Pictures Before the Wedding/TIming

tquire · April 2014

Hello,

I am just starting the wedding planning process, but a few issues have come up already with the timing of everything! My fiance and I have picked our reception place and the church, my concern now is how to time everything. We are not having a cocktail hour so that we can save money. So, our reception will start at 5 pm. My thought is that all the guests get there, get a drink, and sit and then we would arrive around 5:15 to be announced and start the party. The part where I am stuck is that the church says to block about 2 hours for the ceremony and pictures. I thought a 2:30 wedding would give us more than enough time to have the ceremony and then do the traditional pictures in the church. (we both come from divorced families, so there are a lot of pictures!) But now when do I take all the bridal party pictures? I would love to have then in a nearby park with all the girls and the guys. I think for timing, that we will have to have a reveal and then also do the bridal party pictures then too. Is that something that is done? Does anyone have any timing tips that I could use. I don't want my guests waiting around too long, but I also want to get the pictures I want. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Tracy

tammym1001 · April 2014

If you aren't having a cocktail hour then you should do all of your pictures before the ceremony. It's usually called a first look, but yes there are a ton of brides who do that and then do the pictures before the ceremony. If you do the pictures after the ceremony then your guests will be standing around for at least an hour with nothing to do and nowhere to go. That isn't going to be very fun for them.

MobKaz · April 2014

tquire said:

Hello,

I am just starting the wedding planning process, but a few issues have come up already with the timing of everything! My fiance and I have picked our reception place and the church, my concern now is how to time everything. We are not having a cocktail hour so that we can save money. So, our reception will start at 5 pm. My thought is that all the guests get there, get a drink, and sit and then we would arrive around 5:15 to be announced and start the party. The part where I am stuck is that the church says to block about 2 hours for the ceremony and pictures. I thought a 2:30 wedding would give us more than enough time to have the ceremony and then do the traditional pictures in the church. (we both come from divorced families, so there are a lot of pictures!) But now when do I take all the bridal party pictures? I would love to have then in a nearby park with all the girls and the guys. I think for timing, that we will have to have a reveal and then also do the bridal party pictures then too. Is that something that is done? Does anyone have any timing tips that I could use. I don't want my guests waiting around too long, but I also want to get the pictures I want. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Tracy

It is rude and impolite to make your guests wait at all once the ceremony ends.

If you want to "get the pictures you want", then the best way to do that is to take those pictures BEFORE your ceremony. Once the ceremony ends, the hospitality of your guests should be your primary consideration. Depending on the length of your ceremony and the distance to your reception venue, your guests currently have a minimum of 60 - 90 minutes with absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go. It is your responsibility to host something for them during that time, and that gap of time really should not be more than an hour. That is why most couples host a cocktail hour. To omit that to save money and inconvenience guests is not acceptable. A cocktail hour does not have to be expensive, nor does it actually have to even include alcohol. But you do need to offer a place to go and some sort of beverage and snack if you are going to be MIA for any amount of time.

JoanE2012 · April 2014

You need to host your guests from immediately after the ceremony. If you are taking pictures right after the ceremony, you need to find it in the budget to host a cocktail hour so your guests have somewhere to go and aren't waiting around for over an hour.. The alternative is to take your photos beforehand. If you opt for this, you need to move your ceremony back or reception start time up in order to avoid the gap.

STARMOON44 · April 2014

So you'd rather spend money on photos than properly hosting your guests?

netskyblue2 · April 2014

We are having a 6:30 wedding and showing up at 4:00 to start pictures. No extended family, just us, siblings & parents. Having been a guest at weddings where we had to stand around forever waiting for pictures before getting anything to eat, I'd never do that to my own guests.

Yeah, there's "cocktail hour", but I personally don't drink, and standing around for an hour with a soda is not any more fun than standing around for an hour without soda, plus I'll probably have to pee at the end of it.

We'll be happy to pose for/with guests should they ask in the 15 minutes or so that it will take between the recessional and the buffet being opened. Or during the reception/dance, for less formal pictures.

countrygirl061513 · April 2014

My husband was dead set against doing a first look, he wanted the first time he saw me was when the church doors opened. So we chose to do as many pictures beforehand that didn't need us together. After the ceremony we only had 30 minutes of group pictures and couple pictures. Also our caterer added two hot appetizers to be served during a "social hour" in between the end of the ceremony and start of the reception for $1.00 per person. So it honestly cost me an additional $65 to add the social hour and take care of our guests while we took our pictures. I would check with your caterer about their pricing.

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