D1 did most of bridal pictures before the ceremony. We had a cocktail party right after the ceremony. Group pictures were taken during the cocktail hour. Since her wedding was in the summer, sunset was much later. During reception (I think around 7:30) she and the groom left for 15-20 min to get some sunset pictures.
In your case, I would have bridal pictures from 4:00 to 4:30, then have the ceremony from 4:30 to 5, followed by cocktail and dinner.
Hmmm…I think our ceremony was at 4:30. The bridal party pics were taken before the ceremony. Family pics were taken during the cocktail hour. I think dinner was served about 7?
I agree with @oldfort for your timeline…that way the sunset pics will be all done before the ceremony.
Is everyone allotting a full hour for cocktails? Our “day of coordinator” said one hour is too long.
Thanks. I sent her oldfort’s words and thumper’s agreement. My concern would be if something delays sunset shots (waiting for some cloud to pass?,) that sets the ceremony back.
As for the length of the cocktail hour, she’s been to many friends’ weddings in the past 2 years-- but we can discuss that timing, too.
We didn’t think an hour was too long. We had a good amount of passed appetizers, and a really really nice crudités table with a fabulous selection of cheeses, hummus, veggies, crackers, etc.
@lookingforward your post made me curious and I pulled the catering schedule up and it looks like our caterer is scheduling 45 minutes for cocktails. I hadn’t thought about sunset photos but I’m going to ask my D. The wedding is early June and while I haven’t looked at sunset time I figure it will be at least 8 pm if not later. If they want them they will have to leave reception. We have the wedding scheduled for 4 pm. We are hoping that the sun will be out by that time for at least a few hours. I think the plan is some immediate family shots at the ceremony site before the wedding and the rest of the group photos during cocktail hour. My H has some weird obsession that the guests shouldn’t see the bride prior to the ceremony. I’m not sure how that is going to work. I’m hoping the wedding planner and photographer have some suggestions as to what works best. My D doesn’t want a lot of formal group shots. I don’t agree 100% but I understand where she is coming from. Groom has divorced parents and a lot of family. She feels photos will go on way to long.
I bought two different bras today for my dress. It should be ready from alterations tomorrow.
RSVPs are mainly in but for a few. I have one family that I’ve emailed and still not hear from. Annoying!
The Friday dinner has grown to almost 80 people. I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off. We are doing it ourselves and we are a good 40 minutes from any markets or restaurants.
Trying to figure out what to serve for non alcoholic beverages for Friday. Is La Croix enough?
“Trying to figure out what to serve for non alcoholic beverages for Friday. Is La Croix enough?”
How about some lemonade, iced tea, water, perhaps some San Pellegrino sodas? Not everyone is a fan of sparkling water.
Sherbert punch.
Or, believe it or not, one of the versions of 7up.punch. Don’t scoff. Done well, it can be elegant.
Our cocktail hour will be one hour. Wedding at 4:30, CH 5-6. Photos taken during this time.
Agree that you need alternatives to La Croix. Punch always goes over well.
For a non-alcohol punch we have served one with a little grapefruit juice in it, adds the spark. Citrus fruits, orange, , lemon, lime and then sparking addition.
D1 had one hour cocktail after the ceremony In order to get some group pictures taken. We then bused everyone to the reception venue and had another hour of cocktails. I don’t think our guests felt it was too long because it was a great opportunity for them to socialize. They all traveled long distance to be at the wedding.
I know some young couples are not into group pictures and want more candid pictures, but I have to say as hard as we tried to take pictures, I still feel like I wished i had more pictures with my friends.
My sister paid for her son’s very expensive photographer, who was into candid artistic pictures, didn’t have one picture of her and her husband, but had 20+ pictures of their very distant cousin.
For the first cocktail hour we only offered sparkling white and rose wines, beer, not a full bar, and very light hors d’oeuvres
Our guests didn’t not see the bride and groom until the ceremony. We had pics of the bride and groom, the bridal party, parents and grandparents before the ceremony. We then had other group pics after the ceremony during the cocktail hour.
D1 had pics of her high school friends, her sorority sisters, his fraternity brothers, his cousins, her cousins, our extended familie, with my friends, with his side of families…I think we had every combinations you could think of. D1 had all of that figured out before the wedding and let the photographer.wedding planner know about it.
@oldfort those are the type of photos I want. My D doesn’t agree. She thinks it will be to time consuming. I regret we don’t have more groupings from the last wedding. I’m going to push for at least a few.
The wedding reception we are serving beer, red wine, white wine, champagne, hard cider, water, lemonade, ice tea and La Croix. We could have hard alcohol at the venue but would need to add another bar tender and the groom and his friends are beer drinkers and my D is not much of a drinker.
I have never seen punch at any event I’ve attended since I was a kid aside from at the tea a philanthropy I volunteered with when myD was a teen. I will add some other non alcoholic drinks for Friday.
Just saying- and it may not matter for a particular group- but many cannot have grapefruit or GJ on certain meds. A few common elder meds.
Now D1 has sent me a time block in 20 or 30 minute intervals. Too tight. But I’m relaxed. She has the basics covered, the things that make impressions, all around. (Those needing to be set early.) Whether or not “introductions” take place 430-450 is of little matter. Maybe they slip a bit. We have time. She is fixed on sunset pics, fine.
With D1, she sets her own ideas, percolates, and later she will ask for input. Fine.
I did mention not forgetting our small core family since we’re going to be swamped by his relatives and their friends. Not to mention the dynamics between his father/step mom,and sister vs their mother.
She does want her attendants not to be at a main table together, but be able to be seated with other friends. Not sure about that, as 4 attendants know each other and won’t know the work friends. Only one is a co-worker. But that’s something that can be ironed out later, with the coordinator’s help.
We didn’t have a “main table”. The bride and groom had a sweetheart table. All of the rest of the guests, including the bridal party, were seated at the regular tables. DD did not want a main table at all.
This worked well. The bridal party was actually seated at 4 or 5 different tables with folks they knew (e.g. college friends together, HS friends together, work friends together).
The very hardest part of the wedding planning for us was the table assignments. We wanted everyone to be seated with folks they would enjoy. We also had some “family drama” so some people could not be seated with others…and that was a pain.
Reception was held in a long, high ceilinged space (actually the old lion house at the zoo!). For the entire wedding party and their spouses/SO, including parents, we had a very long table perpendicular (on one of the short sides) to the dance floor and surrounded by round tables. B & G were closest to the dance floor. To be honest, I didn’t think it would work, but it did. MOB had the room arranged with a combination of long, small round, and larger round tables to accommodate different groupings. As much as I dislike rectangular rooms because someone will always feel like they’re “in the back”, this worked well.
We also will not have a head table, so the bridal party’s plus ones will not be marooned amongst strangers. So they will be distributed around (or as my son said “you get a bridesmaid! and you get a bridesmaid!”) as couples
FDIL has a seating concept that is going to result in about 15 guests being seated away from the rest. I am not a fan at all, but DH says wait for the RSVPs before challenging it. She’s fussing about the ceremony and how everyone gets down the aisle, otoh, our table runners came in and one set is discernibly darker than the other. she just shrugged, thank goodness, and said it didn’t matter, who would care. I can never figure out what sorts of things they care about!
TBH I can’t recall the exact seating for DS#1’s wedding, but IIRC we sat at a table with parents of bride, bride’s sister, BIL. I cant recall if my SIL, BIL and wife were seated with us, but I don’t think so. DS#2’s wedding they had a sweetheart table. We were with Mo of bride, her small family and my SIL, at the edge of the dancefloor. Bride’s fa was at a table perpendicular to ours, and I made sure to save the Mo of bride a seat that had her back to him/his table. She was very appreciative.
As for photos the bridal party for s#2 had shots before the wedding and then there were family shots after the wedding, while the guests wee being shuttled to the main building (wedding was outdoors). For s #1 we had a gazillion photos taken during the pre-wedding cocktail hour.
For Fri night you could offer, in addition to those big things with fruit slices in the water and sparkling water, maybe mock mimosas (oj and club soda) and some cans of soda as well as la Croix. Some people do still drink soda.
DS had a sweetheart table at his wedding. He and his wife had been to a lot of weddings where the plus one’s were separated and found it awkward. They had a “first look” and pictures of wedding party and family prior to the ceremony. It was before anyone arrived, so the guests did not see the bride. They took pictures during the cocktail hour. They were served dinner first and then were escorted away for sunset pictures while everyone else ate dinner.