Take pictures before ceremony or after?

My fiance wants to take picture before the ceremony because he wants to be at the cocktail hour. I'm into the tradition of seeing each other at the alter. Unfortunately our ceremony will be at 11:30 am. If we take pictures before, I would have to get up at 6 am & have everyone ready by 8:30-9:00am for pictures. I feel bad to inconvenience people like that. Where would I find a hairdresser and/or makeup person that would come that early in the morning? I need advice...

We took ours before

We wanted to enjoy our cocktail hour so we decided to take as many pictures before hand as possible. We both think it was the best decision we made. Our ceremony was at noon, so we had to be ready early. Believe me, hairdressers and makeup people are used to early so you don't have to worry. We wanted our first moment of seeing one another to be special so we set it up that way and our photographers got some awesome shots. As a matter of fact our thank you picture was taken before we were married and you certainly can't tell the difference. We were able to enjoy almost the whole cocktail hour and it made the day more fun.

we're doing pics after +

We (mostly me) want that special moment at church - If we see each other before I think I would feel like we were 'missing out' on that moment. Also we have plenty of time after ceremony and before cocktail hour. Good luck!

we`re doing pics before....

Since our ceremony is taking place at our reception site, we don't have any extra time between the ceremony and cocktail hour which we would like to attend. (Plus our reception site is kind of small so it would be very difficult to take the pictures after the ceremony with all of our guests there. I wanted to have that 'moment' too when we first see each other. I have read many many times where the photographer has the groom facing one way and the bride comes up behind him and gets all primped (dress/veil straightened, etc) and then either tap the groom's shoulder or calls his name and he turns to see his bride for the first time. WHen I read about this I felt this is even better then the down the aisle look. It's much more personal between just you and your future husband. The photographer is probably better able to capture the moment as well. And you know what? He is going to be looking at you like that all day!

We took ours before & it was great +

Our ceremony was at 11:30 AM. Our hair/makeup person came to our hotel at 6 AM and we were all ready by 8:30. The photographers got some great shots at the hotel and then we had plenty of time to shoot all the fun stuff we wanted. My husband and I are so glad we did it this way because we were able to enjoy our cocktail hour with our guests and not drag people away during the reception to shoot formal photos. As for the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony - we were both so relieved to not have that pressure of such an emotional moment in front of all of our guests. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Before at Westbury Mansion and Gardens -it better not rain! *NM*

We are doing it before with a twist

Since I am a Nov. bride I will lose the sunlight at 4:49pm. My ceremony is at 3pm. We both want outdoor photos on the golf course together. So my video and photographer both recommended taking photos before hand. What we are doing is this...Scott will be taken by one of the photographers to a certain location and faced away from the direction I will be coming. Then I will be able to walk up to him and have him turn around. There will only be me, Scott, the video, and the photographers there. I was really into the whole 'seeing me at the Church for the first time' thing but when I was given this scenerio I changed my mind. Everyone told me that having this 'moment' without all of the guests and families is soooo special and magical. We have been told that you tend to show your true emotions even more when you are not infront of so many people and 'on-stage' as much. Hair and makeup people get up really early for brides. Even though my ceremony is at 3pm, she will be at my place at 8:30AM :(

I agree with Christine and Michele!

I think it is a great way to do things...I am not a cryer, but everytime I think about seeing John on this day I know I will and I want it to be private between us...also we our cocktail is immediately after our ceremony...there was no other choice...actually we will be taking pictures for about 15-20 min into the cocktail hour with fam members who couldn't make it early...