Pictures after ceremony?

Smashleyk

What is everyone doing? If a time gap is rude, When Do we do pictures? Or do they head to the reception for cocktails and wait for us to get done?

random4180

We're doing some before the ceremony (but none with us together since he's not seeing me until I come down the aisle) and then others after. We're planning on taking any other formal shots after the wedding (during the cocktail hour.) I'm hoping that's enough time for us to get all of them done!

mandctaft

We are doing a lot of the pictures before. We are doing the first look so that helps. After the ceremony, everyone (not people we need for other pics) will head to the reception and snack on cracker and veggie trays and mingle. We are only anticipating 30 minutes of pics after the ceremony so thats not an unreasonable amount of time I think. But if you aren't doing the first look, get as many pictures as you can out of the way first.

toothpastechica

We are doing pictures between the ceremony and reception, its commen in my area for there to be time gaps...I have never once been to a wedding with a time gap less then an hour at the least!!! And I have gone to a LOT of weddings the past few years!  Our gap is an hour and a half, We are doing what we can to help our guests not get board: after the ceremony at the ceremony site we are putting out lemonaide and snacks, we are also providing a list of very local things to do in the area on our wedding website (wineries to visit etc), also the reception site has gardens that we are paying for everyone to have access to so they can go hang out in the gardens if they want to (and its a nice day!). Other then that in the end, they are adults..if they can't figure out how to entertain themselves for an hour, I think they are the ones who are a bit immature if they are going to complain tbh. Having said that, I have been to weddings that had 3-4 hour gaps..and that is not cool at all...I think 1-2 hours is about as much of a gap as I would be comfortable with! (Also this gap is why cocktail hours were invented...they are for your guests to hang out at....while you are NOT there because you are taking pictures!)

Magdala9

We did pictures before to avoid the time gap.     As I understand it, a small gap is acceptable if there is something to entertain the guests (the reason for the cocktail hour) while a large gap is rude.  We did the pictures before so that we could enjoy the cocktail hour with our guests. 

TiffannieF

We did pictures about 1 hour before (groom with GMs & his family, bride with BMs & my family), 45 minutes after the ceremony while guests went to cocktail hour (B & G with WP & families), and lastly the day after our HM (a week after the wedding) we had a session with just the 2 of us where we got dressed back up and 3 hours with our photog.  It was awesome.

pattib5

I think an hour gap after the ceremony is acceptable. This is typically the time for the cocktail hour - you're getting your pictures, your guests are enjoying cocktail hour. Once you arrive, that's when dinner begins.

That said, we didn't want to miss our cocktail hour, so we decided on a first look with our photographer. When she was convincing us of doing a first look, she put it this way, which totally sold me on the idea:

"I highly, highly, highly encourage doing photos before hand! Highly! Especially if your ceremony will be 5pm or later. What I typically like to do is have a "First Look" for the couple. I'll scout out a perfect, (ideally) private spot with great lighting. Then we take the groom out there and take some photos of him, then my assistant or I will get the bride and bring them out to the location and have the bride walk up to see her groom. So it's still very personal and exciting... but I think it's even better than the traditional seeing each other at the ceremony because you have private time together ... It gives you a chance to have that moment... but have it together alone, rather than with 50+ people looking on. You see each other, he tells you how amazing you look, you get to hug, kiss, love on each other and you don't have to wait through the whole ceremony to say what you want to say. I love, love, love first looks.

And the other bonuses aside from the emotional and personal aspect... is that after that we can do all (or almost all) the formals before the ceremony as well with great light (no flash!) and then after the ceremony your guests don't have to meander around for 45 minutes to an hour waiting for you guys to do photos. It's really a win-win for everyone involved.

Did I mention I highly encourage it? Everyone has done it has been tremendously glad they did... and it still doesn't change the "walking down the aisle" moment. Because the whole act of walking down the aisle with your soon to be husband looking at you is emotional regardless.

So, yes. Definitely consider a First Look! Definitely!!!"

Lisa50

We had our pictures taken while the guests enjoyed a cocktail hour.

LuckyHeather

We are doing pictures after the ceremony. 

During the time we are taking pictures, the guests will be at the cocktail hour.  We aren't planning to attend the cocktail hour until the very end of it (if we do at all).  Our planner says she will make it her mission to be sure we eat, so I would rather spend that hour taking really great photos while entertaining our guests with drinks and light appetizers. 

kaceymarie

take the majority before then family photos after.

melntaitt

We're still deliberating the first look so we can get some photos out of the way beforehand.

One thing we're thinking about doing is leaving the entire WP and family out of the receiving line to get the family pics without us out of the way. Hell, I'm rethinking the entire receiving line.

That first look does seem to be a time saviour though...