Non Traditional wedding timeline and photo questions

kariefrank · March 2016

Hi.

My fiance and i are due to FINALLY get married May 1st. We have decided on a non traditional wedding. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. Our wedding is at 2:30 and the reception is immediately after. (Same place)
My photographer just asked for a list of formal pictures i wanted, and an allotted amount of time i can give to get them taken in. I have no idea how much time i should give to this. Is this "normal" to leave your guests for a while for photos?
I have been to one wedding in my life so i am clueless.

Thank you for your help

jacques27 · March 2016

Generally that is what cocktail hour is for. Are you having a meal? How late is your reception going? If it's on the shorter side, then I would recommend doing most of the pictures before the ceremony to minimize the time away from your guests at the reception. You could also do them after the reception if that works better. Otherwise you could build in a cocktail hour (it should be absolutely no more than one hour - you could get away with less if your photo list is short).

ernursej · March 2016

Agree with @jacques27. If you don't have a wedding party and don't mind seeing each other before the ceremony, I would just do the majority of photos before the ceremony and then just do a few shots with parents (if you wanted family groupings) during the cocktail time.

CMGragain · March 2016

OP, what is non traditional about your wedding? It sounds perfectly traditional to me.

MandyMost · March 2016

It's totally normal for the bride and groom (and bridal party and/or immediate family) to take photos both before an after the ceremony. If you want a "secondary location" for photos, that should be done before the ceremony--you shouldn't actually leave the site after the ceremony.

Anyway, normally the ceremony ends, and the guests make their way to "cocktail hour". This is really just the name for the time when your guests mingle and usually have some apps and drinks, before being seated for a meal. Meanwhile, the couple (and bridal party and/or families) head off in another direction, or another room, or stay in the ceremony location, to take pictures. When pictures are done, the couple (and whoever else was taking pics) can either head into the cocktail hour and mingle with their guests, or wait "in seclusion" to be "announced" into the reception once all of the guests are seated at the tables.

As for a list of pictures, you could have a list of something like this:

Bridal portraits (may or may not also have bride "getting ready" shots)
Groom portraits
Bride with her family
Bride with her mom
Bride with her dad
Groom with his family
Groom with his brothers
Groom with his dad
Groom with his mom
Bride and groom together portraits (multiple locations)
"Details" shots before the reception begins--often pics of the flowers, cake, etc., Sometimes the dress and shoes before they're put on. The empty room(s) all set up and decorated, etc.

Then you can work out with the photographer what to do before the ceremony, and what to do after, and how long they think it will take.

[Deleted User] · March 2016

MandyMost said:

It's totally normal for the bride and groom (and bridal party and/or immediate family) to take photos both before an after the ceremony. If you want a "secondary location" for photos, that should be done before the ceremony--you shouldn't actually leave the site after the ceremony.

Anyway, normally the ceremony ends, and the guests make their way to "cocktail hour". This is really just the name for the time when your guests mingle and usually have some apps and drinks, before being seated for a meal. Meanwhile, the couple (and bridal party and/or families) head off in another direction, or another room, or stay in the ceremony location, to take pictures. When pictures are done, the couple (and whoever else was taking pics) can either head into the cocktail hour and mingle with their guests, or wait "in seclusion" to be "announced" into the reception once all of the guests are seated at the tables.

As for a list of pictures, you could have a list of something like this:
Bridal portraits (may or may not also have bride "getting ready" shots)
Groom portraits
Bride with her family
Bride with her mom
Bride with her dad
Groom with his family
Groom with his brothers
Groom with his dad
Groom with his mom
Bride and groom together portraits (multiple locations)
"Details" shots before the reception begins--often pics of the flowers, cake, etc., Sometimes the dress and shoes before they're put on. The empty room(s) all set up and decorated, etc.
Then you can work out with the photographer what to do before the ceremony, and what to do after, and how long they think it will take.

Bride with her sorority sisters.
Bride with groom's sisters.
Groom with his grandmothers.
Groom with his godfather.

This (in addition to Mandy's list) is the kind of list the photographer wants. What is VITAL to take. You don't want to get your pictures back and realize you don't have a single picture of just you and your parents. Or, everyone of your cousins has taken the same picture with your grandparents on their wedding day and you were the One who didn't because you didn't make that important list for your photographer.

[Deleted User] · March 2016

OK to sneak off for some photos at the wedding location, just make sure to plan for a cocktail hour, that will keep guests entertained why you do photos.

MandyMost · April 2016

adk19 said:

MandyMost said:

It's totally normal for the bride and groom (and bridal party and/or immediate family) to take photos both before an after the ceremony. If you want a "secondary location" for photos, that should be done before the ceremony--you shouldn't actually leave the site after the ceremony.

Anyway, normally the ceremony ends, and the guests make their way to "cocktail hour". This is really just the name for the time when your guests mingle and usually have some apps and drinks, before being seated for a meal. Meanwhile, the couple (and bridal party and/or families) head off in another direction, or another room, or stay in the ceremony location, to take pictures. When pictures are done, the couple (and whoever else was taking pics) can either head into the cocktail hour and mingle with their guests, or wait "in seclusion" to be "announced" into the reception once all of the guests are seated at the tables.

As for a list of pictures, you could have a list of something like this:
Bridal portraits (may or may not also have bride "getting ready" shots)
Groom portraits
Bride with her family
Bride with her mom
Bride with her dad
Groom with his family
Groom with his brothers
Groom with his dad
Groom with his mom
Bride and groom together portraits (multiple locations)
"Details" shots before the reception begins--often pics of the flowers, cake, etc., Sometimes the dress and shoes before they're put on. The empty room(s) all set up and decorated, etc.
Then you can work out with the photographer what to do before the ceremony, and what to do after, and how long they think it will take.

Bride with her sorority sisters.
Bride with groom's sisters.
Groom with his grandmothers.
Groom with his godfather.

This (in addition to Mandy's list) is the kind of list the photographer wants. What is VITAL to take. You don't want to get your pictures back and realize you don't have a single picture of just you and your parents. Or, everyone of your cousins has taken the same picture with your grandparents on their wedding day and you were the One who didn't because you didn't make that important list for your photographer.

My brother's wife has complained sooooooo many times about the pictures she didn't get at her wedding, specifically a photo of the couple, her son, and their daughter together. And yet she had no "shot list" at all for the photographer. How is the photographer supposed to read your mind? It is 100% your responsibility to provide the photographer with a list of the crucial shots. Every family is different! I need to walk away when she starts complaining about it, it bugs me so much.

lnixon8 · April 2016

Are you doing a first look? I completely get if people don't like the idea but practically speaking it was awesome for us. I had a shot list but because I did everything before the ceremony (aka before guests) I could actually look at the list myself and make sure I got everything done- we had a few pictures after the ceremony in the church but other than that everything was already done and I didn't have to leave my recpetion/cocktail hour.

Non Traditional wedding timeline and photo questions

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