I remember DH and I ordered room service after our wedding. We were famished.
After the wedding, DH & I ate at the restaurant in the hotel where we were spending our wedding night. DH ate at the reception; I hardly did.
My D is working with a fairly limited budget and wanted a particular photographer. She explained the situation to him, and the way it’s working out is that he will be on site with his assistant for X hours and the bridal couple will provide him with a list of specific shots that need to be taken (but only the bridal couple), and then they will receive an album of X number of photographs. There will be no photographs for anyone else or any mother/grandmother albums. The photographer will make available electronic proofs to everyone approved by the bride/groom, and they can purchase whatever photographs they want. This portion brought a 30% reduction in the usual cost, and we’re all fine with it.
I don’t know if this is a new trend, but our bride and groom ate their own personal meal spread in a private room after the wedding and the rest of the group pictures, and the caterer then put the leftovers in a nice to go reusable carrying tote that we picked up with the gifts after the reception and delivered to them in the hotel (they got a free night at the hotel with the number of rooms our party booked). Just saw the pictures and the private dinner was a nice time for the couple. Not really missed with the rest of the crowd, and they rejoined the reception as people were finishing eating and the 22 piece jazz band was beginning.
Our bride and groom took a few private moments (probably about 15 minutes) immediately after the ceremony. The officiant met with them then to sign the civil license (she insisted it be done after they were married) and the venue was supposed to have provided them champagne and hors d’oeuvres to enjoy by themselves. As far as I know, they rejoined the party long before the cocktail hour was over. To be honest, I didn’t see them again until we were in the space where dinner and dancing were held.
At my daughter’s wedding, the photographer took photos of the families, followed by couple photos, immediately after the ceremony, while everyone else was at the cocktail hour. Toward the end of that period, the bride and groom went up to their suite (the wedding was at a hotel, and they were also staying there), where the day-of-wedding coordinator and I dealt with the complications of bustling the bride’s dress. The coordinator arranged for some drinks and appetizers to be delivered to the suite. The bride and groom stayed there for a while (maybe 20 minutes) after the dress was bustled until the rest of the guests had moved into the room where the meal and dancing would take place. Then they joined the reception, when the coordinator came to get them, after everyone else had been seated. They were not formally announced because they didn’t want that, but some couples would arrange for the DJ to make an announcement.
There was not much time for eating after that (although the groom managed to scarf down something) because the bride and groom went around to all the tables during the meal and greeted each of their guests. So I’m glad they had the chance to eat the appetizers. It was the coordinator’s idea, and it was a good one.
We are very happy we were able to get the photographer we got. He came very highly recommended…and we have seen his work. For the price…he will have himself and a second shooter from 10am until the reception ends in the evening. He says he usually sends the second shooter home earlier…but he stays until the bride and groom leave…because he feels it’s important to get that last shot.
We will get a CD of pictures…all edited…and all ours…to do with as we please. We decided that was worth doing. We are getting one album from the photographer…but we will likely get smaller ones made…probably Shutterfly…for the grandparents and the parents of the groom…if they want one. Good Christmas presents.
We just want two pictures printed for ourselves…no album. One of the bride and groom, and one of our family…bride, groom, brother of bride, and us.
And since we will have the CD, we can get any prints made we would like to get made.
Somehow, a large collection of the photos from my daughter’s wedding now resides in a database at CVS.
Last weekend, I decided I wanted a 5 x 7 of one of the wedding photos for my desk at work. I called my daughter and asked how I could get it. She clicked a few buttons on her computer, and an hour later, I got an email saying that the photo was ready – at my local CVS, 3 miles from my house and 2000 miles from hers.
I have no idea how this was accomplished, but hey, isn’t technology wonderful?
@Marian, many photographers now give the couple either a flash drive of their pictures, or a login to the photographer’s website where pictures can be downloaded. Both my son and daughter when they married, gave the parents and others their login so we could see the pictures and order what we wanted. Gone are the days of the photographer “owning” the pictures and the bride and groom having to order directly from them.
My guess is your daughter has access to her pictures, and she uploaded it to CVS for you to pick up at your leisure. This can be done at almost any photo lab.
@SOSConcern, that’s actually a traditional part of a Jewish wedding, called the yichud room 
Traditionally, men and women are not supposed to be secluded together for modesty reasons, so it symbolically represents “we can do what we want now because we’re married.” It’s supposed to last at least 8 minutes. Realistically though, it’s known for being the time when the couple scarfs down food and has a moment to themselves. We’re going to have so much amazing food during the cocktail hour and I need to put someone in charge of “save me a plate of everything” duty.
It actually sounds sweet, rebecca. A very symbolic moment. A breath together as a married couple. Even with the scarfing.
I once attended a wedding in a church with the reception in another location several blocks away. The guests all went to the reception venue while the wedding party stayed to take photographs. At the reception, they refused to serve anyone anything until the bride and groom arrived. We waited well over an hour. I was about to leave when the couple finally showed up. It was not a sit-down dinner, only hors d’oeuvres as well as I remember, so one would think we could have been served SOMETHING while we waited.
Last nights gut I was out with a group of women and three of them recommended LuLus for bridesmaids dresses. All 3 have had daughters who have been in weddings and the dresses were purchased from them. Most of the dresses are around $80.00.
My MOG dress has not even shipped yet from Neiman Marcus.
I also wish my S would purchase wedding insurance like I’ve suggested several times. With all the fires in Ca I would just feel more comfortable.
@rebeccar - thank you for that lovely explanation of Jewish tradition.
^I ordered about 12 things from Neiman Marcus for the wedding and they took weeks–2-4 to arrive.
Another 2-3 to return the money. Very unhappy with their quality and their response time.
Seriously, Amazon has so much more than anyone thinks.
Bought my $350 platform shoes from Amazon–I was uber cool with D’s friends…
@oregon101 - this is the first thing I’ve ever ordered from them and I’m not impressed. I’m a fan of Zappos for clothes and shoes. I order and sometimes have it by the end of the next day. The long delivery time was one reason I hated ordering from Nordstrom. J Jill is just as bad. I ordered a pair of pants in a smaller size the day before the NM order and they haven’t arrived yet either. Between Zappos and Amazon I’ve become spoiled,
I’m hoping I love the dress and I don’t need to send it back.
People do not see to realize that Amazon carries clothes and shoes. I have lately been
purchasing more from Amazon than Zappos.
Go to Amazon shoes and start with the highest price shoes–fun too see all of the designer shoes!
Recently I realized that every single item on my body was from Amazon :)) yep everything–.
If you order shoes or clothes from Amazon, a few of your purchases will be fulfilled by Zappos. Just without the convenience of an overnight shipping. Unless you have a prime.
In my experience, a lot of the clothing on Amazon is cheap, cheap, cheap – and I don’t mean that in a good way. It’s crappy quality.
Yes, very true - the no-name Chinese companies sell a lot of crap on Amazon. However, brand name stuff is the same brand name stuff. So one has to be careful. Sifting through that crap to get to a few pieces worth looking at can be frustrating! Amazon’s search tool is really bad.
Just got the pictures and here’s a hint - make sure the photographer knows which people are important and, if there are specific people or groups of people of whom you want pictures - tell them. In our case, this is on the B & G, because they chose the photographer, had all communications with her, and clearly didn’t care about identifying what they (or their parents) wanted. In my opinion, she clearly only cared about the more candid or documentary-type shots. I’m really disappointed, to be honest. Not sure if, as MOG, there was anything I could have done about this, but there are only a very few pictures that I even want to reproduce. 