The First Look

Allright guys, I'm sort of on the fence about this topic and I'll tell you why. 

At heart, I'm a very traditional kind of girl.  I like habits and rituals and patterns.  I like things that are done the same way over and over again.  I'm not always so great with change.  I want to wear a long white dress on my wedding day, a dress that Mr. T won't ever see until the wedding.  And I want my daddy to walk me down the aisle.  I want to light our unity candle together, instead of pouring sand or drinking wine.  I like knowing that I'm following in the footsteps of so many other people, that I'm doing what millions of brides  before me have done.  I want to see that look in my future husband's eyes when he sees me for the first time walking down the aisle.  I absolutely don't want to do this "first look" that is becoming so popular.

But I do.

And I don't.

And I just can't make up my mind. 
I feel like it should be an easy decision because I'm only about 5% pro first look, and a whopping 95% against it.  The only real reason I want to do it, is so that we can take all of our pictures before the ceremony, so we can enjoy our cocktail hour and mingle with our guests.  The church is about 20 minutes out of town, and I don't want everyone to have to come back into town and then wait around until the cocktail hour starts; but I don't want to miss it either!  I feel like I'm being a little selfish here, but it feels like we would be missing part of our own wedding.

I'm sure that once I come to terms with the fact that we just might have to miss out on part of the cocktail hour, I'll be fine.  I'm really not ready to sacrifice that amazing moment.  I just can't imagine that a planned meeting could portray the magnitude of emotions produced by seeing my almost-husband as I walk down the aisle.  It feels like cheating to me, that seeing him standing at the altar, waiting for me, somehow won't be as special.

So yes, while some of these new wedding trends have their place, (colored heels and candy buffets, anyone?) this just isn't one of them for me.  This is just going to be one of those times where I'm going to be the traditional bride.  I'll make my momma proud, yet!

What do you think??  Are you waiting to see your future hubby, or are you saving time and taking a peek?