Time in between ceremony and cocktail hour

If you can, yes.

Absolutely. Breaks between are rude. Guests have nothing to do.

Omg, I cannot stand breaks. We were invited to a wedding that had a 4 hour break. I was beyond pissed. We had no where to go, and we were starving so we went to a Panera to eat something light. It was so inconvenient. I feel like couples do this for their own interest and I could never do that to my guests.

We're taking pictures during cocktail hour. If we miss cocktail hour, so be it. Guests don't deserve to wait until you're done taking your pictures.

Sorry, breaks clearly fire me up lol

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How much time would you suggest? I don't want my guests to see us taking our photos since we are doing all of them inside the reception venue.

A lot of people may skip your ceremony if there is a large gap. If I was coming from out of town I wouldn't want to sit around for 4 hours.

We are having a one hour gap since we're just doing family pics then and doing our own at sunset after the reception. Since guests must leave the room so it can be flipped, we hired a magician to put on a show for the meantime. I think much more than that is too long.

Our venue doesn't have a space to do a cocktail hour, but since it's in the middle of the day I'm not too worried. There'll be plenty of food and alcohol at the reception.

Are gaps normal where you live? They aren't where I am from. I find the reasoning strange too. Who needs to "freshen up" after sitting in a church for an hour... Are most of your guests staying at a hotel? My brother ended up having one and it caused major problems for our guests. Yes the bridal party spent 2.5 hours taking pictures and it sucked. No one needs that many dang formal portraits.

I would knock out some pictures prior to the ceremony and work with your photographer on a realistic timeline for how long pictures will take. If you can push the ceremony later or start the reception earlier that would be ideal.

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No offense taken at all lol. This is why I was asking. I don't want to be that couple. We are having a decent size wedding (200 ppl invited) and we wanted to be able to start mingling with guests during cocktail hour. We might just need to cut the photo time down so I can shorten the time of the gap .

Yes, this is a huge gap. Even having more than a 30 minute gap is not desirable. Ideally, you should have no gap. Pictures should only take about 2 hours. Even without doing a first look you should be able to get most of them without the groom before the ceremony. Then take the remaining ones after the ceremony. While you're finishing pictures is when your guests enjoy cocktail hour. Cocktail hour can be as long as an hour and a half but make sure you have plenty of hot and cold apps and at least beer and wine if you're not hosting a full open bar.

This situation screams for a first look.... if you really want pictures inside your reception venue, the only logical way to make that happen is to do them before the ceremony. Any gap in my opinion is inconvenient and somewhat rude to your guests.

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They are more common in NJ. The last wedding I went to was at 12 and the cocktail hour started at 7. I know there will be a good amount of OOT guests that would prefer to take a shuttle to the reception. Some of our guests are bringing their children to the church and then bringing them to a sitter so they can enjoy themselves at the reception. So that idea would work for them. I just concerned for our local guests with the time our photographer even suggested the time gap and she is a very seasoned photographer in the area.

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Thank you for your input. I will have to talk to the photographer again and let her know we need to cut down the time for photos.

There is so much food on the menu and there is an open bar so the food won't be an issue. We already have a 90 minute cocktail hour planned. So I can use that as a cushion as well.

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I was open to a first look but FH wants to see me for the first time as I'm walking down the isle.

When I was looking into planing our timeline before I found this site I got suggestions saying that cocktail hour is for your guests while you’re taking pictures. We are having a cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony and taking our pictures during that time. I personally wouldn’t like a break but if you’re doing it that way that seems like a long time for pictures... depending on how many people in the wedding party, it seems excessive. I’d take an hour and a half maybe 2 if you ansolutely wanted to do a break to do pictures but i wouldn’t make it a break.... I’d start “cocktail hour” at the same time you’re starting pictures.

View Quoted Comment I have been to lots of weddings in the NY/NJ area and none have had a gap. You should either limit the photos being taken in the reception area to a few minutes or just do a first look. It's really not appropriate to have your guests waiting around for you to take photos, and definitely not 4 hours. Is there another place where your cocktail hour can be held? That way, you take your solo photos before the ceremony, take an hour's worth of photos with FH, and you are able to join your guests at the reception or tail-end of the cocktail hour.

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Right but if it affects your guest's experience negatively? That's not good hosting.. Pictures DURING cocktail hour is the norm if you don't do a first look, which allows the guests to continue on with the event straight from ceremony to cocktail hour. Then the wedding party shows up during the beginning of the reception.

Move it later if you can. My sister just got married this weekend, 3pm ceremony, 6pm cocktail hour. I told her to shorten the time if she could, and she refused, said people would go home, relax, etc. Honestly, it wasn't good - some were too far to go home to relax, others had no where to go so they had to find a restaurant (pay money) and hang out, and don't get me started on those who did live close enough - a lot showed to the ceremony in jeans, then went home to change for the cocktail hour. At the very least, if you can't shorten the time, provide some sort of drink/food station and an area for them to go, but move if you can.

View Quoted Comment Good to know. I would think even for those at the hotel probably would not need that large of gap although having a small one would be helpful for them.

I'll be honest. My brother's photographer suggested the same. So they did all their pictures in the gap. But I wasn't overly impressed. She didn't seem organized or take into account fatigue of taking that many pictures. I would push back, IMO if you focus on what's important and have a clear list of what you want she should be able to get it done in less time. But I guess it also depends on the type of photos you are seeking. When you look through wedding album what kind of photos are you drawn to?

We did bridals, family, and "bridal party" portraits prior to the ceremony, it took about 50 minutes. Afterward we did group portraits (maybe 10 minutes) which I limited because I personally think they are the most boring, I mainly did them for my parents. After getting my photos back I still feel the same way. The rest of our cocktail hour was photos of just us (we did NOT do a first look) which we were able to capture plenty. I seriously had trouble narrowing down for our album.

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Unfortunately there isn't another place to take pictures. The spots to take pictures are going to be very limited in January. I like the idea of taking an hour's worth of photos the photographer should be able to get the shots in that amount of time.

I would maybe shorten it a little, but dont do to much that your rushing pictures and missing cocktail hour. Do you have any family members that live in the area? When my cousin got married one of our family members hosted drinks and snacks at their house to break up the time. I dont think it will be a huge issue, you said most people will be dropping their kids off to sitters or going to the hotel. Even though your only sitting in the church previously, as a guest it is nice to go back to the hotel if already check in or check in if you haven't already and take a few minutes to hang, and take the shuttle like you said. Also sometimes these guest will not get fully ready for the church and use the break to change.

Unless, sorry another thought, what if you shorten it do whatever pictures you can and go to cocktail hour for a little while then continue the pictures since you said your doing a 90 minute cocktail hour.

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Thank you and I completely agree it is a HUGE time span and that's why I asked. The time gap was based solely on the photographers guidance and expertise.

The pictures that you had taken are kind of what we are looking to have. I want to get all the girls and the guys pictures taken before the ceremony then the family and group pictures at the church and as soon as we get to the venue.