How long did you spend taking pictures?

jenna8984 · June 2014

I know generally it's the cocktail "hour" but we are doing all photos before the ceremony so I am free to schedule as much time as I wish (no limit on the photographer). I was just wondering if you felt that you needed more than an hour, did you take longer than an hour, did you feel that an hour was plenty of time? I have been a guest at weddings where the cocktail hour turned into 2.5 hours of photos so I'm just trying to do my timeline and figure out how much time I should allot. If it matters we have a small wedding party (4) and small families (1 sibling) so not a lot of group coordination effort needed.

LadyMillil · June 2014

We did all our pictures before the ceremony. We also had a small wedding party (4) and small families. We budgeted 3 hours for pictures before the ceremony. It broke down to 1 hour for DH and I at a nearby park, travel back to the hotel, 30 minutes with WP, 30 minutes with parents/siblings, 30 minutes with close family (grandparents, my aunt and cousin). We had a 30 minute buffer time so if some one was running late, or we wanted to move to different spots around the hotel and grounds we didn't have to rush. We probably would have been fine with about 1.5 - 2 hours for pictures.

AddieCake · June 2014

Ours only took an hour, but we had a small bridal party and small families, so that might have made a difference.

audubonbride2013 · June 2014

Ours were about an hour but it felt like forever by the end. We just wanted to get into the reception.

photokitty · June 2014

We did about 45 mins with both families right before the ceremony. Prior to that DH and I spent 2 hours running around downtown on a golf cart with our 2 photog and 1 videog at the street festival and getting skyline shots - oh and having a blast!!

They we did some extended family group shots afterwards for 15 mins. Then joined cocktail hour and started the party.

emmyg65 · June 2014

We did photos before the ceremony. I think we budgeted 2 hours, 1.5 hours for couples' photos and 30 minutes for family shots. Our photographer recommended 3 minutes for each posed family shot. An hour would have been enough, but I'm glad we had 2 because we could relax and take our time. We didn't feel rushed or harried.

chibiyui · June 2014

On and off for two hours before the ceremony, and then like, half an hour after. With the carriage ride our venue provided, cocktail hour was an hour.

Maggie0829 · June 2014

Prior to the ceremony we had about 15 minutes each (so 30 minutes total) of pictures with family and BMs/GMs (separate since we didn't see each other before hand. After the ceremony I think we took about 45-50 minutes for the rest of the pictures. That was plenty of time and we didn't feel like we really missed anything or felt rushed. Honestly after an hour I would be so over pictures and ready to party.

jenna8984 · June 2014

@ladymilil @emmyg65 @chibiyui Since you guys did them before the cermony were your wedding party members and parents there the entire time or did you have them show up for the end? I am torn because we plan to get our hair done together at the venue but then I don't want them just sitting around for an hour doing nothing while FI & I are taking couples photos. Especially the groomsmen who bring their wives...what will they do during that time? There's also another wedding at the venue before mine so I would hate to have them sitting around outside of a wedding.

My mom is not sentimental or into weddings at all. I want photos with her helping me get ready but I know she will dislike waiting around during the pictures and she will say "I'm bored, why didn't you have me show up at the end?" But I want her for the getting ready. Ugh.

chibiyui · June 2014

Our families came about an hour before the ceremony. Our wedding parties were with us the whole time. Most of our wedding party's SO traveled separate. Some were there and hung out, walked down to the horses, or took some pictures of their own. We bought our wedding party lunch, and we picked up for the SO's who were with us.

AprilH81 · June 2014

We did about 30 minutes before the ceremony (should have been 90 but hair and make-up ran long) and almost a full hour after the ceremony during cocktail hour.

We had almost 1,000 pictures and I can't think of any we missed...

emmyg65 · June 2014

@jenna8984, we told them to arrive a little later. According to our timeline, we started couples photos at 2:30, asked family to be there by 4, finished up at 4:30, and started the ceremony at 5. We didn't have a wedding party, but if we had, we probably would have had them come at 3:30 or whatever.

erollis · June 2014

We didn't do a lot of group pictures. I don't have one of just me and my BMs or of H and the GMs. I don't wish I had those. We do have:
B,G,WP
B,G, Parents
B,G, Parents, Siblings
B, cousins + siblings (all apart of wedding party)
H, cousins ( taken during the reception)
H, father, uncle (taken during reception)
B,G, all our friends (taken during reception)
Group photo of my dad's side of the family (reception again)

Took no time at all to take the WP photos after the ceremony. At most 20 minutes? As soon as our friends weren't needed they left for the reception. Then when parents weren't needed they left.

After the reception H and I took all our posed photos of just us.

I'm not sure how our photographers got group photos and photos of almost everyone who attended during the reception but they did. These photos are beautiful portraits IMO. I'm 100% pleased with what we have.

winelover123 · June 2014

I think 2.5 hrs. It really should have been able to be finished in 1.5 - 2 hours though, but our photographer sucked. We did WP, B&G portraits and a half of the family pictures before and half during cocktail hour.

LadyMillil · June 2014

@jenna8984 sorry for the post and run. I arrived at the hotel and checked in with my mom and BMs. They helped me get dressed, then one BM drove me to meet DH for the first look pictures. She went back to the hotel and got dressed with the other BM. We asked each group to show up at a different time, so WP at 2:30, my close family at 3, DH's family at 3:30. We had some drinks and snacks available and a separate meeting room for the WP and family to hang out in since they were there 1-2 hours early for pictures. We weren't rushed at all. Having the extra time allowed us to move to different rooms in the hotel to figure out where the best lighting and background were.

How long did you spend taking pictures?

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