I hear from alot of past brides that they wished they had taken photos before the ceremony so that they could enjoy their cocktail hour and reception with guests.
I am trying to decide if I want to do it before my ceremony but I am worried that it will ruin the moment of walking down the aisle.
For anyone who is already married, did you choose to see you groom before the ceremony and if so, did you regret it?
For those getting married what are you choosing to do?
skinny237
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
I am getting married at Lombardi's on the Sound on Sept. 7th at 6pm. They have a gorgeous view and if we wait until after the ceremony for most of the pics, the sun will slowly be setting. I think we r going to do the pics before so we can get the best pics....we may take a few after the ceremony with the sun-setting. This may take away from 'him seeing me in my dress when I walk down the aisle' but I guess that's just not as important to me. I also really want to enjoy the coctail hour. You spend all of this time picking out the food for the coctail hour----u should get to eat some of it.
Bellez95
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
there is a post about this on 08' brides you should read also but I am doing my pics after the ceremony it was a must for us I planned it so we have time between the church and the cocktail hour. My church is at 5 and my cocktail hour is at 8. A little bit inconvenient for guest but (this is going to come out bad but im not a bridezilla I swear) Its my wedding we are paying alot of money for our special day I dont wanna see him before and I wanna enjoy my whole wedding including the cocktail hour. Do what you feel is right and ask your FH what he wants mine refused o see me before I walk down the aisle
DeannaNDave07
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
i am doing pics before the ceremony... we want to enjoy the CH and try and greet all our guests! besides.. seeing FH before the ceremony will calm my nerves!
beram63
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
if i'm pouring all that $ and energy into a 5 hour party, i want to enjoy the WHOLE thing. plus, just based on the e-party, we know we're going to want that time to spend with the 100 of our closest friends/family members who are attending. our plan is to take pics w/ the bridal party & parents b4, and just the 2 of us for a little while after so we can make it to the RH for cocktail hour. i'm not that concerned about spoiling the romance of the walk down the aisle. even if he sees me beforehand, it's still a pretty big deal. HTH
Future Mulligan
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
we are seeing eachother before.....i booked my favorite photographer and i want to take our time with her.....i also want to enjoy our cocktailhour and repcetion without being pulled for photographs or missing anything.....also i will be more relaxed during the ceremony. i dont think it will take that much away from the moment - FH would like to see me beforehand because he wants a moment where we are alone and he can tell me exactley how he feels without holding back - he wants to see me before everyone else does!
teenigrrl
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
we're seeing each other before. we both want to be able to enjoy the CH. the first time we see each other will be at the RH. he'll have his back to me, then turn around to see me, so he'll still be surprised. knowing FH (and myself) we'll both get a little choked up, and we'd rather that be a private moment w/ only a few close people (and the photog) there to witness it. if he saw me coming down the aisle for the first time, we'd both be too choked up during the ceremony.
Brian and Marie
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
It was VERY important to us that we NOT see eachother beforehand! SO we took pics after the ceremony!! It def s*cked that we missed our CH, but we wouldn't have had it any other way!
Future Mulligan
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
Posted by teenigrrl
we're seeing each other before. we both want to be able to enjoy the CH. the first time we see each other will be at the RH. he'll have his back to me, then turn around to see me, so he'll still be surprised. knowing FH (and myself) we'll both get a little choked up, and we'd rather that be a private moment w/ only a few close people (and the photog) there to witness it. if he saw me coming down the aisle for the first time, we'd both be too choked up during the ceremony.
i agree - we rather the moment be private...
for me, i think that if i was in front of everyone i wouldnt be as emotional as if we were alone - the same goes for FH....i think we'd be embarrased to show our emotions in front of all those people!
Cacarina
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
Since I am getting married on the water in November...ceremony at 5:30...we have to take pictures beforehand because if we don't we will have no daylight pictures at all. The sun sets at 4:45 on my date, so it will look gorgeous to take pictures on the water at sunset. (hopefully the weather will be nice!) FH and I both had a problem with this at first, but we soon got over it. My pictures are sooo important to me, and I want to get as many as I can before, so I can enjoy at least some of the cocktail hour, and ALL of the reception!
Jen822
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
i REALLY DID NOT want to see FH until the ceremony but i really want to enjoy the entire wedding since i am having the ceremony at the RH
Dr Meg
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
My FH doesn't get that emotional and I am almost 100% certain he won't cry or get emotional the first time he sees me. However, I want that first time to be when I walk down the aisle. So we're gonna try and get the bridal party pics (me with the girls and him with the guys) out of the way before the ceremony. But we will wind up missing some if not all of our cocktail hour to take pics and we're both OK with it. I really think it is a personal choice that has to be made between you and your FH.
KimmieC
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
This is a great question actually...I went back and forth on this as well. I am getting married at the Hamlet Wind Watch October 2008. I really wanted the first time FH to see me be the moment I walk down the aisle. I then realize that since it is a night wedding and the cermony is at the RH, it would be too dark to take some of the pictures outside. Since it is on a golf course, I want to get some great shots in the light. After discussing it with FH, we decided it was best to take the pictures before hand. Another bonus is we get to attend the cocktail hour! I will be able to meet and socialize with people during the cocktail hour so that I dont have to spend majority of the reception going from table to table. It will give us more time having a great time with everyone!
amytee
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
We didn't see each other until the moment I walked down the aisle and I wouldn't change that for the world. It was such a special moment for us. My DH really wanted to do pictures before the ceremony so that we could be at the cocktail hour, but let me have my way.....and he's very glad he did.
Alot of people do pics before and I think that's great, it just wasn't for us.
Lily092207
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
My husband and I chose to see each other and take pix before the ceremony. He was just as surprise as when I walked down the isle. We had a day wedding so we wanted to be present during the CH to mingle and take pix with our family and friends..didn't want to waste any of that time..it went by really really quickly...but it was the best...
LittlePup34
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
i am doing mine after the ceremony, i left enough time in between the ceremony and cocktail hour
KitWisdom
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
I think we’re doing pics before the ceremony. Our photog will set up a sweet lil moment where he gets to see me all done up for the first time, and this way we get to mingle and enjoy our CH. It helps that we’re getting married at our RH. Plus, I kinda like the idea of having a moment where it’s just him and us before everyone else gets to see us.
lookitscassie
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
we're going to do pics before the ceremony so we can enjoy the cocktail hour
Trishthedish
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
On our wedding day we took pics after our matrimonial mass. We also had a lot of time in between our mass and cocktail hour. We completed all our pics by cocktail hour as well.
I am happy we did it after the ceremony b/c seeing your DH for the first time in front of everyone who is attending your ceremony is so amazing!
MsPotterhead
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Re: Pics before or after ceremony
I'm pretty sure we will do it before the ceremony. The ceremony is at the RH, and we can only get there one hour in advance, so it will prob only be a half hour of photos, then we need to run away before the guests arrive -- FH can see me privately, but I don't want to see any guests before the ceremony. Also, we'd have to see each other to sign the ketubah before the ceremony, so I think this way would work out the best.
