when I first started shooting weddings, I kept my opinions to myself. it is, after all, not my wedding day. and I thought it best to leave all of the decision making up to my couples. but then I realized, how valuable advice can be--because my couples have never planned a wedding before. so I share my brain with them. give them all their options. and one thing I've been pushing lately is doing a first look. 

the thing I always come back to is, what are the benefits to not doing a first look? other than it being traditional, there aren't any. I honestly can't come up with a single one. 

are there benefits to doing one? no joke there's a billion (I could write them all out, but Jeff Marsh already put it so eloquently here) . I can't come up with any cons to doing one. and I've never heard a couple say they regret doing a first look--though I have couples who regret not doing one. 

lauren and addison opted to see each other before their wedding this weekend. and it was such sweet, precious time. the calmest, quietest, happiest part of the day.