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Savvy October 2020

Church reception timeline

Shannon, on October 7, 2020 at 12:27 PM Posted in Wedding Reception 0 7

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My fiancé and I wanted to keep our wedding as simple as possible and save money so we are doing a church wedding with the reception also at the church. The reception will start about 2:30 (ceremony at 2) and should be over at 5 or before. We’re serving finger foods with cake and donuts. (Obviously a dry wedding since it’s at a church). I’m trying to figure out how to fit in the toasts, cake cutting, first dance, and garter/bouquet toss since my fiancée wants to keep those traditions in the reception. I wanted to do photos immediately after the ceremony but I’m not sure I want the guests to wait around for an hour while we do that since there won’t be much to do other than mingle and eat. How do I go about this so we can keep those traditions in the reception without keeping people around too long?

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7 Comments

Latest activity by Elizabeth, on October 12, 2020 at 4:33 PM

Expert November 2020
Alexandria · on October 7, 2020 at 12:38 PM
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Are you able to do any of your pictures before the ceremony instead of after, that way it saves time before the reception?
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Savvy October 2020
Shannon · on October 7, 2020 at 12:49 PM
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We won’t have time unfortunately because hair and makeup will be finishing between 12:30-1. And then we need to get to the church for the ceremony
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Expert November 2020
Alexandria · on October 7, 2020 at 12:54 PM
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Oh, shoot. And I'm guessing it's too short of notice to have the HMUA start earlier? ... But if all else fails and its only an hour for pictures after the ceremony that's really not too bad, that's pretty standard, then you can come back and do first dance right away when you come back to the reception, then cut your cake and do toasts while its being passed out and after you've eaten do your garter/bouquet toss
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Legend June 2019
Melle · on October 7, 2020 at 1:12 PM
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You can take your photos during because people need down time to eat and mingle anyway
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VIP September 2020
Molly · on October 8, 2020 at 11:34 AM
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My guest just mingled, ate and drank while my FH and I took photos.
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Super October 2022
Michele · on October 8, 2020 at 1:39 PM
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Even if you don't want to see each other the ceremony, the photographer can get as many pics in before the ceremony as possible so you just a few after-ceremony shots. You can easily fit all those into the timeline and still have time for guests to mingle and have fun.
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Elizabeth · on October 12, 2020 at 4:33 PM
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As a wedding planner, my most recent client had a simple church wedding with cake and cocoa. The reception also included the average traditions. Just put it in the timeline and make sure everyone knows. Photos after the reception is not as bad as it sounds. Just make sure not to get cake on your dress. Lol. Usually works out great when there’s no cocktail hour to do photos after reception and send off.
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