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Meal First, Pictures Later?

KytchynWitcheKytchynWitche member
First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
edited August 2013 in Wedding Reception Forum
i have a strong dislike of weddings where there's a huge gap between the ceremony and food service, especially when the majority of the guests are from out of town. it's just something that really annoys me, so i'm trying not to have large gaps in my timeline.

my original plan was this:
*bridal party pictures ahead of the ceremony (bridal party is tiny - me, my partner, our matron of honour, and our best man - so not a lot of co-ordination needed there)
*late-afternoon ceremony (ceremony and reception at same venue)
*family pictures, which would then take a much shorter time frame than the full formal picture cocktail hour thing
*early dinner (with all that entails, speeches, cake-cutting, etc)
*dancing etc

but the course of wedding planning never did run smooth, and there's been a couple of hiccups along the way. venues not working, etc so now we're looking at having a Friday lunch-time wedding rather than a Thursday dinner wedding (thank goodness we're still very much in the planning stages and no deposits have been paid or invites sent). unfortunately that means there's a lot less time available pre-ceremony for pictures...

so what i'm asking is, is there anything wrong with going straight from ceremony into food service (with maybe 5 minutes "alone time" for the couple) and having the pictures done AFTER the meal? has anyone here done it, or seen it done? other than possible stains on the bridal party's attire, do you have any concerns about doing it this way?
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Re: Meal First, Pictures Later?

  • artbyallieartbyallie mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I have never seen this done and would have concerns about being able to round up all the VIPs at the same time. What if someone's still eating? Or tipsy, if you're serving alcohol? Why can't you still do the same thing you planned previously? We had a Saturday lunch reception (ceremony was at 11) and did all pictures without bride and groom together beforehand, all pictures that required both of us while everyone else started eating, and then went to the reception. Post-ceremony pictures didn't take more than 30 minutes, tops.
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  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Ditto. Bridal party photos don't need to take more than a half hour. As long as your VIPs can make a mid-day wedding, just use your original plan. People wont want to hang around taking photos after a long day of celebrating.
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  • another KTanother KT member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    Everybody will look fresher and better and everyone will be able to relax afterward.  I also had my ceremony at 11 am and there was time plenty of time for some pictures before the ceremony.
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  • jessicabessicajessicabessica member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I would do the pictures in between for reasons mentioned by PP.  Once the reception gets going, people aren't going to feel like buttoning their jackets for posed pictures, especially if you have alcohol and dancing.  

    I agree with you that gaps are not appropriate, but your guests should be ok if you serve food and drinks while you're taking photos and keep it to an hour or less.  
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  • ashleyepashleyep member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    My photographer suggested putting some of my other family photos off until after the meal. Some of the less important group photos that you don't need but would still like. You can do it, but you have to round everyone up and it's hard to get everyone to take a break from celebrating or dancing, or whatever you're doing post-meal (if you are doing anything post meal).
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  • jessicabessicajessicabessica member
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    ashleyep said:
    My photographer suggested putting some of my other family photos off until after the meal. Some of the less important group photos that you don't need but would still like. You can do it, but you have to round everyone up and it's hard to get everyone to take a break from celebrating or dancing, or whatever you're doing post-meal (if you are doing anything post meal).
    I would be careful doing this, especially with an evening wedding (unless you really don't care if people are missing from the photos).  What if some people were planning to leave right after the meal?  We had an afternoon wedding, and I found it very difficult to interrupt dancing and talking to do the parent dances, so I think it would have been near-impossible for us to round people up for photos in the middle of the festivities.  
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  • ashleyepashleyep member
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    jessicabessica said:
    ashleyep said:
    My photographer suggested putting some of my other family photos off until after the meal. Some of the less important group photos that you don't need but would still like. You can do it, but you have to round everyone up and it's hard to get everyone to take a break from celebrating or dancing, or whatever you're doing post-meal (if you are doing anything post meal).
    I would be careful doing this, especially with an evening wedding (unless you really don't care if people are missing from the photos).  What if some people were planning to leave right after the meal?  We had an afternoon wedding, and I found it very difficult to interrupt dancing and talking to do the parent dances, so I think it would have been near-impossible for us to round people up for photos in the middle of the festivities.  
    Oh I'm not doing it. But for me it would just be cousin photos (as opposed to the big photo with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles). Leaving wouldn't be an issue, I know they won't be leaving until the very end, but rounding everyone up and hoping they're not too drunk would be.

    But yeah, I wouldn't do that unless you don't mind missing them.
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  • jessicabessicajessicabessica member
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    @ashleyep, I'm glad you're not doing that.  I'm actually surprised that your photographer suggested it.  Sounds like a nightmare from their perspective.  Rounding everyone up is hard enough when people are relatively sober!
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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I would take whatever photos you can before the ceremony and leave any that require the two of you together for between the ceremony to be concurrent with a cocktail hour.

    Doing any after the reception is over has some problems:
    1) People wanted for the photos may have left
    2) People will be not be looking their best after dancing and eating
    3) People will be tired, perhaps cranky, because they're being delayed for photos

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  • suzyk723suzyk723 member
    5 Love Its First Answer First Comment

    If it is that small of a bridal party I do not think it would take so long. As long as you give people drink and a snack they can wait for 30 min. Doing pictures after the meal I would be afraid of spilling . Also if people see that the bride and groom and bridal party are stepping out they may also leave. You may want to think about taking pictures when you do a practice run of your hair and make up if you don’t mind your FI seeing your dress before the wedding.

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  • KytchynWitcheKytchynWitche member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited August 2013
    thanks for all the responses!

    it was just a (half-baked) idea that sort of popped into my head while i thinking about other things, so i thought i'd find out what people thought.

    it's kind of a moot point now, though. my partner and i sat down and had another serious look at our budget and it ain't pretty. we've had some major financial setbacks over the last year, and i thought we would be okay if we just kept the guest list small (limited to immediate family and close friends), had a dry wedding, and DIYd as much as we can, but it's just not going to work out. our biggest issue is venue - there isn't an appropriate (non-religious) venue near us that is also appropriately sized, that we can actually afford without me selling a kidney...

    so the plan now is to get married at home with just his family, let my family know and if they can come then that's great, and have lunch afterwards. which will probably be chilli or something similar that i can cook the night before and just heat up.

    anyway, thanks for all the input!
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  • artbyallieartbyallie mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Your small wedding at home sounds lovely. Definitely wear your dress if you already have one and get someone to take pictures, maybe a local photography student.
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  • KytchynWitcheKytchynWitche member
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    thanks. no dress yet, but i'm sure i can find something suitable at a charity store. luckily i live in a town full of arty people, so there's sure to be someone around who can take pictures!
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  • erinlin25erinlin25 member
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    We took wedding party pics prior to the ceremony (separate girls and guys).  After the ceremony we had a 1 hr. cocktail hour for guests to go straight to (same venue for ceremony and reception).  My photographer had the families stay at the ceremony site with the bridal party.  He did wedding party pics and family pics right there--took him maybe 15 minutes to get what he needed.  He sent the family up to cocktail hour, and kept the wedding party for about another 20 minutes in a variety of places at the venue.  My husband and I took some photos for about 10 more minutes and then they brought food and drinks so we could relax for a bit.  They then did a room reveal for my husband and I; and then guests were welcomed in to the venue and we did our entrance.  The photographer pulled us in and between meal courses to get more pictures, which allowed us to visit with guests and actually eat.  My photographer was familiar with the venue so we were not rushed, he just knew where to go and when so it was actually enjoyable.   
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