I need help, OMG!

[kelaina]

Guys, I need some help here. I have, roughly, four months til my wedding (May 7th). Most of the big stuff has been taken care of (ceremony, reception, dress, uniform, BM stuff) and it's either been nailed down with a deposit or its been decided on with one of the two seamstresses (dress and BM gowns

Comments

[mahasin]

What do you expect your guests to do between the end of the ceremony 2:00-2:30 and 5:00?

[zukpager305]

my thoughts exactly! holy moley that's a long time!

[fgrovergirl]

Our ceremony was from 3-4, with the reception not starting until 6:30. That's common in my area though when you have a Catholic ceremony. We did offer to have guests go back to my parents house though if they wanted somewhere to go in between

[lissiehoya]

We're going to have the same issue. Our ceremony has to be over by 3, and the reception location is not available until 5. We're going to give guests suggestions of local sites to see in the meantime.

[kelaina]

We're setting up welcoming baskets the night before when they check into their hotels with a trolley ride around the town, tickets to see the palace, fudge and candy from the homemade confectionery, business cards from local restaurants and shops, and a list of places that are kid friendly as well as some stuff that is adult only.

Or they can take a nap. I don't care what they do; we've thought up a ton of ideas and suggestions for them, and if they're not interested, that's their problem.

[herladyship]

Are they really going to want to take a trolley ride or go see the palace in full-on formalwear, though? I don't want to be rude, but for me, that would be a huge deterrent in attending your wedding as a guest. I would likely attend only the ceremony or the reception in this case, and you may find that your guests will do that as well. Personally I would not be willing to change in and out of formalwear multiple times. Can you not cut your photography times down a bit? We were done all our formal shots in 45 minutes. I don't think it needs to take as long as you're envisioning.

[doinitforjohnny]

This is what I was thinking. It would deter me from attending unless I was very close to the couple.

[kelaina]

Unfortunately, our photographer is someone who specializes in tintypes-- glass photographs, essentially, and it takes about 10 minutes for each photo. He's going to bring along a digital camera for the family shots and spend the rest of the time taking tintypes. So we do need about 3 hours to get our photos done.

As for the guests, our town is practically designed for weddings, but the guests won't be any more dressed up than if they were going to church. A suit and tie for the men, nice dresses for the women; I don't anticipate people gawking and staring. If they do, they'll probably just think "Oh, wedding."

[herladyship]

I have no idea what a tintype is, but that sounds pretty cool. I hope you'll post something afterward so we can see what you're talking about!

I still think you need to bare in mind that this may cause people to not attend your wedding, though. If you decide that the tintypes are worth guests missing out, then go for it, of course. If not, why not have the photographer take 2-3 tintypes, and do the rest of the photos...er, regular style? I don't speak photography. :(

[iris4700]

I actually think I would love the time to go on a trolley or go out for a nice tea or something with my SO and other friend-guests all dolled up. It is a bit long of a wait between ceremony and reception, and so some guests might need some hand-holding, but it seems you're doing all you can for them and should not have to compromise your cool photography as long as you've arrange things for them to do. Leaving them to come up with all their own stuff for 2-3 hrs would be harsh, but you've done half the planning for them! I love spending time with people dressed up :-)

[neoqbacca]

Can you do the tintypes before the ceremony? We did all of our wedding party and immediate family photos before the ceremony and then only took maybe 30 min for extended family formal photos. It was great because we could attend our own cocktail hour, enjoy the food and drinks, and spend more time with out guests :)

[meredith_mae]

Then why don't you start picture at 2 and have the ceremony at 5?

I agree. The last thing I'd want to do in heels and a dress is ride a trolley. I'd also be hungry at some point and if you have a cocktail hour at 5, that means dinner isn't served until at least 6. At that point, they've probably gone 6 hours without eating.

[roseofjuly]

Me too, especially if I had to travel very far. I'm not sure why it would take 3 hours to take pictures! And it would definitely harsh on my enjoyment of the wedding.

[tiajuanabible]

iawtc