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Megan
Just Said Yes November 2020

Cocktail hour with no first look

Megan, on December 5, 2019 at 4:18 PM Posted in Planning 0 18
Hello brides! I need some advice. So we have decided to not do a first look. My fiancé has been very adamant about seeing me for the first time, down the aisle. It’s really awesome that he is involved and has an opinion. But, I’m a little stressed out with the timeline.
I really want to be able to spend some time with guests mingling before dinner, but I feel like we’ll be crammed for time with all the pictures during cocktail hour.
Should we make the cocktail hour longer so we can join in for a minute? Do y’all have any ideas to get all the pictures done, but not skip out on mingling with guests?Thanks!

18 Comments

Latest activity by Megan, on December 7, 2019 at 11:56 AM
  • Chrysta
    Master November 2022
    Chrysta ·
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    I am in the exact same situation- DW and FH wants our 1st look to be at the wedding aisle. Our ceremony and reception will be at the same facility (ceremony outside, reception inside), so we are just having a 1 hour cocktail hour and using 30 mins for pictures and 30 mins for mingling with guests.
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  • Kelly
    Champion October 2018
    Kelly ·
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    I would take all the bridal party pictures beforehand and then after the ceremony take one big group picture. You’ll still need to do family and couple photos afterwards though. You may have time to join in the last 10 or 15 minutes of cocktail hour but it won’t be much. It’s just one of the things you give up when opting not to do a first look unfortunately.
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  • Megan
    Just Said Yes November 2020
    Megan ·
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    Very true, thanks! We may just need to cut back on both and make do with the time we have!
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  • L
    Lady ·
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    The whole point of cocktail hour is so your guests have something to do while you're taking pictures. You could try to get all your bridal party shots out of the way before the ceremony and just do full party/bride & groom/family afterward. If you can make it in time to mingle a bit, great, but again, that's the whole reason you have a cocktail hour.

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  • Mrs. S
    Master November 2019
    Mrs. S ·
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    We had a welcome dinner the night before. But honestly there was still plenty of time for everything, photos, mingling, dinner.
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  • Megan
    Just Said Yes November 2020
    Megan ·
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    That’s a wonderful idea, especially for out of town guest!
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  • Megan
    Just Said Yes November 2020
    Megan ·
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    Very true, good point. I’m sure we can mingle with everyone throughout the evening!
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  • Eyonna
    Devoted May 2021
    Eyonna ·
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    Completely understand where you're coming from. Don't want to do a first look but also want to mingle with our guests...hopefully we can fit it in with timing and getting good pictures with full bridal party so we can mingle for a little while. Will see what happens; we have time to fully figure it out but its in my thoughts of how to proceed.

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  • Kelsey
    VIP September 2020
    Kelsey ·
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    My FH is the same, he doesn't want to do a first look. So we are going to do all of our group photos before hand with our bridal parties and parents. Then just do the rest of the photos after, I don't think it will take too long to finish taking pictures of just the 2 of us.

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  • MrsD
    Legend July 2019
    MrsD ·
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    We didn't do a first look. I would take all these pictures before the wedding (just don't let the bride & groom see each other): bride & bridesmaids, bride & siblings, bride & parents, groom & groomsmen, groom & parents, groom & siblings, bride & grandparents, groom & grandparents, bride & groomsmen, groom & bridesmaids, and bridal portraits (or whatever ones of those you want to take) so all you have to do after the ceremony is group shots and bride & groom portraits. Talk to your photographer before so she knows to be efficient and have a shot list since you are trying to get the remainder done in 30+ minutes so you can join cocktail hour for the last 30+ or so. To make it happen, you'll probably have to be ready 1+ hour before your ceremony too. I would keep cocktail hour a 1 hour max though, that's it. I always like when bride & grooms do a casual happy hour (even if it isn't hosted) or breakfast the day after too, it gives guests more time to see the bride & groom.

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  • Alejandra
    Super March 2019
    Alejandra ·
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    For our wedding we did not do a first look and we had our cocktail hour to take some pictures of just my husband and I. As soon as our ceremony ended we ended up having a receiving line, lol it was not intentional but the route the videographer shot us from and the direction where all of our guests were going to our ballroom were the same way, so as soon as our video guy said stop we turned around to find all 99 of our guests forming a line to greet us. We just went with it, took maybe 20 minutes, we didn't do pictures with our guests, then we took another 20 - 30 minutes taking pictures on the terraces and we decided lets go join everyone, we had 20 minutes left so we did our grand entrance and started everything then! It actually worked out pretty great, once we got in we did our 1st dance, danced with our mothers and had our speeches during dinner. My husband crying when I walked down the stairs leading to the aisle was the best, all eyes on are you so no one else really saw my hubby except me and it was awesome!

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  • Kaitlyn
    Just Said Yes October 2021
    Kaitlyn ·
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    My FH and I are also not doing a first look! I think if you speak with your photographer ahead of time and establish a timeline where you can determine the must have shots you want taken and keep it pretty timely, that may help!
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  • earias
    Champion December 2017
    earias ·
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    You can take most of your pictures before the ceremony without each other and then you can also extend your cocktail hour to 90 minutes. Even though we did a first look we still wanted a longer cocktail hour due to the ceremony time so we had a 90 minute cocktail hour. We also had a welcome dinner the night before so we made sure to visit with each of our guests that weekend.
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  • Jalyn
    Dedicated August 2019
    Jalyn ·
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    My family pushed for a first look but i cannot stand the idea. I felt the tradition of seeing each other for the first time at the alter was best for us. But the stages pictures, i didn't care much for them. I dedicated 30 mins to pictures and no more than that and I was very serious about it. ended up with nice formal pictures and candids (which i was most excited about). It depends how important the formal pictures are to the bride, some care deeply, some don’t.
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  • Megan
    Just Said Yes November 2020
    Megan ·
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    These are great ideas, thank you! I’ll definitely look into a specific plan for what pictures when, so everyone is clear. Thanks again!
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  • Rebecca
    Master August 2019
    Rebecca ·
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    We did not do a first look, either.

    However, we were lucky - our venue had excellent spots for pictures, and a park right next door. We were able to send a lot of people back into cocktail hour, take a few minutes for ourselves (and sign the license!!), before making our entrance into reception. Your venue should provide you with cocktail hour foods in your bridal suite.


    Scout locations for photos by your venue - that will really help.

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  • A
    VIP December 2020
    Amanda ·
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    We are also not doing a first look as FH is also adamant about not doing this. Our photographer is on board with no first look and said we can get all the other photos done prior to the ceremony so that all we have to do is take our photos together immediately after the ceremony so everyone can enjoy at least some of cocktail hour. We will also have two photographers that day so we can still have photos of cocktail hour being taken while we are having our couple's photo's done.

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  • Megan
    Just Said Yes November 2020
    Megan ·
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    Thank you! I will definitely look into the bridal suite food and find spots that are close because I’m sure that will help with time. Good ideas!
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