How much time did you allot for pictures?

Hi Stephani...in theory most of this looks doable, but a couple of concerns. First, what are you guests supposed to do for an hour before cocktail hour starts? They're going to want to arrive at the reception and have the cocktail hour ready to go. You may need to forego attending the cocktail hour if you can't get all your photography done before the ceremony.

Another factor to consider is how many people are involved in the photography. Do you have a lot of family that has to be included? Are there divorces among your parents that will require, essentially, double the amount of parent shots? Is your wedding party large or small? The more people involved, the more time it will take. Is your ceremony site a long way from your reception site?

Ultimately, you should talk this over with your photographer. First look photos will always give you more time, but at the very least you should be able to get some of your family and bridal party photos out of the way before the ceremony.

When I got married, we did three hours of formal shots prior to the ceremony. Was that needed? NO!

When my daughter got married, we did a bit over an hour of pre-ceremony shots. There as a list, all of the "parties" were there. It worked.

Thanks, Lisa. I have been concerned about the hour in between. I'm going to talk to the priest and see if I can push the ceremony back to 5:30. That way, there is a little bit of time for travel to the reception site but not too much time waiting around.

My wedding party is huge, embarrassingly huge! lol. We have 9 BMs, 9 GM and a RB. My parents are divorced, I didn't even think about that.

Oh yea.. and we have large families. I am one of 7, and he's one of 5.

If we don't do "first look" photos... How much time do you think we would need for pictures after the ceremony?

One thing to take into consideration is that unless you want people to see you before the wedding you are going to want to be hidden at least 30 mins before the cermony because thats when guest start to arrive. I did not take this into consideration and didn't get nearly as many pictures taken before the ceremony as I had planned. I had only planned an hour before the cermony and I really needed a little more time. I only ended up with 30 mins for my pictures because I didnt want anyone to see me.

I had an hour after the cermony for pictures. We did group family pictures, group bridal party shots, and the two of us. We had a really hard time getting my family and his family to cooperate with us so pictures after the cermony took longer than expected but this was also because my cermony and reception were at the same place and we couldnt pull my grandmother away from the appetizers.

Haha! That literally made me LOL about your grandma. Thats a good point about the half hour before.. I didn't even think about that. Maybe we could go to a park nearby beforehand and do the church pics after.

Do you or your girls need to do any set up?

Be sure to tell the family to be at the designated locations 30 min before you Really want them. That gives you a buffer for those running late and you won't freak out.

Also, 10 min buffer between combos.

30- 45min per combo

Bridal shots

Bride w/ her family and wedding party

Groom w/ his family and wedding party

(first look)

Bride and Groom together

Bride and Groom with wedding party

Bride and Groom w/ giant family shots

The day is about you, so try to get as many combo shots done before the ceremony so you can use the time after the ceremony to get some great shots of just you and the groom. I had all my combos done (even B&G shots) done before the ceremony so that we only needed to do 5 giant family shots on the staircase after the ceremony. Only missed half of my cocktail hour.

8:00 wake up, shower, eat, drive to appt

9:00 hair appt

11:00 make-up - drive to location getting dressed

12:15 - eat lunch - tell Wedding party and parents to be at location to get dressed

12:30 start getting into dress (could take up to 40 min if stubborn button loops)

1:00 Brides shots - combo shots with family & wedding party

2:15 Groom does his combos with family and WP - Bride does touch-ups

3:00 drive to park/beach - pretty outdoor location for photos

3:20 First look photo - bride and groom shots - B&G with Wedding Party

4:30 -set up decorations -touch ups - some altar photos?

5 - 5:30 Ceremony

5:30 - 5:45 - hugs - greet guests - do send off - 6-7 cocktail hr

5:45- 6:15 more picture

6:45 arrive at hall - Bride does Touch ups

7:00 entrance - Welcome - Prayer

7:20 ish start dinner (have Best Man do toasts while salads are being served, or during dinner - no reason to have dinner wait for all the toasts to be over)

Is your ceremony really an hour?

Thanks, Hayley. This is great! I'm just not sure if I should start that early and have not much of the reception photographed since I only have 8 hours of photography.

The ceremony will probably be 45 min to an hour. Its a Catholic Nuptial Mass. Mostly depends on how long the priest drags out the homily. I might include a word search relating to the B & G or something in the program for those who aren't Catholic.

My reception is set for 7-12. Its a Fri night wedding. It was what I could afford and it can't be adjusted.

Can you do pretty outdoor shots at the church or outside the reception? That will cut back some of the driving if you don't need to go to a park.

How much to add 1 more hour to your photographer package?

So, cocktails are 7 - 8 and dinner starts at 8.... Do you want the professional there for the garter toss, or can your sister do it with her nice camera?

You could always do your B&G first dance right after announcements/before dinner so the pro is there.

You can do the cake cutting right after dinner (for pro shots) Then you won't need to pay them to be there to capture all the drunks getting stupid on the dance floor. There are only so many of those pictures you need with a pro's camera. Their time is better spent on you and hubby and pretty outdoor shots that you will want to blow up and hang in the house.

What's the driving time from church to hall?

8:00 wake up, shower, eat, drive to appt

9:00 hair appt

12-12:30ish: Eat

12:30-1:30: Makeup

1:30 drive

2 photographer arrives - start getting into dress

2:35 Brides shots - combo shots with family & wedding party

3:30 Groom does his combos with family and WP - Bride does touch-ups

4 drive

4:30 -set up decorations -touch ups - some altar photos?

5 - 5:45 Ceremony

5:45 - 6 - hugs - greet guests - do send off -

*have you considered the B&G dismissing the pews one at a time to hug the guests at the church?

6:10- 6:50 more picture -bride and groom shots

7:20 arrive at hall - touch ups - catch end of cocktails

7:50 line up

8 entrance - Welcome - Prayer -1st dance

8:25 ish start dinner

10pm photographer leaves

Really need 3 hrs for your hair? usually 2hr for bride. That would bump makeup up a little if need more driving time.

I'm thinking I should try to squeeze in at least 3 hours of photo shoots.

Yes. Good idea. We will go right into the dances and all of the important stuff. I'm sure lots of people will capture funny drunk moments.. you're right, its not like those pics will be hanging up on my walls or anything.

The area outside of the reception hall should be good for photos. The driving distance between the church and reception is 7.5 miles (about 15-20 min)

Typing while you type... how does that look?

*have you considered the B&G dismissing the pews one at a time to hug the guests at the church?

and you can still catch the end of cocktails w/ this timeline....

Wow you're fast and a lot of help! The reason why I have 3 hours for hair is because my FH's cousin and his aunt are hair dressers and have offered to do my hair and my 9 BMs hair and possibly MOG and MOB's hair. Yikes! For FH's brother's wedding, his aunt curled the girls hair while his cousin did the updos. For that wedding, she did 7 girls hair in about 2 hours. She is really, really fast but its a lot of girls.

Your welcome.

if you dismiss the guests at the church, that will be your time to give hugs and greet. I've been to 2 wedding where they do it this way, and it is nice.

It will give you some more photo time and then you can skip cocktails if you need that time for photos.

*I would still see what 30 extra min of photographer would cost. Then they can arrive at 1:30 and get the fancy dress shots hanging in the window and shots of your rings with the flowers, etc.

and you can change the start time on the photos after the ceremony to be done at hall (move the driving time before shots) Only problem is that I'm not sure how Light it will be out at that time... so, maybe you Should see if there is any way to bump up or pay the photographer for a little more time so you can get some B&G outdoor shots in good lighting.

I will definitely look into it. Thanks so much, Hayley. I was struggling. I was thinking I have so much time since my ceremony starts late. How the heck do people manage to get ready in time for noon weddings?!

That is a lot of girls.... maybe even bump hair to start at 8 or 8:30 for some of the girls?

At least you have an idea of how your day can go. Remember, not everything will go as planned, people will be running late, so tell them to be at the location 30- -45 min BEFORE you really want them. Also, it takes longer than you think to get everyone out of the building and into their cars.

Getting INTO your dress will take 30 min for stubborn buttons. Even a corset takes time because you want the ribbons to be perfectly straight.

Get non-messy muchie food for lunch - veggie tray, little roll up sandwiches.

Don't forget to pee before you get into your dress.

Talk to the photographer too and ask how much time they think they will need per combos. And what the best lighting hours will be if outdoor pics of you and hubby is important. Maybe do less individual shots with you and wedding party to make more time for B&G during daylight.

It IS a lot of girls. I might give them the option of going to a salon nearby if they prefer. Also, have girls do their makeup while they are waiting their turn for hair.

Luckily my dress takes about 1 minute to get on. I just have a zipper and fake buttons.

I think I'll ask some close aunts if they will take care of church decorations. I'll have bows for the pews made and flower arrangements ready the day before.

I will definitely need snacks! I'm hypoglycemic and need to eat about every 3 hours.