How does this work so there's not chaos? We're having a fairly small wedding with approximately 50 guests. We're getting married at our local county museum in their pioneer village, with a short walk from the chapel where we're having the ceremony to the reception area inside an old hotel on the museum grounds.
Do we need to have the table assignments ready to go as soon as people begin arriving at the hotel? Cocktail hour outside isn't possible. I'm sure people will start to sit randomly if they're not assigned to specific tables from the start, but I also don't want the tables getting messed up before dinner begins.
Also, with this type of set up where we're having cocktail hour and the reception all in the same room should we do first looks? Part of the reason I fell in love with our photographer is that we'll have a second shooter during the ceremony as well and I really want those shots of FH and I looking at each other when I first enter the chapel. Now I'm not so sure if the hotel we're using for the reception should mean that we shouldn't do that.
