Summer In Ohio ~ From Bliss Wedding And Event Design
We’d like to start a conversation this afternoon about a subject that is near and dear to our hearts. The question of whether to have a “first look” before the ceremony or not. For our long-time readers, you’ll know that we LOVE first looks. The opportunity to have a private moment before the ceremony, the chance to leisurely capture the emotion of seeing each other for the first time in all your wedding finery. To be able to kiss and hug and snuggle a bit before all the tradition begins. Well, we’ll leave it a that! But we DO totally get the impact of seeing each other as the bride walks toward her groom. We DO get it that THIS is sometimes THE BEST moment of the whole day! So what do you think? What are YOUR plans?
Ashley and Andrew were married at the Bryn Du Mansion in Granville Ohio. They chose to have a first look session …
from Bliss Weddings and Events … Ashley and Andrew attended a near by college – Dennison University, and knew that the mansion was the perfect location for their wedding. Thier emotional first look was on Dennision’s campus, just down the road from the Bryn Du Manstion. Ashley pretty much gave us carte blache with the design. After discussing the feel of her summer garden wedding, we felt that mixing clean whites, beautiful plum purple with touches of grassy green created the perfect palette for this summer wedding.
photography courtesy of C Studios
The ceremony was held on the mansion’s front drive overlooking the expansive front lawn. Parasols were provided to help shade the guests as well as a fruit infused ice water station was also available to guests as they waited for the ceremony to begin. During the ceremony Ashely and Andrew performed a sand ceremony. As a personal touch, the sand was from Ashley’s parent’s beach house. Her mom scooped the sand and drove it all the way to Ohio a few days prior to the wedding.
Ashley and Andrew greeted guests as they entered the cocktail area on the West Terrace. Servers were also on hand to pass sparkling prosecco with fresh raspberries to help them cool off in the summer heat. Guests then made their way down to the West Lawn where Ashley and Andrew’s reception tent was waiting. Guest’s dined on Boursin Crusted Filets and Maryland Crab Cakes – homage to Ashley’s hometown Bethesda Maryland. After dinner guests were treated to wedding cake by Jan Kish’s La Petite Fleur and scoops of Ashley and Andrew’s favorite ice cream from Whit’s Frozen Custard in Granville. As guests departed for the evening, each received a small bag of Parisian macaroons from Pistacia Vera, a Columbus Ohio favorite!
Guests traveled from all over the country to join in the festivities for the wedding. Guests stayed at the historic Granville Inn (shown in Ashley’s getting ready photos), haunted Buxton Inn and family friendly Cherry Valley Lodge. Guests were greeted in their hotel rooms with custom designed hotel welcome boxes that were filled with goodies, including some of Ashley and Andrew’s favorite cookies. The next morning Ashley and Andrew joined their guests for a send off brunch at the Granville Inn. {Side note: You can’t tell by looking at the pictures but it was 95 degrees that day with 100% humidity. It was SO beyond hot! Everyone was able to forget about the heat and really just enjoyed the day with Ashley and Andrew and their families.}
Congratulations ~ Ashley and Andrew! And a big thank-you to Bliss Wedding and Event Design for sharing!!
So ~ to do or not to do ~ a First Look Session?
We’d love to hear from you guys ~ those who’ve been there and those who are planning to be!
(Photographers and Planners feel free to chime in!)
Photography: C Studios / Flowers: Flowers On Orchard Lane / Event Planning and Design: Bliss Wedding & Event Design / Venue: Bryn Du Mansion / Invitations: Seedlings / Cocktail Musicians: Class Acts Entertainment / Reception Entertainment: Jaded Angel / Catering: Made From Scratch / Rentals: Lasting Impressions / Linens: La Tavola Linens / Accommodations: Granville Inn / Cake: Jan Kish, La Petite Fleur Favors: Pistacia Vera
21 Comments about “Summer In Ohio ~ From Bliss Wedding And Event Design”
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My fiance and I are still trying to figure out the whole "first look" thing! Our photographers are advocating for it, but my fiance loves the idea of seeing me walk down the aisle...the romance, the emotion, the tradition. Awwww. So even though it might make our post-ceremony picture taking much longer, in the end it'll probably be worth it. He isn't asking for much regarding the wedding, so when he feels strongly about something I'm leaning toward giving it to him :)
Lovely photos! But just a note, it's "Denison" - you've got an extra "n"!
We are doing a "first glance/look" session. My fiance is very emotional so I'm afraid that he'll lose it for the entire ceremony if we do not have this time together beforehand (for him to lose it then! haha). Same for me too though.
My finace and I decided to not do a first look session. We decided there was something special about not seeing eachother until the moment I walk down the aisle. We feel that there is something unbeleivably romantic & timeless about staying with an old tradition.
In my opinion the "First Look" is the best invention of the 21st Century. I've been in countless weddings and it is a marvelousidea for several reasons. 1. The bride and groom are not nearly as nervous if they have had a few private moemnts together before facing each other down a long aisle. 2. You spend so much of the day catching up with friends and relatives that there are surprising few private moments between the newly weds throughut the ceremony and reception. 3. There is nothing worse when a guest at a wedding than when the bride, groom, and bridal party leave you to languish for an hour or two chatting with their relatives over drinks, while they are off taking photos. 4. The bride and groom actually get to enjoy their own cocktail hour if they do the first look and photos beforehand. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE beleive me when I say that far from ruining the fun and anticipation of the day, the first look only allows you to enjoy the day more thouroughly. Advice though. If you do do first look and photos before the ceremony, leave more time for this than you think you’ll need. You don’t want to be late to your wedding :)
Oh I fully support doing a first look! i actually struggled with the decision for a while. but in the end it was the best choice for many reasons: it allowed us to spend a leisurely afternoon taking ALL the family and WP photos before the ceremony, we were more relaxed throughout the day, and it made me less nervous to have him with me as we waited for the ceremony to start. also, if we had had to squeeze photos into the time span of the cocktail hour we would have been super rushed which would have stressed me out to no end and that was the last thing I wanted to feel on my wedding day! plus we and our WP were able to enjoy the cocktail hour which was great!
I like the idea of having a "first look" only because of the timing for pictures... Other then that, I prefer my "first look" to happen as I walk down the aisle as I agree with the Andrea above (about it being romantic/timeless). I've decided that although it will leave little time after the ceremony for pictures, it is worth the first look happening down the aisle (for us). To each their own! :) Congrats!
Ashley's gorgeous wedding look can be found at La Jeune Mariee in Worthington, Ohio. LJM is a SMP Little Black Book vendor.
The first look is a no brainer to us! Being able to see my fiance before hand will help me de-stress and make me less nervous for the ceremony. Also, our wedding site is an historical home, so the ceremony and reception is located at the same place. No travel time to help with picture taking time! I think it will help the day flow better. And I can't wait to have some alone time with him since the entire weekend is going to be packed with family and friends we haven't seen in a while. So it's a good choice for us!
oh, look at these two love birds, so lovely,
Personally, I would be torn! I love the idea of having a first look, but to see the look on your soon-to-be-husband's face just as you walk down the aisle, that's priceless as well.
Wonderful photos here, I've always been a big fan of purple, and this plum shade is complemented well by the green. The parasol is a nice, personal touch too. Thanks!
I believe the first look session is a great way to go. You still have a flood of emotions when you see your bride first walk down the aisle.
In our case, we were together the entire day because his youngest brother had to be taken to the emergency room plus other things that seem to constantly put us together the day of our wedding. But even with all of the weird things that happened the day of our wedding, when our eyes met as I walked down the aisle towards him, all jitters went away and it was pure bliss.
Honestly, I think the first look is a toss up for me. I'm not in that position so I can't really say which I would choose. But I definitely think there are benefits to both. I do like surprises...
My fiance and I have discussed this in depth. While we both understand the benefit of the first look (and man, have we seen gorgeous pictures of them!), he feels that he really wants to keep that part traditional. He said he wants to see me for the first time at the top of the aisle, just when everyone else does. He hasn't felt one way or the other on most of the wedding planning issues, so I'm going with him, just like Lindsay above. Plus, we are not having a very traditional wedding so this is one thing that we can do that is traditional and beautiful at the same time.
Were the barn pictures taken @ the mansion, too? I love that background!
I love, love, LOVE all of the first look photos that I've seen but FI isn't down with it - even if it will save us time/stress... like the other posters this is one of the very few things he actually has an opinion on.
The impression that I get from the first look is really to capture the groom's reaction to seeing you for the first time, which can be captured just as easily if you have two photographers during the ceremony (one trained on you and one on him). The "result" (ie: emotion) is the same. Who cares if you get emotional in from of all of you loved ones. Obviously they know that you guys love each other otherwise you wouldn't be getting married. So I'm not upset about it :-)
As a professional photographer, I must say I TOO LOVE THE FIRST LOOK! Normally you struggle to capture that moment when the groom sees the bride about to walk down the isle. Difficult to show both bride and groom as they are normally about 50 feet apart at this time. The FIRST LOOK is a great emotional shot. I would strongly recommend this!
Whitney - yes the barn is on the Bryn Du Mansion's property. It's funny because most people ignore it but it looks so lovely in the photos!
Ok 1st off I love love love the flowers lining the aisle - will have to check my church pews to see if I can do something similar.
2nd - I am completely against the 1st look idea. There is nothing better I think than that feeling you get when you see each other for the first time walking down the aisle - since I'm 6 mths away from my wedding I'm not an expert :) For those people who were guests at a wedding where the bride and groom were gone fo 2 hours after the ceremony that's poor planning on the the couple's part. You should have places scoped out and plan an hour max for photos. I know we all want amazing shots but there will be planty from the whole day, the 2 of you getting ready, the cermony, the location ones afterwards, and then the random ones from the reception....
We didn't do a first-look session, and I have no regrets about that at all! It was amazing to see the look on my fiance's face as I walked down the aisle. So emotional! I wouldn't trade that for the world. And there is something so romantic about keeping this tradition. I understand people like to have more time for amazing photos, but this is a moment that I will always cherish (and by the way, our photographer and her assistant were able to capture my husband's reaction, as well as mine, so it can be done).