Picture taking question

[curlygirl]

Hi Brides! I''ve mostly been posting on the jewelry forums but now I need some real bridal help!

I''m planning to get married on December 3. I want to have my church service in the early evening, like 5 or 5:30-ish, and then the reception will be at another location at around 7 or 7:30. My question is this: will that leave enough time to take pictures?? I don''t want to miss my entire cocktail hour but I don''t know how quickly they can take all the photos. Also, I realized that I won''t have any daytime shots if we do them all after the ceremony because it will be winter and dark by then. So what do most people do??? A few friends of mine told me they had their pictures taken in the afternoon before the ceremony. Maybe I''m old fashioned but I was kind of hoping the first time my future husband sees me on our wedding day, it will be when I''m walking down the aisle in my dress, not in the afternoon so we can take photos. Any advice or suggestions???

Thanks so much in advance and I''m sorry if this has been discussed already. I didn''t see any other topics about this...

 

[eks6426]

How long do you expect your wedding to last? How far away is the reception site? How big is your wedding party and how many pictures do you want? Photographers tend to do the group pictures at churches pretty quickly...they generally have to because the next wedding is often waiting to come in. If you want more elaborate pictures in lots of different locations in the church or nearby scenery it will take longer. But if you're just doing standard group shots....bride & groom, bride& groom&attendants, bride groom & parents etc. it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes tops. But I guess ultimately, I'd ask your photographer how much time he/she needs.

 

[curlygirl]

I think the ceremony should last about 45 minutes--I''m Armenian and we take a long time to do everything!! Fortunately,we''re only having a maid of honor and a best man--no big bridal party. It will only take about 10 minutes to get to the reception site so hopefully I''ll be able to get all the shots I want and then make it over to the cocktail hour! Thanks for talking me off the ledge--I was starting to panic. I''m very superstitious and really believe in the old fashioned walking down the aisle thing and the guy is standing there in awe because he''s never seen his girl look so beautiful, blah, blah, sappy tearjerking stuff!

 

[eks6426]

I totally agree with you on taking pictures AFTER the wedding! Even without the superstitiousness, most of the pictures I''ve seen taken before the weddings, the bride & groom look really nervous. If you take the pictures after, you''ll just look happy. Your photographer should be able to help you...you should have plenty of time between your wedding & reception....

 

[JCJD]

Do what will work best for the way you want your wedding day to flow. For example, if the photographer needs 4 hours or something ridiculous (2 hours should be plenty) and you''re locked in to those ceremony and reception times, do pics before.

A photographer said this to me, and it really convinced me that doing photos before the walk down the aisle wouldn''t ruin the "moment". Essentially, she said this:

'''' I really wanted to have my husband see me for the first time as I was walking down the aisle too, but we had to have pictures before the ceremony for several logistical reasons. I will always cherish those 20 minutes we spent alone together before the formal photographs and the ceremony. We really got a chance to connect before the craziness hit, and it was wonderful. And you know, the rest of the day went by so fast once the ceremony began, we barely spoke to each other the rest of the evening. ''''

I know I''m going to cry the first time we see each other on our wedding day, and I''d prefer to have that moment captured by our discrete photographer, not by the videographer, the photographer, my family, his family (some of whom I still haven''t met yet), our friends, my boss, etc etc etc. I have another friend who simulated the walk down the aisle for their first time seeing each other - he was standing at the altar, she came into the sanctuary down the aisle, just the two of them and the photographer in the room, and they have the most wonderful, tender pictures! Just thought I''d share, cause they sure convinced me! Plus, you have a chance to redo your makeup before the ceremony in case you do bawl!