Cocktail hour not being enough time for photos?

I agree with your photographer. We had a 3.5 hour gap between our wedding and reception and we were really rushed. Granted, we also had a 45 minute drive from the ceremony site to reception, but that still left over 2.5 hours for photos. We didn't have time for everything and we had a 7 person wedding party and didn't do any family photos.

It's absurd to take longer than an hour, no reason for it. For me that is way on the long side, but even traditional portrait wedding photographers can make that work. You don't really need a bunch of assembly line standing in groups photos with every uncle and aunt, separating everyone and all these different configurations. My style is documentary so I don't do large amounts of formals personally, or work with a second shooter. Or work off huge shot lists. Some by yourselves as a couple, with respective parties, and immediate family, done. If you require more, as the reception winds down some, do anything else you wanted there but clear the timeline with the photographer. Don't over complicate this, let them do the work you paid them to do Enjoy your day!

Jess, I'm trying to do that math and understand how that wasn't enough time....I may be coming from a different thought process and style, but even a traditional wedding photographer who is more formal group heavy, I don't see how this all couldn't be accomplished unless there was hiking involved. Seems exhausting spending that long on portraits on a wedding day, couldn't imagine.

If you do most of your photos before and an efficient photographer, it should be fine. Deputize a person from each side to gather relative that your photographer won't know.

If they need more time, add it before, make sure your relatives are on time for photos and get it done. My couples who do this literally need 20 minutes afterwards and are almost always part of cocktail hour.

And I agree with Jay; sometimes I watch the after-the-ceremony photos, and it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to it; "let's to this one with that one"...

The owner needs to get his act together.

I believe we only have an hour for photos too and I'm stressing about it. And my ceremony and reception are in the same location surrounded by ideal photo settings. I was told that it's smart to set aside 10 minutes per planned shot - that does not seem like it would get a lot of pics. I'm hoping to have an hour and a half gap - honestly if you have drinks and maybe some form of entertainment while you're taking pics your guests won't notice. My guests will be drinking, eating apps, and playing board games - they won't even notice the gap (hopefully).

Good God, if I needed a 4 hour gap to get my photos done..I'd skip the photographer.

We did all of our family photos and wedding party photos before the ceremony. we also got a lot of bride and groom shots before the ceremony. we had about an hour before the ceremony for all of those (including first looks with my dad and DH). we didn't even end up using the whole hour long cocktail hour for photos. we finished up within about 30-40 mins and were able to sit down alone, just DH and i, in the reception space and eat some of our cocktail appetizers all by ourselves and had plenty of time to bustle my dress before the cocktail hour was up. that included a bunch of video shots too.

unless you have a list like 3 pages long of shots you want (which, i would kind of advice to avoid... you hired your photographers based on their style and talents, i'm assuming, and i'd really just let them work their magic. it's ok to have a few shots that you MUST have, but let your photographers be creative!) i don't see how you couldn't have enough time...

From your original post, it says you are doing photos before the ceremony? Are you doing a first look? If you are doing a first look and will be getting the majority of your photos done before the ceremony, I don't think you should stress about only having one hour! If you are not getting most of your shots done before the ceremony, then I think 1 hour is short.

We just got our engagement photos done and it was 1 hour. It felt like we were only there for 20 minutes. If I only have 1 hour with my photographer on my wedding day, I would feel like I didn't get all the shots I wanted. But, maybe that's just me.

We are doing a first look and my photographer asked for 2.5- 3 hours of photos before the ceremony. He said the bridal party will be there for some of that and then they will be sent inside to relax and have a drink while FH and I finish up. We aren't planning on taking photos after the ceremony, but we will probably end up taking a few.

An hour should be plenty of time, especially if you don't have any to little travel time between ceremony and reception. If you do photos ahead of time as well then you won't have too many to do in between ceremony and reception.

An hour was plenty of time at my sister's wedding and we even hit 2 sites in the city. If you are worried I would suggest getting a list of pictures you want so it'll be efficient. My photographer said we will have plenty of time and I also am giving him a list of my must-have shots.

We did a first look and did about an hour of photos before the ceremony, then during cocktail hour we did about 20 minutes of formal family photos. And hour would be a little tight for everything, but doable. If you don't want to do a first look, you could do your bridal party pictures before the ceremony to help.

I'm with Jay - spending more time than that will be exhausting. You want to enjoy your day, not relentlessly document it.

Get as many as you can beforehand and then prioritize the rest.

We did most of the immediate family photos and wedding party photos before the ceremony. After the ceremony, we did all of the combined ones. We were still able to get in a bunch of shots with just the two of us and finished in time for the reception with no issues. I think something like that would help.

Breathe easy, weddings aren't a photo op, it's to document the day, not take over. Simplify and capture genuine moments, and a modest amount of portraits, you will have a rich story if left in the right hands

50 minutes would not have been enough for us. Every photographer has a different portfolio, perhaps Jay Farrell here focuses more on candids throughout the day, and although I like that style, it was important I had family pictures, plenty of pictures of just me and H, pictures of us iwth the girls, us with the guys, grandparents, etc... it sounds like your ceremony and reception are at the same place which will help, but 50 minutes goes by really, really fast.

ETA- i also think I had a beautiful venue, and I still only took pictures at the ceremony, and one other location that was about 20 yards away. It sounds like you may want to take pictures at more than one location, which will mean 10 minutes will be spent getting everyone organized, and another 5-10 minutes traveling to each location, not leaving much time at all.

Also my photographer's DEFINITELY knew what they were doing, and their skills were much more than adequate. We spent about an hour before, and 50 minutes after the ceremony, and it went by REALLY fast.

We didn't do a first look and one hour was not enough time. Give yourself 2 full hours of photo taking, or 3 to be on the relaxed side. So if you do an hour and a half before the ceremony you should be fine.

We will have 2 hours for before pics that are separate. We are not doing a first look. We will have 50-60 minutes for together pics and some bridal party shots. We are only doing pics with parents and siblings. No extended family. I think this is plenty of time but this lady is being an ass about it.

I've loved hearing alll your input that has mostly put me at ease.

I think an hour is a good amount of time as long as the photographer is organized and they know what you want! I don't think you have anything to worry about!

If your just getting a couple of pictures with the BP and parents you should be fine. If your looking for a magazine, you'll need more time.

I feel like an hour should be more than enough time, especially if you're doing a first look. We aren't doing a first look, and we'll be done with formal family portraits in about 20 min, maybe 10min for fun BP photos, and then the extra 30min for romantic just-the-two-of-us shots.

Our photographer is doing all family/BP shots with just one of us before the ceremony so all we have to do during cocktail hour is formals with both me and FH.