Timing

URIsweethearts · October 2011

hi all - OK so we are having a friday wedding over at our church in kingston. right now, ceremony is set for 3 pm. it will be a full catholic mass. cocktail hour is set for 6 pm in middletown. we also want to do a receiving line after the church. until about 415 or so. thing is - we met with a photographer last night who seemed concerned about the timing in order to allow enough time for pictures. we aren't taking any together prior to the ceremony. question is - how long did you leave for family/bridal/you photos? we would want to show up at the venue at the tail end of cocktail hour - 6:50 ish... this photographer is great, but she is kinda freaking me out now and making me think we wont have enough time and i do NOT want to feel rushed. help!

RoyalOrient · October 2011

Honestly, your photographer's concerns are legitimate. You should consider taking pictures before mass. Between 4:15 pm and 6 pm you might not have ample time for formal portraits with your bridal party and your family plus most photographers like to take their couples aside to take pictures too. You also need to factor in time for travel to where you want to have photos taken and the time to travel to the reception. It is Friday and rush hour is during that time.

I had to make changes in our schedule because my mother in law left her shoes somewhere, my husband was busy trying to find it at the house. He had to drive to the hotel to drop it off - instead of asking our DOC to take care of it. We lost about 30 minutes of looking for her shoes and driving around. We got married on a Sunday in Newport on a holiday weekend so it was busy on the roads. We were not able to go to our photo location because we were afraid to be late for the ceremony. We skipped the receiving line and met with guests at cocktail hour instead. It all worked out. Our photographer took us aside much later in the night for some photos so that might be an option too.

cozmo1145 · October 2011

We had a 2 PM mass & 5 PM cocktail hour (15 minute ride between). We did NOT have a receiving line & made it to cocktail hour by 5:15.

Rush hour traffic is a valid concern, other than that- I think you have plenty of time unless you have a long ride or are making numerous stops

The thing I realized as I progressed in the wedding planning process is that vendors all have their opinions. It's important to listen since they have more experience than any of us with weddings, but ultimately, it's your day & you're in charge. Verbalize what it is you want; if it's impossible, they'll let you know.

URIsweethearts · October 2011

thank you royal orient and cozmo for your responses. i thought that we were going to have enough time but after talking to the potential photographer, i began to get a little worried. the ceremony is at 3 now, it will be over with receiving line (FI really wants one) at about 415-420 (i'm hoping!) picture spot is 5 min drive down the road to the gardens on URI's campus....figured we would do photos from 430ish to 6? and then go to middletown? its about a 45 min ride to middletown from kingston - what do you guys think? my other thought is moving the ceremony up to 2 pm but I just think that is going to be too much time in between. we dont really need or want to stop at any other places for pics - maybe a couple down on the beach if we have time once we get to middletown.

LOMLBOAT · October 2011

I am having a 2:30 ceremony in Providence and a 6 pm cocktail hour in Newport. We are also having a Friday wedding and rush hour was a concern for us. For the extra 30 minutes early, we thought people could walk around Newport or just hang out at the Church while we take photos. We are going to be taking photos within walking distance from the reception so if it gets too late, we can just go over and finish the rest up later in the night like Moni suggested.

Like Cozmo said, it's your day, people assume weddings never start on time, so make sure to get all the pictures you want because that's what you'll have left after this crazy, awesome planning process.

i2012do · October 2011

I am having a 3:00 ceremony and then a 6:00 cocktail hour- however, everything is happening within a 5 mile radius. We are also doing a receiving line so we are figuring photos from 4:15-5:45.
I wouldn't assume you can make it in 45 minutes from one spot to the other, especially in December when you may hit weather or traffic for a special event in Newport (themansions usually have holiday openings etc and it can get trafficky around bellvuw coming into middletown). Also you are going to be going over major roads during rush hour.
I would leave an hour for travel.

That would leave 4:30-5;30 for photos. Conservatively
this may be enough IF you get all the formals with your parents and bridal party done. Then it just leaves photos with you and your fiance, and big group shots in the garden.
I would let your bms and groomsmen know you have to be really organized during that hour- so that you can get everything done. Sometimes they can alll be off chit chatting and doing their own thing and it makes it difficult to gather the group.

Also tkae in consideration you may want 5-10 minutes to freshen up when you get to ABC before attending the cocktail hour- so i would aim to get there closer to 6:30!

URIsweethearts · October 2011

thank you all for your comments. I think for now, we are going to leave the ceremony at 3...we may bump it to 230 just to give a little extra time - but I really think 2 is too early. the other issue is that the head priest at the church is sort of hard to deal with and thinks any time before 3 is wayyy too early and wont change it as of now. he is retiring in july but that is too late to move it up, esp if im booking other vendors - nevermind sending out invites! im hoping everything will work out as i refuse to see FI before the ceremony and he really wants a receiving line.

BelleandIzzy · October 2011

I agree with all of the previous comments. I work a lot in special events (I'm an actress which means I'm also a bartender, waitress, etc., haha) and the best plan is always the one that assumes everything will run late, not on time. If you plan for the extra 15-30 minutes that things tend to snowball off schedule, then you'll be right on time, or even 5 minutes early (which as mentioned previously isn't a bad thing, more time with your guests and to grab an appetizer or two for yourself before all the intros, first dance, etc).

Another thing that will help is to talk with your photographer to develop a shot list/schedule and make sure your bridal party and parents get a copy of it. Our photographer (Susan Sancomb) requests this and as our date draws closer (May 2012), we wll forward her a detailed list of the required family shots we want, etc. to help us use the time between ceremony and reception efficiently. Receiving lines are great but they can take up more time than most people plan for and while you're busy greeting everyone, Aunt so-and-so wanders off to talk to cousin so-and-so and they both go to hug a bridesmaid and before you know it, everyone is scattered and the minutes start ticking away. The last thing you want is for you to feel rushed when you finally gather everyone back up; it will show in the photos and you'll feel like you don't have time to capture the moments you're paying all that money to capture! Enlist your bridal party to help gently corral guests, communicate info, etc and you'll be fine.

My fiance and I are debating between a 3 or 4pm ceremony and our cocktail hour starts at 6pm. We also do NOT want to do a "first look" prior to the ceremony, so I want to ensure we have plenty of time for both the formal family and group bridal shots before some private time for just shots of us at a different beach location.

As mentioned, vendors all have their own opinions but remember they are formed from years of experience. The best vendors make sure to provide their honest professional opinion to ensure you are informed but at the end of the day you have to feel comfortable sharing your concerns and they have to be willing to work with you on it or they're probably not the best fit for you. : )

URIsweethearts · October 2011

hi again belles

thanks for your comments here too. as Ive said before - I dont want to be rushed and actually would probably want to eat something at the cocktail hour - I will probably be starving by then! unless I hide snacks in whatever transportation FI and I will be taking back and forth. photo list sounds great. FI wont budge on receiving line, so there is no help there - we may move it to 230. since all guests are out of town, it's not like anyone is going to be taking 1/2 day from work and coming to ceremony. they will all be here already so it shouldnt matter. we also do NOT want to do first look photos. i will take to heart the photographers option - after all they are the pros! thanks again.

dberrett · October 2011

Me again - I think you have plenty of time. We did formal shots of my BMs, Mom, and me before the ceremony, so that could take some time off of your post-ceremony. Ceremony from 1:30-2:30 without receiving line. However, we had to reinact the ceremony for the photos b/c he wasn't allowed to take them during the service! So we weren't done with that until 3. While the guests were leaving, the wedding party hopped immediately on the trolley, drove around, had champagne and pretzels, and came back. Half an hour total. Drove to our photo site 5 minutes away, and were to the cocktail hour about an hour later.
Are you going to ABC for your reception? Depending on where in Kingston you are, 45 minutes is good for travel time. The good news is that if you run late, the most you're missing is cocktail hour. I know it sucks, but it could be worse. Maybe do your family photos at the venue during cocktail hour to cut down on photo session time. That was the best decision I made!
Also, just as a point of interest, there's an old wive's tale that it's good luck to get married on the bottom of the hour, so 2:30 in your case. Just food for thought! :-)

URIsweethearts · October 2011

dberrett - thank you. i feel like we would have enough time at 3 pm but i dont want to feel rushed. if we move to 230 we might have a bit of a "cushion" in the timing which might be nice. we met with another photographer last night who thought 3 pm would be good for timing - and didnt freak me out as much as the first one did with feeling like im going to be rushed. we are going to ABC for reception and cocktail hour is at 6.

dberrett · October 2011

Go with your gut. IMHO, if a vendor gives you negative vibes right off the bat, it may not be the best for you, even if they're right. I would want to work with someone who is positive and doesn't give me a reason to freak out. Trust, me, you'll have other reasons and opportunities to freak out about later!
Maybe this other photographer is a better choice and would be more willing to work with your timeline. After all, it's about you, not them! But if you're still a little worried about the timeline, maybe talk to your church again about 2:30. Maybe the half hour difference wouldn't bother them as much. And then you'd have good vibrations from the old wive's tales coming your way! ;-)
ABC is awesome, they do a great job there!

URIsweethearts · October 2011

dberrett - yeah we are still debating about who to use and if we should meet with more people. we are getting there tho. we have gotten a lot done or put a "dent" into a lot of items on the to-do list

ABC is great - we are really excited!

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