Wedding Day timeline?

Question

I am trying to decide how to work photography into my Wedding day. It is really important to me to have fantastic photographs, and I also don't want to see my fiance before we are married that day. So do I have the 3 hours break in between the ceremony and the reception? Do guests really hate this? I have never really minded unless the ceremony and the reception are in the same building, then I find it annoying that I have to leave for a few hours. How do you feel about breaks between ceremony and reception?

Additional Details

All the photographers I have talked to said to plan for a 2-3 hour time for photographs. The ceremony and reception are about 10-15 minutes away from each other, and there is nothing planned for in between. :-D

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

You can do a few things to fit in pictures. One is to have the photographer take your individual pictures and your groom's individual pictures before the wedding. For example, if the ceremony starts at 3pm, have the photographer take pics with the groom and the groomsmen between 2-2:45. Have the photographer take your individual pics and your bridesmaid's pictures between 1:15-2pm.

Once you've had the ceremony, have a social hour (also known as cocktail hour). The longest time between the ceremony and reception should be about 1 hour- about 1.5 hours.

During this time; take your pics with your parents, the whole bridal party and with your husband.

Don't have a 3 hour time between the ceremony and reception, it's very rude towards guests. Even if they live locally, what are they going to do for 3 hours? Go home and sit around in their formal wear for a few hours, go sit in starbucks with their suits and dresses on? Not many people would do that.

Answer 2

Yeah, I feel the same way about the photography..I don't want my fiance to see me in my dress before the wedding, but I don't want to keep the guests waiting forever because we are taking photos in between the ceremony and the reception. I think 3 hours is a little long though, what are you going to have in between? A cocktail hour for 3 hours? That is going to get on your guests nerves if that's all you have for them to do (especially if it is all in the same location). I'm sure you'll be able to do them in about half an hour or less..depending on how many photos you take.

Answer 3

If I have something to do in between then that's fine, I realise people do need to get photos. You could have someone host a small pre-reception thing at their house before hand so people can relax and sit down. Just make sure there is no alcohol or people will be tipsy because the proper reception!

Answer 4

Well I guess if there's a lot to do in that area it would be fine. I like the idea of them flowing closely together. We are doing the guy's photography before. Him with his groomsmen, family, etc. Then the 2 of us after and my and mine then, too. It will still be like 1.5 or 2 hours after, though. I wouldn't mind seeing him before to get them all done, but we're having an early ceremony. I think it would be intimate for you to see him before. The way I've heard i being done is you come out and still walk down the aisle and you can talk/kiss for a minute, and then take pictures. This way, makeup isn't all messed up from crying- hopefully. Many people are doing them all before now.

Answer 5

This is actually pretty common in my family and we don't mind. My fiance and I were having the same dilemma. We decided to take pictures after our reception (dinner starts at 4 and the reception will go until around 8) at a pretty park overlooking a river. It will be sunset time when we are having our pictures taken :)

Good luck!

Source(s):

B2B 05-10-08

Answer 6

I think your guest would be very upset if they had to wait longer than an hour. I am taking all pictures before (except for bride and groom) and will spend no more than an hour after the ceremony taking pictures. Photographers can sometimes be a little pushy and want you to do everything on their time and they come up with timelines that are not practical. You would hate to arrive at the reception just to find everyone has gone home!

Answer 7

I absolutely understand where you are coming from, photos are really important for me too. We are having our photos taken at about 5-6 different locations and the photographer said she usually takes about 2 hours from the time you leave the wedding. However it can take up to an hour to leave the wedding, as everyone wants to congratulate you, take photos etc. So you have to account for that as well. You should not aim for anything more than 2.5 hours of photos

I am having my wedding at 4pm, and the reception starts at 7pm. This is what the photographer told me:
- 1/2 hour for the ceremony
- 1/2 hour for family shots, friend photos, celebratory drink, congratulations afterwards...she said you rarely get away straight after the ceremony, most people want to talk.
- Then leave 2 hours for photos.

So for me, its 1hour for ceremony and celebratatory drinks/congratualtions/family photographs (4pm-5pm). Then 2 hours of photography (5pm-7pm). We are only in a small town so the photo locations are all within max. 5 minutes of each other.

During the 2 hours we are gone, my parents are putting on a get together. Everyone will be going back to my parents room (which is at the same resort) for nibblies and drinks before the reception. They have ordered a few boxes of alcohol, and some food platters. I think about $250 all up, and they are covering the costs themselves. The reception is also at the resort, so no transport is required. Alcohol is not much, only enough for maybe 1-2 drinks each. We do not want guests getting drunk before the reception!! So I would ask your photographer what he/she recommends, most are experienced enough to tell you approximately how long they take. However I would not leave guests hanging for the time you are away, I would definately provide some sort of entertainment. Even if its just a couple of food platters at someones house, and a CD playing.

Answer 8

i am going to have 3 hours for photos in between. the ceremony and the reception places are 1/2 hr apart and most people live closer to the reception so i figure they can just go home and rest.

Answer 9

That's probably the right amount of time for pictures. What we did to cut the time that our guests had to wait for us was I did all my pictures with my girls and my father and myself alone. My fiance did the same, pictures of my wedding tennies and some fun pictures. That way after the wedding, we just had the together pictures to do and the entire family pictures, him with my father and me with his Mom and then me with my BIL and SIL, each of us with the other's attendants, our pictures together, pictures lighting the unity candle, pictures putting the wedding bands on each other's fingers, pictures with us kissing, although we did that a lot that day so we have lots of pictures at the reception with us in each others arms. Pictures with our arms wrapped around each other gazing into each other's eyes. Pictures of us with my Mom's picture superimposed above us. Those pictures took about an hour. While the guests were waiting at the reception site, we had a wine and cheese hour for them with fruit and vegetable crudite. That let them having something to nibble on and to mingle and visit while we had our pics taken.

Answer 10

Catholic weddings must be early (due to Sat. evening mass)
so there is no getting away from having a lull in between
ceremony and reception. If people don't like it then
let them go to reception only!! (It"s their choice)
Congrats.

Answer 11

We did photographs before the ceremony. I understand not wanting to do this, however, it was the best decision we made in making our day go smoothly. It was fun seeing each other for the last time before the big walk down the aisle, and honestly, it made me much more relaxed.

I know, I would not be happy seeing a 3 hour break between the ceremony and reception and think a lot of people will probably just do one or the other. And I can't imagine I would be happy if people rsvp'd they were coming, I payed for their meals, and then they decided they were sick of waiting and didn't show to the reception! Just something to think about... and again, the photographs before was a great decision for us!

Answer 12

I think it's hard on guest to have that break in between...especially when you're from out of town and you're not familiar with the area. That happened to us; I was pissed. We ended up going to get something to eat..if you want time with the photographer..perhaps take pics before the wedding...

Answer 13

It really depends on what photos you want included. Here's how most of my brides have the day planned out:
Pictures of the bride, her attendants & immediate family take about 45 minutes,

then pics of the groom, his attendants, his family-30 min,

then you want 30 min. in the ceremony location where nothing is happening except guests coming in & being seated.

Then the ceremony begins,(it lasts @ 20-30 min)

then there are about 20-30 min. more pics of the two of you together, the entire wedding party with you, and the family photos with both of you.

Then the travel time to the reception (which varies)
then the intro pics, cake cutting pics, dance pics, etc.

That adds up to about 3 hours, 40 min. if everything goes smoothly & completely without a hitch!

I would book the photog. for more like 5 hrs. if possible within the budget! Good photos are worth spending a little more on, b/c after the wedding, they are your only true momento!

Source(s):

I'm a wedding planner.

Answer 14

I had my wedding/reception in the same location. We did pics with me and my family/bridesmaids prior to the wedding, and the same w/ the groom, his parents, and his side of the wedding party. Then we did together shots w/ the bridal party/ and families during the "cocktail hour". Finally, since the head table were the first to eat, once we finished we went outside and the photographer did pictures of just the two of us. We were on a Golf Course/Country Club, so we had golf carts and were able to get different shots while the guests were eating. It was also neat for the guests because they could look out the windows and see us down on the golf course doing pictures and posing.
This was what helped us save time for the sake of the guests!
Hope that helps!