Traditions

Bride and Groom Seeing One Another before the Ceremony

This tradition does get lots of attention:

When brides were purchased in days of old, the custom was for the groom to pick his bride from a group of heavily veiled maidens, quite often the seller of the brides would substitue a less than desirable choice and resale the "chosen" one at next weeks sale. The groom would never know he had chosed the wrong maiden until he lifted the veiling.

Today that tradition has definitely been replaced with the bride and groom choosing their own mate. A lot of couples do see one another before the ceremony, so that pictures can be taken before the ceremony and just doing a few pictures after the ceremony. This is a real time saver. I like to arrange a "quiet time" before the picture taking begins, just the bride going up the aisle to meet her groom, usually takes about 10 minutes and it is a special time for the couple as that will probably be the only time they will have a few minutes for just the two of them throughout the wedding day. It also allows the couple to spend time with their guests during the cocktail time.