Timeline Question

lovemesomemonster

Not sure where to put this so someone please tell me if I should put it in a different place!

I have had it in my mind since the beginning of planning that we would do a first look and get most of the pictures done before the ceremony. My man isn't the most romantic or traditional person so I just assumed he would be fine with this. He shocked me when I asked if he wanted to see me before the ceremony and this is about the only thing he had a definite response for, he absolutely does NOT. So I'm looking for advice from all of you ladies on here.. 

If you didn't do a first look, how long did you take for photos after the ceremony? I assume you need to fit in the wedding party and family and just the two of you. In my mind it will just take more planning, know exactly what you need to get and where to knock it out and get to the reception.

sarawifenow

We did a first look, so I am no help there.

 

You should only take an hour in between the ceremony and reception (cocktail hour).

 

What if you do wedding party pictures and any pictures without the two of you in them before the ceremony and then the rest after? That should give you more time.

 

ETF: Spelling

ashley8918

I did a first look,and wouldn't have it any other way, so I'm no help. 

lovemesomemonster

Thanks ladies, I had my heart set on a first look but if it is something he feels strongly about then we will just have to change up the plan I had in my own head. I feel like it will make it more stressful time wise but I absolutely want to respect his feelings about it!

PamBeesly524

sarawifenow said:

We did a first look, so I am no help there.

 

You should only take an hour in between the ceremony and reception (cocktail hour).

 

What if you do wedding party pictures and any pictures without the two of you in them before the ceremony and then the rest after? That should give you more time.

 

ETF: Spelling

This is what I'm planning to do! That way, if we need the full hour to take photos with the both of us, we'll have it. If not, more time to enjoy the appetizers

southernbelle0915

DH was the same way, did NOT want a first look. 

We had two photographers, so before the ceremony one did groom/GM/family photos with him and one did bride/BM/family photos with me.

After the ceremony, we had about an hour. It was enough time to do the family formals and WP photos (all that we knocked out in about 30 minutes). Then the WP and families headed up to cocktail hour. We did another 30 minutes of just us. 

As long as you have an organized list of the photos you want and who needs to be in them, plus a good photog, an hour is PLENTY. We were almost killing time before our intro into the reception.

lovemesomemonster

southernbelle0915 said:

DH was the same way, did NOT want a first look. 

We had two photographers, so before the ceremony one did groom/GM/family photos with him and one did bride/BM/family photos with me.

After the ceremony, we had about an hour. It was enough time to do the family formals and WP photos (all that we knocked out in about 30 minutes). Then the WP and families headed up to cocktail hour. We did another 30 minutes of just us. 

As long as you have an organized list of the photos you want and who needs to be in them, plus a good photog, an hour is PLENTY. We were almost killing time before our intro into the reception.

This is great to hear, I hadn't even thought of doing any family before but since all parents will be there it makes sense!  We will also have a cocktail hour so no worries there for guests!

flantastic

My H was also in the "I want to see you at the other end of the aisle and have that be the moment" camp.

You really don't need that many pictures. Before the wedding, we took pictures of me with my BMs and H with his GMs beforehand (along with some candids of us hanging out separately with family and friends, a few pictures of us with our parents, etc.), and then we took family portraits and pictures of us/everybody together after the ceremony and showed up to the reception at the end of cocktail hour.

RebeccaFlower

My H also didn't want a first look. We did... 

2:30-3:15 Groom & family photos

3:15-3:45 bride & family photos

4:00-4:25 Ceremony

4:25-4:40 Pics at Church

4:50-5:10 Pics at second location 

5:20 Enter reception

All locations were within 10 minutes of each other, so moving around was easy. 

I have two major pieces of advice..

1) Make a serious list & take all pictures that don't involve both of you prior to the ceremony. Like you & your parents, siblings, etc. 

2) Wedding photos are important, but know that you will have amazing photos without sacrificing your guests. Don't try to cram in too much, it's not worth wasting your entire day. Don't do the same groups of people with different backgrounds. You don't need 100 photos of you & your H. 30 is more than enough... Are you really going to hang 100 photos in your home of you & your H? My parents had exactly zero photos of their wedding in our home growing up. 

Good luck to you!

momofbride530

My daughter and her FI are not doing a first look. We are doing as many photos as we can before the ceremony then allocating about 45 min for the rest.

beethery

I get confused every time I see a post with this name. Because I've seen it like... 1000 times. I think in C&T.

littlepep

Echoing PPs in that you could always do some of the bridal party pictures and family pictures beforehand and then get some group shots with both of you after. Should save some time. 

Cookie Pusher

We didn't have a first look. We also didn't want a ton of posed photos (just a few for our families). I think we ended up spending about a half hour on that stuff before we headed over for our cocktail hour. Our photographers were super efficient and already had our photo list, so that helped things move along more quickly.

beachyone15

We also didn't do a first look. We took about 30 minutes at the church after the ceremony to do family photos. The we took some of the bridal party and just us two outside. Our photographer really helped to keep things moving. I agree with making a list, especially in regards to the family photos. We did parents first, then added in grandparents, then added in aunts/uncles/cousins, etc. It worked out well and we didn't end up with a million photos of the same thing.

flyingfoxes

We aren't doing a first look either, so my plan is to get all of my family photos out of the way pre-ceremony, then doing the family photos with the 2 of us after the ceremony and then the photos of just us.  I can't imagine we'd need more than an hour post-ceremony.

redheadbride15

Agree that you can save some time by doing family photos as well as bride + BM and groom + GM photos pre-ceremony. Then you only need the cocktail hour for bride & groom plus a few big combined family and bridal party shots. I have a friend who did it this way when I was a BM and it took less than half an hour so we still got to attend the second half of the cocktail hour.

We're doing a first look but my FI also put up some resistance initially, which is very strange because he's also really laid-back and non-traditional. Just goes to show sometimes you don't really know what's important to people until you ask!

Maggie0829

We did not do a first look.  Me and my family took some pictures before the ceremony but not a lot, so the majority of your photos were taken during cocktail hour.  In all we took about 50 minutes worth of photos.  And really, that was more then enough time posing in front of a camera for me. We got a shit ton of shots, and lets be honest, how many different poses and combinations do you really need?

So having the majority of pictures taken during cocktail hour should be plenty of time.

katiekessler123

We didn't do a first look and I still very vividly remember the look on my husband's face when I walked down the aisle with my dad.  I'm really glad the first time he saw me was walking down the aisle...anyway, that's neither here nor there.  

We got all of our family photos done in maybe 10 minutes after the ceremony.  We had a list of who we wanted in each photo, and our photographer was super organized about it.  It was really fast and easy.  Then we took photos with our wedding party and just ourselves for maybe half an hour when the cocktail hour was happening.  We wanted to be at the cocktail hour for at least some of it, and we were there for about 15 or so minutes.  At first, it seemed like it was almost "too quick" and I was a bit worried we wouldn't have enough good photos...but we ended up with literally over 1,500 photos!  And there were plenty of good ones in the bunch.

vmj23

We didn't do a first look.  I had a 2nd shooter so my photographer was with me and the girls before hand and the 2nd shooter was with him and the guys, to take those pics (getting ready and me with the girls him with the guys).   We spent under an hour between the ceremony and reception to take photos.  First we family shots and full bridal party and then they left for the rest of cocktail hour and we did our portraits.   We got to cocktail hour about 10 min before it ended.   Our photographer was organized with a list of must take shots and kept everyone moving along.   

dolewhipper

southernbelle0915 said:

DH was the same way, did NOT want a first look. 

We had two photographers, so before the ceremony one did groom/GM/family photos with him and one did bride/BM/family photos with me.

After the ceremony, we had about an hour. It was enough time to do the family formals and WP photos (all that we knocked out in about 30 minutes). Then the WP and families headed up to cocktail hour. We did another 30 minutes of just us. 

As long as you have an organized list of the photos you want and who needs to be in them, plus a good photog, an hour is PLENTY. We were almost killing time before our intro into the reception.

This. We were actually able to have 15 minutes of cocktail hour with our guests.