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Just Said Yes August 2014

Ceremony to reception transition....HELP!!

Tara, on January 23, 2014 at 6:42 PM Posted in Planning 0 10

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Hi, I'm getting married in august. We are having a tent wedding in my dads backyard. He lives on about an acre. We are having guests sit at the reception tables during the ceremony with the chairs all facing the correct direction. We don't really want to deal with moving 100 chairs after the ceremony. However, I have been trying to picture how the transition will go from ceremony to reception. Everyone suggests a cocktail hour while pictures are being taken, which would be great if we were serving a full dinner afterwards. But we are only having heavy hor d'oeuvres and dessert so a cocktail hour would be awkward because we would have to put everything out that we would be serving anyway. So what should we have our guests do for 45 min while we are taking pictures. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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10 Comments

Latest activity by Tara, on January 24, 2014 at 6:17 PM

Master October 2013
.... · on January 23, 2014 at 8:48 PM
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You could still do a cocktail hour if you wanted. Put out a cheese platter, crackers, and fruit, start serving drinks, and guests can mingle. The transition will be when you guys join/are introduced and start passing around/put out the heavy apps. You could also have some lawn games and things out in the yard like ladder ball, cornhole, bocce for guests to play.
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Master September 2014
Barbara · on January 23, 2014 at 8:50 PM
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Can you do pictures before the ceremony? If not, maybe lawn games outside of the tent during the break?
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Savvy August 2015
jocelyn · on January 23, 2014 at 8:53 PM
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We are doing a back yard wedding as well. I plan to use hay bales for ceremony seating so we don't have to worry about chairs. Our photos are being done beforehand and our ceremony will be directly before supper.
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Just Said Yes August 2014
Tara · on January 24, 2014 at 7:21 AM
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That's what someone else mentioned to me, to put out the cheese and crackers and fruit. That's what I may do. I like the idea of lawn games like corn hole maybe.
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Just Said Yes August 2014
Tara · on January 24, 2014 at 7:22 AM
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I would rather not do pictures before the ceremony because I don't want FH to see me in my dress until I'm walking down the aisle.
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VIP September 2014
Kat · on January 24, 2014 at 7:39 AM
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Jocelyn, how much did the hay bales hurt your pocketbook? I want them SO badly at my wedding, but really hate the added cost. I was thinking of asking my venue to buy them...they could continue to reuse them for concerts and stuff...and are dreading moving the ceremony chair indoors, but have to because they did not change their contract until after we signed.

OP...I think cocktails without food is fine, too...or just put out big bowls of nuts, popcorn, and chex mix!
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Master October 2013
.... · on January 24, 2014 at 11:32 AM
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You could do some pictures before the wedding. I did mine, mine with by bridal party, with my own family, then went back inside our suite, and husband did his, with his party, with his fam. Then we did our pics together after the ceremony, so he didn't see me until I walked down the aisle. Just an option!

You should put out some kind of food if you're serving alcohol or you may have guests passed out before dinner!
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Master December 2013
Kate · on January 24, 2014 at 11:45 AM
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Take pictures after the ceremony
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Super September 2015
Sunshine · on January 24, 2014 at 12:51 PM
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What time of the day is your wedding? When does the ceremony start, and when do you plan to start serving the apps?
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Just Said Yes August 2014
Tara · on January 24, 2014 at 6:17 PM
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The ceremony starts at 6:30pm. Now I am planning on putting some light things out at 7pm for a sort of "cocktail hour" while we take pics. Then grand entrance at around 730 and have the rest of the food brought out around 740-745. I planned on doing pictures with my party and family before the ceremony so we could have some daylight. So after the ceremony we will be doing pictures with each other.
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