Timeline if Formal photographs end early

Re: Timeline if Formal photographs end early

• atlastmrsg member

  

  July 2014

  At my wedding, we were done with photos in something like 20/25 minutes.  I figured it wouldn't take long, so I had caterer scheduled to bring a sampler of the passed appetizers and two drinks to a private spot in the venue.  Hubby and I had our own private cocktail "hour" (more like 20 minutes).  Those 20 minutes were a great way to catch our breath before the reception and get a little quiet time together.  We ended up starting dinner about 10 minutes early.  Some of the old guests were getting antsy--old people like to eat early!  Caterer was ready to start serving salad course, so we went on and got intros and dinner rolling.

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• southernbelle0915 mod

  

  July 2014

  I would just get introduced during cocktail hour, spend the rest of it socializing and then have the DJ announce it's time to be seated for dinner. 

  
  

  Our timeline sounds pretty similar to yours. We finished formals in about 20 minutes. Then we took some informal photos with the WP. Then the WP went up to cocktail hour and we stayed with the photog for about 20 minutes and did B&G shots. They're some of my favorite photos. We arrived/got announced at the end of cocktail hour and that transitioned everyone into the dinner. It worked well. Something to consider.

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• ashleyep member

  

  July 2014

  I don't think it would be that weird to do a grand entrance into dinner if you were at the cocktail hour. I would slip away towards the end of the cocktail hour though when everyone starts heading in. I liked @atlastmrsg's suggestion too.

  

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• Lauderdale Pink member

  

  July 2014

  ashleyep has it right, not weird at all (but I do hate the word "weird").  But, take a few minutes and do what atlastmrsg also said, because once you get out of the private space, forget about getting to food.  Also, take a few minutes to refresh your hair and make up and make sure the bustle on your gown is secure.

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• princessleia22 member

  

  July 2014

  I think it is great to have a little time between ceremony & reception for you and your new hubby to be alone and just absorb the fact that you just got married!  And if there is food available, even better, because the chances of really eating at reception are slim.  Other than a couple bites of fruit, I didn't even get to taste any of our reception food... although I've heard it was good.  Luckily we planned ahead and ate right before ceremony, just in case. People will be wanting to talk to you or clinking glasses to see you kiss or whatever, but food becomes small priority in all that excitement.  

  Our wedding was an unusual format with short reception, so we didn't get that alone time between, but our reception ended at 3pm and we had posed photo shoot with photographer at 4pm, so we had that one hour to ourselves.  We went to our room and just laid back and relaxed after the craziness and got to dwell on the fact that we actually just got married.  We had a few laughs discussing the events so far, like how we both forgot to bring our vows with us to the ceremony (luckily minister had a copy). But, it was a very special moment for us to just slow down and be together in the middle of the day to absorb it all as reality.  Because if you go through the day and don't take a moment to absorb it, it just seems to fly by like a dream. And from my experience, during the reception, even though we were the center of attention, my focus was more on enjoying the time with my guests, rather than focusing on my new husband. I wanted to make sure they all got some time with me/us, especially since all of our guests travelled to be there.  So, for us at least, the reception was all about them, not us.  I actually spent very little time actually talking to or interacting with my new husband during the reception. So, that made it even more important to have that little bit of time together.

   

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• landa10315 member

  

  July 2014

  We're doing pictures before the ceremony and actually attending our whole cocktail hour (after a few minutes to ourselves in the bridal suite after the ceremony). We'll still be doing our entrance at the reception. The entrance goes right into our first dance, so it doesn't seem out of place. I think it's perfectly fine to do what you're planning. Everyone will be seated at that time will be happy to see you enter. They might not have gotten to see you during the time you were at the cocktail hour.

  

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• Lauderdale Pink member

  

  July 2014

  @landa10315 - Good for you!  Great way to be totally relaxed for the photos and not miss a minute of the big day.  Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful wedding.

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• Cookie Pusher member

  

  July 2014

  DH and I were at nearly our entire cocktail hour since our formal pictures only took about a half hour (our caterer was able to start our cocktail hour 15 minutes early for us since our ceremony started on time - shocking, no one got lost and I refused to keep my guests waiting for me - and our receiving line was pretty quick). We did table visits during that time and had our formal introduction as planned at the end of cocktail hour. No one said anything about it being weird, but we had a lot of people tell us they appreciated that we took the time to speak to every single guest.

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