How long...

AmoroAgain

I noticed a post that was made last night where someone thought 4 hours of pictures was unnecessary.  So, it got me thinking, how long did everyone else start taking pictures before the ceremony? 

We did do 4 hours before.  However, I made sure to bring snacks and drinks for everyone.  Plus, they had lot's of downtime, and we took nothing but family photos after the ceremony.

FutureMrsDudley55

We are taking 3.5 hours before the ceremony to get pictures done.

crfische

Let's seee...I bet it was close to four. Three for sure. But our pictures were at the bar, so I'm sure that took a little bit of the sting out.

opalsky007

2.5 hours, and it wasn't enough. Maybe we can chalk this up to my photographer's inexperience, but I only got about half the shots I wanted. It's one of the few things I wish I could change.

Night_Sprite

Formals are 3 hours before, but we have to be out of the church about 45 minutes before the ceremony.  We are having the photographer there for getting ready pictures and all that jazz, though.  

mwhitson14

I can only afford my photog for 4 hours, so we're planning on 2 hours of photos before the wedding so I have her long enough to shoot the ceremony and reception pics.

SwedishChick2011

I think we started pictures only 2 or 2.5 hours before the ceremony, but we had a small wedding party, so it worked out well.

RachNRich

We'll be doing about 4---but, we'll be traveling all over the Vegas strip---so, I'm sure more time would be nice too.

bbyckes

We're doing photos about 3.5 hours ahead of time.  I don't want to be late to my own wedding.  I hate when weddings run really behind.

danieliza1127

I think we had 2 hours before the ceremony and one hour after the ceremony.

ring_pop

We scheduled 2 hours for formal photos, but we started 4 hours before the wedding. (After the photos, we had a tea ceremony, and some break / catch-up time)

AlexiaANDRobert

We did one hour before we left my parent's house and just did my family shots.  Then took about an hour after the ceremony/before the reception for bridal party and his family shots.

As long as I had a good selection of pictures, and my 'must haves' (which wasn't a very long list), I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing.

Oh, I also had a little pep talk with my siblings and asked them to help me organize and motivate people to get in place quickly so things went by more quickly.  We didn't waste any time finding someone or getting into position, so I think that helped.

britne28

I think we are planning an hour each for each side of the wedding party prior to the ceremony then an hour after while people have their cocktail hour.  Hopefully the formal pics with all of us after the ceremony doesn't take forever.  We have a small wedding party and a small family. 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We're starting 3.5 hours before, but we're doing a shoot at a different site and about 1.5 hours of that will be traveling back and forth. So we'll have drinks and stuff in the limo. It will just be the WP. Parents pics will be either right before or right after the ceremony, depending on how much time we have.

SwedishChick2011

Amoro, your new sig pic is beautiful, and I like how your H is sitting in the background - just noticed that part.

MeaghanandMichael

Holy CRAP this is ridiculously long. I guess I am either blessed to not have a big family, or really photogenic people where we didn't need 48574895789 pictures.

Although I will say, drink and snacks help TONS. Without them the WP I was in that did 2 hours of bridal party pics was just torture. Plus, I can see this being cooler if you have some place to travel like the Vegas strip and NOT just the same backyard.

MeaghanandMichael

Oh, and my photog came for about an hour before we left for the church and did my family, me getting ready, and me and my girls.

buddhagouda

I don't remember but it had to have been close to that. It was pretty relaxed though and people could come in and out as needed. I got some really good candids of everyone sitting around and goofing off, including one of my MOH beating me over the head with her bouquet. Good times. 

AmoroAgain

Yeah, at first the girls were not so enthused about the time, but I think food and champagne helped them to come around.  Plus, while we were doing just the B&G shots, they did a run through of the rehearsal so it wasn't like there was a whole lot of thumb twiddling.

Thanks Coco!   Our photographer was pretty awesome.

BecW2be

We did 1.5-2 hours before, but that was just getting ready shots, shots of the guests as they were seated and shots of the yard/aisle/reception tent. It took 1.5 hours to do all the posed family shots after the wedding, which I don't think would have happened if we'd had the reception at a different location. Our photographer just kept snapping, and I didn't realize so much time had passed. If I could do it over again, I'd piss my MIL off even more and I would have seen DH before the ceremony so we could get all those out of the way and I could have had fun at my reception. Hindsight...

The photographer shot a total of about 14 hours, so I really can't complain. My album is full of candid shots of every guest, from pre-ceremony through the after party, which was more important to me than the posed pictures.

tenofcups4me

We met at the site at around 5 for a ceremony that was planned at 7. We started getting ready pics at around 5:15 or so and then I guess the formals started around 5:30 or 5:45. (My hair and makeup were already done, so getting ready literally meant getting into the gown.) We stopped at around 6:30-6:45 when guests started to show up.

Between the formals and candids, we ended up with some 1,300 photos to choose from so obviously we had more than enough.

I can't imagine 4 hours of photos. That sounds like torture.

**Mutley**

That would be my post. 

I think it depends on whether you are counting your getting ready pictures in those hours.  The wedding that I was referencing started pictures with everyone 4 hours before.  There was no food. no drinks and all of the pictures were outside on a very hot day.  I don't know how many different shots you can get at a country club. (ETA: The bride and groom did not see each other before the ceremony, so this did not cut down on the time they spent taking pictures after the ceremony.  I believe it was another hour or more after, while the guests were starving and paying for drinks.)  I can somewhat understand if you are traveling around a cool city or have an amazingly different venue. 


Our photographers got there 4 hours before the ceremony started in order to take pictures of everyone getting ready.  We did about 40 minutes of taking pictures before the ceremony, some formals after at the church and some more with the bridal party at the reception site.  We did a bunch of just the two of us, but the rest of the bridal party and family were partying it up.

lindz221

wow thanks for all of this info ladies! I was thinking meeting at 1:00 before a 4:00 wedding, but now I'm thinking noon might be better just in case. We are planning on pictures - just the two of us - at my parents house for awhile, then with the bridal party at the church, and some family shots afterwards. Good to know how long everything takes!

JessAndTrav

The photographers got there around 3 hours before, pictures about 2 hours before. Our timing was a little strange. I felt rushed at the end.

thesuninherhead

I missed the original thread, but four hours seems awfully long, and I'm surprised so many people spent so long having their photos done! 

 

In terms of 'portrait' photo time (eg. not the getting ready, ceremony and reception shots) we probably spent about 1.5 hours total. We did some family photos at the ceremony that took all of 15 minutes, then did our photos in the field, with the horse etc which I believe took about 45 minutes, and then half an hour or so at the bar with our bridal party before we headed to the reception. The travel time was an extra half an hour or so, but the photos themselves did not take long at all. 

 

I should add though that our photog arrived at about 8am and was with us until Midnight... we didn't need to sit around posing as he's very good at capturing what's going on as it happens, thus the fairly short time spent on purely getting pictures taken.