Changing the time of my ceremony - advice needed!

I wouldn't change it to be earlier for sure! Its not that its rude, its that you don't want people walking in in the middle of your ceremony when they show up at the original time.

Yeah, that is what I am worried about. We are getting married outside too.

The reason why is that sunset is at 6:04 pm and we get married at 6:30 pm. By the time we start photos at 7:00 pm, we are nervous it will be too dark!

We thought about sending a note to everyone who RSVP yes and say that the time was changed. A lot of people will be in a hotel and we are providing buses so I would also have a sign at the front desk.

Depending on how many guests are coming, I think that changing your time could result in a huge cluster f*ck. Even if you do your absolute best emailing/mailing/FB messaging/whatever each guest, it's guaranteed that some won't get it and will show up at the original time.

What about doing photos before hand?

He doesn't want to do a first look and I didn't want too either. I really wish this would have been fixed before our invites went out!

The way I see it - you already have my business so if the opportunity comes for an afternoon wedding later on, they should work around the already contracted/deposit paid persons timeframe...

..but I understand that is not the way of the world!

I think there's going to be some confusion if you change the time. You could mail out a little note to everyone with a sticker of the new time for them to put on their invite as a reminder. Could be a cute way to do it if you do decide to make the change!

Also, if you decide not to change it, try to get all of your BP photos done beforehand (you with the girls, him with the guys; even some if him with the girls, you with the guys and the girls and guys together if you don't mind the guys seeing you pre-ceremony). This will still save you some time and allow you to focus on photos of you and the groom before the light fades.

Lindsay, that is a good idea! I am going to try to get all of the photos done before hand minus the ones of him and i...

this way all we need to photos of us with the bridal party, girls, guys, and family and then just us! Hopefully that will cut back on the time!

I'm totally confused; you wanted to start at 5:30 and now you want to start at 5:30? Did you sign a contract for 6:30 and now want to move it back to 5:30?

Here is the ugly truth; whatever time you say on your invites, you will not start at that time unless you don't mind starting without some of the people there; no matter what is written here, people do NOT show up on time.

On November 1st, you can't start at 6:30 outside; it will be dark, even for the ceremony. Even if you start at 5:30, by the time you're done with the ceremony and recessional, it's probably going to be too dark for outdoor photos. So changing the time isn't really going to help you that much, unless you do the photos before hand.

Celia, my ceremony started on time! It's do-able, but not always a guarantee. Another wedding we were in, the BP was ready early but guests were late due to construction. At our wedding, 10 minutes before the ceremony the usher started asking the guests to take their seats. At 5 minutes to, he put them in their seats. We were on time all day!

Yeah, my ceremony absolutely started on time. Only time I've seen one not start on time was when the bride lied about the start time, and when the shuttle with 75% of the guests was late as hell because they didnt take the back roads they were directed to take.

It will start on time if you decide that it will, regardless of who is there. I'm a big fan of on time, and we do our best to help that happen, but even with a half hour 'hospitality hour' before the ceremony, I still see guests coming in towards the end of the ceremony (and they do get the famous Milton Stink Eye.) I think this is, as so many other things are, a regional thing. In NY/NJ, it's rare.

Shuttles are hell. No one ever thinks that they'll take as long as they do to load, travel and unload.

But that's not the issue; the issue is that even if the wedding starts exactly at 5:30, over at 6:00, it doesn't leave a lot of time for outside shots; they ALSO take far longer than anyone thinks, especially if there are a lot of groupings of people to find, pose and shoot.

My best advice is to tell your BP and immediate family that after the ceremony it is time to book it out of there for photos. Do not stop to greet ANYONE or you will never get out! I can't stress this enough. Also, this is going to sound silly, but make sure you let the immediate family you want in the photos know. My grandma and brothers didn't think they were coming for photos. I guess I never made it clear to them and they didn't want to assume, so someone had to round them up. Otherwise, the rest of the BP and family knew the plan and we booked it out of there and hid while someone grabbed the stragglers, so we weren't delayed for photos.

Have a back-up plan too, just in case (a good indoor location, lighting, etc.). It'll save you stressing if things don't go according to plan.

Thank you everyone! We had our final meeting tonight, I am almost in tears I am overwhelmed. I was so unprepared. I think I decided to have the ceremony stay the time on the invites.

I am going to have a list of the photos I want and make sure to tell each person to go right to place A after the ceremony.

Our backup plan is inside the ballroom. Not ideal, but if it rains or is too cold, it will do!

Don't stress! Your photographer will get good shots no matter where you do the photos. Try to schedule your hair and makeup to get done early enough to do lots of photos with the girls beforehand, and have your photographer (or second shooter, if you have one) do shots of the guys. If your mom, grandma, whomever is coming to see you before the wedding, do photos with them too. Get as many out of the way as you can so that you don't need to worry about it so much later.