i don’t want a first look. Help!

I think that's doable if you can also get any family pictures with just the bride or groom ahead of the ceremony as well. For example, your family with you and his family with him. That way, it's just the group family shots that you need to worry about afterward. Also, is your ceremony going to be 45 minutes long? Most of the ceremonies that I've experienced (minus the Catholic masses) were only 20 minutes....MAYBE 30 minutes tops. (Even the religious ceremony with our pastor was only about 15 minutes long). If it's shorter, you'll have more time for pictures without stressing. However, if it is going to be 45 minutes, definitely make sure everyone you need in the group shots knows where to be after the ceremony so they're ready to go and you don't have to hunt them down. That will definitely help mitigate the time factor. I loved not doing a first look...it made everything really special when we saw each other for the first time.

I would think 45 mins to 1 hour would be plenty of time. We did a one hour photo shoot for our engagement pictures, and tbh we felt like it was too much time! 30 minutes would have been enough. And we ended up with over 200 good, edited photos- super overwhelming! But I suppose it depends on how many photos you’re wanting and the skill of your photographer. I would talk to your photographer. Tell them what you are wanting to accomplish with your photos, and how many photos you are hoping to receive, and they should be able to guide you on the proper amount of time they need to accomplish that for you.

That's enough time, just make sure you have a detailed list of who is in each shot so there isn't time wasted deciding who is in each photo! And you can list it so that you do all of one group at once and they can be released to cocktail hour (for example, do all bridal party first then release them, then extended family, then immediate family, until just you two are left). If your DJ is in close enough range, they can help announce who needs to go take photos right after the ceremony so you don't lose them to the bar. If not, either your coordinator or even photographer will have to be firm and organized so you don't lose precious time.

I do think it is doable but i would always want to designate more time for photos than ya think you'll need

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I agree. I would do as many family photos in advance as well. For example, if there are ones you want of just you with your parents or siblings there is no reason you couldn't do those before the ceremony.

We just had our wedding on the 22nd and didn't have a first look.
Our photographers were hired for 6 hours, so they came at 2pm to take detail pics- dresses, flowers, rings, venue decor etc - then we did a first look with my dad.
Our ceremony also started at 430pm which didn't even last 30 minutes, and then right after we did our wedding party and family. This was A LOT faster than I worried about, because my husband and I stayed where we were and it was a rotation of other people getting in and out for the photo. It could've been quicker if our flower girl was a little more relaxed, but she was super hyped and wanted to be in all our pics,, so that took extra time. Our portraits took about I'd say 45 mins tops! We definitely got in for our grand entrance by 6:10 as we planned! And then the sun set at 8:30pm that day so the photographers got some shots in before they left and our videographers got the full blown sunset pics for us!

Yes it can definitely work. This is not much different than my timeline. We are not doing a 1st look. Our photographer arrives at 3:00. Getting ready photos and detail shots happen between 3:00-4:30. Bridal photos, bridesmaids, parent photos, groomsmen, etc. will happen at this time.

Ceremony is 5:30-6 (if I had my guess...it will most definitely NOT last 30 minutes). Family pics, WP pics, and couples pics at cocktail hr btwn 6-7. So we have an hr for that. 20 minutes for family, 10 for entire WP, & 30 for couples. In order to make this work, I’ve made a list of family groupings based on photos that I, my parents, and my future in-laws would want to hang on their walls. That’s about 5-6 groupings at 3-4 minutes per group (which my research says is average, although it can take longer if there are ppl with mobility issues).

For me, this is perfectly fine. I don’t need or want a ton of photos & I don’t want to pose for photos for hrs. You will have to be very organized and communicate well with your photographer & family before & during the event. And you’ll need to give clear instructions & set boundaries with potential problem people (if you have those). My wedding is still 10 months out and I have already communicated my timeline and expectations to our families.

We got married, 5/22. I had my hubby do his side of photos before the ceremony. But we had a hiccup. The groomsmen left the unity cross at the reception venue 20 mins away from the church. And we were running late as it was. So our wedding was over an hour late starting. Found out that not all photos on hubby's side got taken. And I cut short my photos because I was not in the mood for them at the time. We were late starting the reception and people were hungry. I was more worried about my guest then photos.

But, get as many photos before hand, that don't need bride and groom together.

I think it also depends on how big your family and bridal party is. My friend was definitely rushed. She had 10 attendants on each side and took photos for bride's mom's side, bride's dad side, groom's dad's side, groom's mom's side. I think maybe 150 of the guests were relatives.


I had 9 people at my wedding. We had our photographer for 2 hours, 15 min of that was the ceremony, and I felt kind of rushed but we did get 99% of the shots we wanted.
Most photographers are used to an hour timeframe to get photos, but def take as many as you can beforehand.

We didn't do a first look, and we got all our pictures done in significantly less than the 90 minutes we had between ceremony and introductions.

With a good photographer, it's totally doable.

It's totally doable, especially if you get the bridesmaids/groomsmen/applicable family pictures done before the ceremony. We also didn't do a first look and our group pictures during cocktail hour only took about 20min. Then my husband and I did some couple photos with just us for the next ~25min. We had some space for ourselves after that before joining when the reception started.

Everyone’s comments have helped me with the same dilemma. Thank you!