No Peeksies!

I am one of the most impatient people I know.  I always ruin my surprises by finding things out that I later regret.  Christmas gifts, birthday surprises, etc.  I know that I will regret it, yet I ALWAYS act like a CIA agent and try to find things out. Like Brad Pitt in "Burn After Reading"...big, clumsy spy who gets myself in trouble.

My "spy-ing" ways is not a new thing. I have done it my whole life.  So I decided when it comes to my wedding, for the first time in my life I need to keep surprises.  But what surprises are in a wedding you ask?  Well, many my loyal readers, MANY.


The most important surprise in the wedding is my wedding gown, in my opinion.  I knew from day one that I did not want Eric to know what my wedding gown looked like.  That is not only a surprise, but a tradition that I really wanted us to partake in.  I really look forward to the moment he sees me for the first time in my wedding gown, all dolled up.


One thing we decided to do though so that he felt involved in the wedding gown selection process was for him to choose an image of a gown that he thought I would wear and put it in an envelope.  We decided that would be a really cute idea.  On the wedding night, I'll open the envelope and see if his idea of my perfect wedding gown is the same as my actual wedding gown.  I am really looking forward to this.  I think it makes for a cute moment we'll always remember and I cannot wait to put it in my scrapbook.


I know that most people probably don't think that's a cool idea, but this is OUR wedding and we decided to do that in lieu of many other things.  One thing we are opting out if is the ever-so-popular "First Look" session.

Those of you not involved in the wedding world, a first look is when the bride and groom see each other before the wedding ceremony.  It helps give them a moment of peace and calmness before the most important time of their life.  A lot of people absolutely love the first look.  They say it relaxes them, bonds them, and helps the groom gather himself before standing at the altar.  The amount of emotions running through a bride and groom as the bride walks down the aisle are ridiculous.  Add to that the awe a groom feels when he sees the woman he loves all dolled up can sometimes make it overwhelming, so I understand why people like the first look session.  Also, you get amazing photos like this.

They're beautiful photos and I love the emotion in the faces, but they ruin the surprise.  As much as I love these types of pictures, I really want to be a surprise to Eric when I walk down the aisle.  I am, however, worried that I am going to be a hot mess.  One solution to this problem could be to do a modified first-look session.  We could do a first look session where we don't actually see each other.  You don't understand do you?  Well, here are some examples.

I REALLY like this idea.  The photos are beautiful, you see the excitement on the faces, and it doesn't ruin the surprise of how they look on the big day.  Downside?  Knowing me, I would trip and ruin my dress and he would see how I look.  Oopsies, that would be a big poopsies.  I can't trust that I will be careful and not let him see me.  Knowing me, I would stand near a mirror and not know it and he would see everything.  Another downside, I truly don't know if this would calm me down or stress me out more not being able to see him but being able to hold his hand.  I truly don't know if I would get too anxious that way.


Regardless of whether or not we do a no-look first-look, I know we don't want to see each other before the big moment.  No looksies for us.  While a lot of our wedding may be non-traditional, we have decided that we want the whole traditional "don't see each other the day of the wedding" thing.  Will this cause extra stress and anxiety? Yeah maybe.  But it will also lead to a moment that I have always looked forward to as a kid.