Time for photos

tehlibbyness

Our wedding and reception are both at the same place. The ceremony is outside and then everyone goes inside for the reception. My question is how long is acceptable to make people wait for the reception to make sure I have time for photos in between? My photographer wants at least an hour and a half but I wasn't sure if that would be too long.

MyNameIsNot

Your guests shouldn't be waiting.  They should be having cocktail hour (or some sort of refreshments) before the meal begins.  

An hour is the longest you should make them wait.  Any decent photographer can finish up photos in an hour.  You should do as many as possible before the ceremony.  

OliveOilsMom

tehlibbyness said:

Our wedding and reception are both at the same place. The ceremony is outside and then everyone goes inside for the reception. My question is how long is acceptable to make people wait for the reception to make sure I have time for photos in between? My photographer wants at least an hour and a half but I wasn't sure if that would be too long.

Your guests should be hosted from the moment they arrive to the wedding.  So while you won't be serving food during the ceremony, they will have a chair to sit and relax in during the ceremony.  Afterwards, they should go right into cocktail hour for food and drinks.

Are you going to do a first look?  My friend is getting married in just about a month and they are doing a first look and having all pictures done before the ceremony, so that they too can go enjoy the cocktail hour. 

I also think an hour and a half is way too long.  At the most an hour should be sufficient.  If you don't want to do a first look, then get all of the pictures you can done before the ceremony.  So you and your girls, you with your family, FI and the guys, and FI and his family.  Then after the ceremony, you just need B&G only, B&G with family, and B&G with WP.  

OwningAHome1981

We did all the photos before our ceremony. We didnt want to miss cocktail hour. We did first look, got all pics done with bm's/gm's & family as well. That way no one had to miss cocktail hour.

The downside of this is that he will have to see you before the ceremony but that didnt bother us bc we didnt want to force ppl to have to miss cocktail hour to take pics.

[Deleted User]

Depending on how big your family is that you want in photos & the bridal party, and how organized everyone is, it can take 90 minutes easily to do the photos. I think the key is trying to get as many photos done prior to the ceremony, like all the shots of you w/BM & him w/GM, you & your parents, him & his parents, any sibling shots, etc. Then you just have to focus on shots together the ceremony. Make sure you know who you want in shots, let them know where to be & when and try to do it in an organized way so it can go smoothly.