'Why I'm planning to see my fiancé before I walk down the aisle on our wedding day.'

Jasmine Yarbrough wore a short-hemmed wedding dress to her Mexican ceremony and set the tone for what was far from a traditional wedding.

One tradition the couple chose to buck? Not seeing each other before the aisle on their wedding day. Instead, they had a photo session prior to the ceremony.

But while this move may have come as a surprise to some people, anyone in the midst of, or who has planned a wedding in the past few years, would likely not have raised an eyebrow.

Because in 2018 seeing your partner before the wedding is not that unusual anymore. In fact, as with anything millennials think they invented, there’s even a term for it.

It’s called a “first look” – and it’s when the bride and groom do a private photo session before their wedding. It’s named so because the photographer will attempt to capture the couple’s “first look” at each other in their wedding attire.

It may be still a little new in Australia, but over in the US first looks are gaining popularity. In a YouTube video she filmed on the subject, US-based wedding planner Jamie Wolfer says “a tonne of people these days are doing first looks”.

“It’s because there are so many good merits to doing it.”

And I’m one of them.

My partner and I are planning to see each other on our wedding day before I walk down the aisle.

For us, as for many couples who choose to take photos before their wedding, it’s a timing thing. By having our private photo session before our ceremony instead of afterwards, we can spend less time taking photos during “cocktail hour” and more time hanging out with our guests.

We’ll still take family portraits, bridal party shots and a few photos together (plus sneak out for another photo session at sunset) but we will also have time to crash the canapes and chat to everyone before we all sit down for dinner.

There’s also the added bonus of spending more time together on our wedding day. For some couples, the first look is also a chance for them to get any nerves or weirdness out of the way.

The only cons might arise if your wedding is planned for say 12pm and you would need to wake up even earlier to fit a photo session in beforehand (don’t sacrifice your beauty sleep). Another might be if you’re super traditional or superstitious and the thought of seeing your groom or bride before the aisle makes you break out in hives.

But if this is the case, you might want to school yourself on where the “tradition” of not seeing each other before the wedding came from.

It harks back to a time when the bride and groom often hadn’t met before their wedding day. The bride and groom weren’t supposed to see each other before the ceremony for fear that the groom might take one look at her and call off the wedding.

Not something most Australian couples would be worried about in 2018.

Are you married or planning a wedding? Did you do a first look or are you planning to see each other before your ceremony?