I was always adamant about FI seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle and did not want to meet prior to the ceremony for photos. For those of you who are or who have done this the same way, how much of cocktail hour did you miss? i don't want my family and bridal party to miss out on the cocktail hour by taking photos. I also would like to be at cocktail hour for maybe 15 minutes to at least see it and be a part of it.
But I'm having a hard time thinking about how this is going to happen. What did you guys do? How are you guys planning to handle this?
GrkItalWedding
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
I planned our church ceremony for an early time slot so that we would have plenty of time for pictures and still make it to our cocktail hour. I am not worrying about what the guests will do with that time in between....actually I think there is enough time for them to go back home before the cocktail hour starts.
Our church will be from 1:30 - 3ish and cocktail starts at 6.
Tiggeruth
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
We did not see each other before the wedding. We did take some pictures after the church and before going to the reception and then once at the reception we probably missed like 20 minutes of the cocktail hour to get a few more immediate family pictures but then all other group shots we wanted we took through out the reception. Every now and then I would just get people together and then we'd take a picture and then people would go back to dancing. I think I was able to get every picture that I wanted and really didn't have to miss much of anything.
PattyK
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
We are getting married at our reception hall, so we are planning on taking pictures before the ceremony. We want our bridal party to be able to enjoy the cocktail hour. We are want to take pictures of the two of us during the cocktail hour.
GabrielleandJohn
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
We planned our wedding mass for 2:30 and our cocktail hour for 6:30. I intend to get all pictures done in the allotted time and not miss a second of it.
kateretak2
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
I feel the same way as you. We're getting married at the reception hall so our plan is for me to take pics with my family and bridal party before the ceremony, FH to take pics with his family and the ushers before the ceremony. Then after the ceremony no receiving line and begin pics right away. First with bridal party, then the two of us. Then maybe at the end of cocktail hour grab everyone for big family pictures. We're also extending cocktail hour for 15 minutes (shortening reception by 15 so no extra charge). my photographer said it's completely doable and we may even make it to the end of our cocktail hour.
brittny817
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
Posted by PattyK
We are getting married at our reception hall, so we are planning on taking pictures before the ceremony. We want our bridal party to be able to enjoy the cocktail hour. We are want to take pictures of the two of us during the cocktail hour.
We are doing the same thing. We are going to Old Westbury Gardens before the ceremony. Our DOC and photog are arranging a 'first special moment' when we see each other for the first time at the gardens.
If you have your ceremony at a church just schedule enough time between the ceremony and the CH to get pics taken. If you are getting married at the RH IMO you might want to suck it up and take pics before. I was sooo against seeing FH but when I realized that we wouldn't get as many pictures and we and our BP/parents would miss the CH, practicality set in. I'm fine with the idea of seeing FH now.
jessica08bride
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
gotcha....thanks!
july06bride
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
how much time do you have between ceremony and Cocktail hour?
I did not see DH before ceremony , all pics were taken after ceremony we had enough time... we took some pics at the RH when we got there, but we were able to go to our cocktail hour- I was adamant about being there!
kflan75
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
we didnt see each opther befire the ceremony-- and we didnt miss anytime at the Cocktail hour...
our church was at 2:30-- by the time we were done and stuff it was almost 3:30 ... Cocktails were at 7pm ... we went for pictures at the beach then back to the Hilton by 6. there was alot of beach traffic and our guests were thankful for that space in between!!
MattandTricia07
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
We are having a 2:30 ceremony and a 7:00 CH for that reason- we want to be finished taking pictures by 7pm.
jessica08bride
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
Hmmm..I am getting married at the RH.. so the ceremony begins at 6:30. CH starts at 7. Everythings seems to 'one right after the other'...I do like the idea of increasing the CH 15 minutes and shortening the reception 15. I will have to ask about that!
DandS
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Re: not seeing FI before ceremony...
Our Church was at 2pm and our CH started at 6pm, so we were done with our pictures by 6pm so we were able to enjoy the whole hour. I was very insistant that DH and I did not see each other before the ceremony. We only really needed an hour and a half to take pictures with DH and the BPand then a half an hour for pictures together with our families. The rest of the pictures we took before we saw each other (solo and family shots).
