The saying goes, “When you know, you know.” When we first met Hanh and Bryan, we knew they had something special and were quite a wonderful couple. All year long, we were excited and anxious for their big weekend because of all the beautiful Vietnamese wedding traditions, the multitude of family love, and the excitement coming from these two! We are so thankful we got to spend a beautiful August afternoon with Hanh and Bryan as they said “We do!” Thank you so much for welcoming us into your home, family, and wedding day!
Cheers,
Mike & Taylor
Bryan + Hanh’s First Look Interview
Bryan : “I never gave much thought to the idea of the first look before the wedding, so I didn’t really have any expectations for how it would go. Now that I’m looking back I think they were some of my favorite pictures from the entire wedding because they captured us at a moment that just felt so natural. This is saying a lot for someone that generally hates being in front of a camera. I feel that the way we did our first look set the tone for the day as we were celebrating us and the journey that we have embarked upon together.
Having the first look done before the ceremony allowed me to walk down the aisle more at ease. Being more relaxed let me soak in the things around me, it allowed me to acknowledge those in attendance, it let me pay closer attention to how much fun the flower girls were having in their time to shine and it let me appreciate the way Hanh was walking down the aisle with such confidence & beauty.
My family did not have any polarizing opinions against our decision to do a first look. Of course we fielded questions about the superstitions of seeing each other before the wedding, but nobody ever criticized us for doing it this way. I think what made it special was that it allowed us to really just focus in on this one particular moment in a way we weren’t able to do at any other point the rest of the day. The remainder of the wedding and reception felt like we were being pulled in thirty different directions and it made it difficult to really appreciate those little moments that came along.
I would absolutely do the first look with Hanh again and it is something I would highly recommend that people consider for their wedding. The single most memorable moment was that the first look really felt like the transition point away from the stress of wedding planning and shifting focus more towards the enjoying every moment of the day.”
Hanh : “Our wedding weekend was our chance to celebrate our love and all the adventures ahead, but it was also a weekend filled with family, friends, lost shoes, crying babies, chaos, and a hundred other details. I loved our first look because it was an intimate, private moment (other than with our photographers!) in the middle of such a full weekend; I could focus on the fact that I was and am so happy and thankful for this wonderful man in my life.
I was so much more relaxed for our ceremony after I saw Bryan. Our families were supportive of our wedding decisions and knew that since Bryan and I are pretty private people, a first look on our own before the ceremony was a more heartfelt way of expressing our excitement and love. My most memorable moment was Bryan’s reaction: how he immediately hugged me and lifted me up in the air and how completely comfortable and excited we were about each other and about the day. (That’s why I couldn’t stop laughing, all my emotions just bubbled over :]) I would do it all over again because even though all those details were important, our marriage was the most important part of that day and our first look gave me time to soak that in.”
