Has anyone done photos after the reception

I failed to mention that our ceremony is at noon. I am not sure we have time to do them beforehand. Also, we really didn't want to see each other before the wedding.

I would never do it mainly because by the time I have danced and consumed for two hours, I tend to look disheveled to say the least. Would you have your hair and make-up person come back to spruce things up?

That's a good point, thanks. I am doing my own hair and makeup, so I would be able to touch up.

We are having an 11:00am ceremony and we are taking our photos beforehand. Yeah the bridal party is probably going to be pissed, but it is what it is, we are also on a tight timeframe.

I would be okay taking pictures after the ceremony & reception if my hair and make-up person came back to touch me back up! Because I would look like a hot mess after dancing and running around saying hi to everyone.

I would consider taking some of the photos beforehand, then during, and then after. But if you guys don’t want to see each other before the ceremony, you can’t really do that.

Decisions decisions!

Yeah, I know. We are meeting with our potential photographer next week, which is why I am trying to work this out. I absolutely hate feeling rushed, and that's why I think that afterwards, when we can take our time, makes the most sense to me.

I would highly recommend having a First Look (an intimate session of the two of you before your ceremony). It will be a long day...you will be tired. It will show in your face and your posture for your photos. A First Look will give you amazing candids & posed shots that will look fabulous since hair & makeup will be fresh. Also consider the possibility on a boat that you could get spilled on, it might be quite humid outside...& inside dancing is very humid...so a quick touch up to hair and makeup could turn into a long one...eating up your photography time. If you have a set number of hours in your package, you could easily run over that time trying to get off the boat, all your guests getting their last hugs and photos in before they leave, taking time to get refreshed for the photos and remove any stains off your dress, etc. You would definitely feel rushed if you were running out of photography time and knew you had to pay to extend it.

Stephanie has brought up a good point with your time with the photographer, I too am having an early ceremony and reception, my ceremony is noon and reception is 1-5pm and then afterwards we are taking the wedding party to down town Chicago and doing pics and sight seeing there as we have 2 photographers and 1 assistant for 12 hours

The photographer offers a 7 hour package, so I am not worried about running out of time.

Jackie, was this your idea or the photographer's? What was their reaction to having photos after the reception?

We took photos after our reception, however I'll say right away that neither my DH or I are big dancers so we didn't do much at our reception to get disheveled.

Our ceremony started at 12, and the reception ended at 4.

We had every intention to take photos before the ceremony however between the mixture of running late in the morning getting ready and many of our guests showing up EXTREMELY early at our venue, we were unable to do many photos as I didn't want our guests seeing/watching us. We did our first look inside on the 2nd floor of the mansion, but didn't take any other formal photos.

After our ceremony, we took all our family formals and then bridal party photos. After we finished with those, we decided that we would wait until after the reception to get the rest of our Bride & Groom photos. We had our photographer all day and we were eager to return and join our guests.

Continued...

We spent most of our reception mingling and talking with guests, not dancing (aside from our first dance and the last dance). Because of this, we weren't all hot and sweaty, my hair wasn't a mess, and my makeup was still fresh. The only difference was that my curls had fallen slightly looser but didn't look bad by any means.

Because of that all, it worked for us to continue to take photos after the reception. If you are confident you will be able to freshen and touch up for photos if needed, then it could work, but it's not something I would recommend in all situations.

My cousin did and it was horrible.. everyone was so tired and she failed to get a picture of her and her husband alone because he had to leave to lay down due to a headache.. it was also rather dark at that point.

Hi! We also have a limited timeline also, no alcohol reception in order to be supportive of my amazing dad that is recovering and sober, and so there won't be a cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception. We don't want to take pictures after ceremony and have our guests be bored. Our ceremony is at 2pm. We are doing all the "posed " pictures before the ceremony. I guess the order will be: first look with FH, first look with dad (I have seen a picture like this where the dad was crying and it was so sweet), and then pictures with our close family. We have no bridal party so that will be a few less pictures to take. We and the photographer is very excited about the plan!

I don't think after would be of the best pictures to do them after the reception, though. I would want them when my makeup and hair is fresh. We plan on cake smashing just a bit and dancing a whole bunch

I think the best way I can stress what Stephanie posted. These are pics of my daughter and her DH. The first pic was taken at 1:00 p.m. Her hair was professionally done and her make-up is airbrushed.

The second pic was taken just before 2:00.

The last pic was taken at 9:00. Her reception started at 5:30. So, they have their booze on and have been dancing for a few hours. Both are shiney and sweaty.

No, no one else is taking pictures after the reception, because no one else wants to look like a hot mess in their photos. Try every thing you can to avoid having to resort to this.

I wouldn't take my main reception or wedding pictures after the reception. You're sweaty from dancing and tipsy and tired. I'd say either do it before the ceremony or miss some of the reception and do it before the reception.

Koshka when I was hiring a photographer I already had the ceremony and reception times and we was trying to figure out how much time we needed the photographers for the day, plus some of our wedding party doesn't live by us in state so we thought it would be nice to go down town to take pics and see the sights...

I'm having my pics taken beforehand, our venue is at a boat club and the entire bridal party is arriving by boat so i thought it would make for a great photo opportunity and our photographer agree's - i will have to get a first look pic as it's a shame he will see me before the ceremony but it will give us more time with our guests - not sure how it would be to get them taken after the reception though - I would try and get some beforehand if possible

Thanks, MrsO, for your helpful response. I'm glad it worked out for you. I just can't imagine getting that drunk or disheveled within two hours. That is for the after party, which will be long after the photographer leaves.

No. Get up early, get ready, take photos before and enjoy your party. You are at your best, emotionally, physically, makeup-ly. You're excited and fresh. It's the best time and it's worth making time for that.