Most of time for something like the first look, the bride usually just makes the decision. An easy element of the wedding where we (guys) can say, honey I’ll love whichever you decide. (Haha, I love that line.) Of course we want to provide input, share thoughts or benefits to either side of the coin too. What’s the obvious? You get more pictures ahead of time. Flip side – you break tradition. Those are the two major cards thrown around, right? My wife and I wed this past October and chose a first look… and guess what? More of the decision didn’t have to do with pictures or tradition. Read on – I’ll share why – but first, a few thoughts on tradition.

Photo Credit: Liz and Ryan

There’s something honorary and beautiful about following tradition. Waking up at 7am on December 25th every year is basically a given excitement and joy. You would never say, “Let’s do presents at 3pm!” The ongoing tradition is something that will most likely never change. How about dinner and a movie for the first date? Okay, that fits a tradition but is major lame sauce (shout out to Dani Leigh) but it’s what most resort to if you’re trying to keep it simple. Haven’t we managed to push that typical first date past dinner and a movie nowadays? Rock climbing, pottery making or going fishing are recent first dates I’ve heard of. My good friend even took his now wife to the gun range to target practice. Still don’t know if that was a good idea… Anyway!  You know what my family did last Thanksgiving? Got Chinese food. That’s right – asian flavor on a day where we’re still proud ‘Mericans.  Orange chicken, sushi, egg rolls – you name it, we did it all. Why? Because we can. Because it was a break from the norm. Because it’s fun to switch things up in life and be spontaneous. Sure enough though, it also made us really look forward to this year’s Thanksgiving.

Photo Credit: Dani Leigh Photography

“We’ve always done it that way” is a term that’s always sorta scared me. How can we ever grow if we’re stuck in our ways? The beauty and fun in life is the process of discovery! Taking risks. Dipping your feet in the unknown. Now, I also believe in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – like my car, but we’re often in opportunities of more needin’ a breath of fresh air than not. Our lives are calculated; tomorrow’s planned with meetings and arrangements, and you know every day this week while driving to work the same radio station playing with the same red lights with your usual parking spot. Routine is the comfort of life but choosing to changes things up can evoke your spontaneity side and make you appreciate returning to the norm.

Photo Credit: Meaghan Elliott Photography

So… why did we choose a First Look? Because I wanted a moment to fully embrace my fiancée as the beautiful bride she’s worked almost a year to be. To see the make up she’s had trials and trials on. To see her dress, the one she picked out after trying on countless others. To see the hairstyle she chose after looking through dozens on Pinterest. To see her huge smile as a result of waiting her entire life to show her future husband the princess she’s dreamed of being. That’s why. Because she deserves it. Did it save time on pictures, yeah… it did.  But to see every detail that she worked so tirelessly on, to be glowing on that Autumn afternoon took the cake, above all else.

Below I decided to share some raw footage of our own first look.

Cinematography: Cord3Films

So what do you think about this perspective? Share your thoughts in the comments below!