out of those double doors with my dad, and that moment was still pretty dang special. So in my eyes, we got to experience it twice!

#HowWeWed: Most of you know that I worked with WeddingWire throughout my wedding planning process to provide you girls with updates on where we were at, how it was going, vendors I picked and why, etc. Well today, I’m super excited to announce that I’m pairing up with them again on a new campaign to share all the creative ways couples have made their weddings unique! So here’s how it works:

• Couples, vendors and guests have the opportunity to submit their favorite, unique, wedding elements via the Wedding Wire landing page or on Instagram with the #HowWeWed hashtag and tagging @WeddingWire! Your profile must be public.

• Submissions will be accepted August 1 – September 14

• There will be 6 superlative categories (Venue, Decor, Entertainment, Food + Bev, Style, Stationary + Favors)

• At the end of the submission window, Wedding Wire will select the top 5 finalists in each of the superlative categories based on creativity, and individuality. 

• Finalists will be revealed on Wedding Wires landing page on September 18th

• From September 18 – September 25 people can vote on their favorite finalists in each category

• Winners will be selected and announced on September 28

• There will be 6 winners (1 for each superlative category)

• Winners will receive $1,000 cash prize + gallery wall from Framebridge (3 options available) 

*In partnership with WeddingWire. As always, all opinions are my own.