Wedding day timeline when ceremony and reception at same place

Do a cocktail hour. Take bridal party photos and any family photos that don't include you and your FH together before the ceremony, then the rest of your photos during cocktail hour.

Hi Caitlin! Welcome to WeddingWire and congrats on your engagement!

I agree with Caytlyn, doing a cocktail hour will give your guests somewhere to go, mingle, and drink so that you can have some time to take pictures before joining them!

Have you booked your catering or beverage services yet? As perhaps you could go over doing a cocktail hour with them, along with your venue staff.

I went through the same thing so after reading a bunch of forums we decided we will do our first look and photos before the ceremony starts. I was worried it would take away from the emotions at the ceremony but it seems that other brides felt it helped with nerves and did not take away the awe factor of the aisle walk. Plus that means guests will have less time to wait around for the reception to start. Hope that helps!

You're missing the cocktail hour in between there to entertain your guests while you take photos. Why compromise your special walk down the aisle moment. Unless a cocktail hour isn't in the budget...

Were you planning to do a cocktail hour? Does your venue include the option to do one?

Can you have a cocktail hour during that time? That's typically what happens. We are taking all separate pictures prior to the ceremony. So before the ceremony starts, my fiance will have all his pictures with his groomsmen & his parents done and same with me. So we have a few knocked out prior!

Our ceremony and reception are at the same venue as well. We are doing a first look around 2:30 then photos with our bridal party right after. Our outdoor ceremony is at 4:30 followed by a cocktail hour from 5-6:15. During that time we will be taking family photos and taking a few moments to sit alone together in a private room before we make our grand entrance into the reception space!

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Totally agree. Also, it will take guests about 15 minutes to get to the cocktail hour and about 15 minutes to find their seat at the reception. So cocktail hour +30 minutes, there's your time for photos!

As an aside, does your venue have a backup for the ceremony in case there's inclement weather? I would think they could do it in the dance hall and then flip the room for dinner.

We're forgoing a first look and will take pictures that don't have us together before the ceremony for a few reasons. 1) we're getting married in December so good natural lighting in the afternoon is limited so we're going to take what we can outside and do the rest inside, 2) it saves on time during cocktail hour so we're not rushing to do so many pictures at once.

If you REALLY don't want to do a first look, take every possible picture before hand so all that is left is your full wedding party and you two together plus any necessary family photos. Work in depth with your photographer on this and make sure your wedding party and family know when and where to be. Then take whatever is left together during a cocktail HOUR. That should be all you need. Start your reception at 4.

I will say, our first look and the pictures with us together was my favorite part of the day. It's really the only part of the day I look back on and wish I could relive. Yes, the whole day was beautiful - but it was also hectic, I was constantly dealing with his sister who got drunk and was yelling at her kids, my mom who cannot deal with my dad, his mom who is just difficult, and my sister who was a mega B most of the day. That hour or hour and a half where it was just us and our photographers was AMAZING. It was fun, it was relaxing, I felt beautiful and loved and calm... We laughed and relaxed. I would honestly highly recommend it.