Day-of timeline and WBL & Stillwater questions (long!)

Izzygrim

Not having my day-of timeline done is starting to drive me crazy. I'm trying to nail down when the ceremony and dinner will be so that I can start planning pictures, hair appts, etc.

I have a few constraints I need to work with. First, we have our ceremony location from 4:30pm-7:30pm, NO earlier. Second, we can't start the ceremony until at least 5:30pm (officiant scheduling constraints). Our ceremony location (Trellis in Stillwater) and reception location (White Bear Country Inn) are about 15-20 minutes away from each other.  I want to be able to take plenty of pictures before the ceremony at our ceremony location because it is so pretty. I'd prefer to take all of our pictures there if at all possible, I'm just not sure that's feasible.

A few questions : )
What would you recommend for ceremony and dinner (it will be plated) start times?? How late do you think we could start dinner on a Saturday evening assuming there probably won't be much time for a cocktail hour/appetizers?

I'm thinking the best option so that we can do all pictures at our ceremony location is a 6pm ceremony (it won't be any longer than 20-30min) and 7pm dinner, but I'm just not sure that's feasible.

If you don't think I'll be able to realistically get all pictures done at the ceremony location, does anyone have suggestions of where we can do our 'first look' and take pictures in White Bear Lake or Stillwater or around that area?

TIA!!! I've been thinking about this forever and just can't come up with a good solution!

kkaew816

I think a 6:00 ceremony and 7:00 reception might be pushing it; you won't want to feel rushed. I think a 5:30 ceremony start time would be more realistic with 7:00 dinner or 6:00 ceremony with 7:30 dinner.

If you're taking pictures before the ceremony you'll want to be done at least 30 minutes before it starts (at least that's what we're doing!)

. I think any area around downtown Stillwater would be perfect for pictures and a first look.

So...something like this... maybe?

3:00 First look downtown Stillwater
3:00-4:15 Formal Pics
4:15-4:30 Travel to Trellis
4:30-5:00 Pictures at Trellis
5:00-5:30 Wait for ceremony
5:30 Ceremony

Liberty27

My photographer told me 5 per grouping in formals, so write down who exactly you want in "groups" (and give this to the photographer) and that will give you a better idea of how long formals will take.

Liberty27

Oh! and I also agree that 6pm ceremony and 7 pm reception is pushing it.  My FSIL and FBIL got married last May and they had a 6 pm ceremony.  I ate at almost 7:30-8 and we didn't have to travel to get to the reception. 

Muffers

I am no help on timeline, but I grew up in WBL so I'm happy to chat about my hometown   
WBL has a  quaint downtown area that would be great for photos and it's just down the street from the WB Country Inn. there is a little gazebo right off of Hwy 61 w/a cobblestone street. Some of the older buildings downtown would make for interesting back drops, as would some of the bars/restaurants. Plenty of options on the lake, as well- there is a little dock that juts out into the water (off of Hwy 61 near the VFW on the lake), Manitou Park w/a 2 story white old-school gazebo, manitou island w/a little bridge crossing and the marina w/sailboats.  I suggest taking an hour sometime over the next few months and wandering around Downtown WBL and the lakeshore area to see if anything tickles your fancy.
good luck!

Izzygrim

Thanks for all the help ladies!!! I really appreciate it!

Muffers- Thank you so much for the WBL recommendations! FI and I will have to do a little exploring to see what we like, I really really appreciate the tips!