While planning the perfect quirky wedding at an amazing Kentucky venue, you’ll find post about all the major things. But often, no one talks about those in between moments. Or more importantly, how to help keep things moving after the ceremony so you can join cocktail hour with your guests.
Here are our top wedding planning tips from photographers on how to get to post-ceremony photos quicker!
PER-ESTABLISH A HIDEAWAY SPOT FOR YOUR EXIT
After you have danced your way down the aisle with your NOW spouse, guests often want to come up to immediately greet and congratulate you. This is why it’s very important to have a hideaway spot from guests to allow them to exit quickly. If you’re caught by one guest, the domino effect of guest want ot chat is in full swing. Next thing you know, you’ve spend at least a half an hour of unplanned time chatting it up with guests, meaning you’ll miss out on joining your cocktail hour. So, instead of hanging out at the back of the ceremony space where guests can see you, find a space tucked away from guests eyes to spend a few special moments with your spouse and bridal party.
LET YOUR OFFICIANT TO COORDINATE GUEST LEAVING CEREMONY SPACE
Sometimes guests are unsure what to do after the ceremony, especially for an all-in-one venue. Your officiant should make an announcement to the guest of the next event. If you are planning to use ceremony space for family photos, ask your officiant to help subtly move lingering guests along. Once the guest have left, we can get started with your portraits. Giving you a great chance of catching your cocktail hour or having a private dinner!
DISCLOSE TO FAMILY WHO ARE IN PORTRAITS BEFORE WEDDING DAY
We cannot tell you how many times we’ll be in the middle of working off a couple’s family portrait list, when the we run into a missing person. This means we’re sending a family member out on mission to finding him or her. Ultimately, this can hold things up, especially when the missing person is in several groupings. We will move along, but if we’re nearing the end of the list, we just may be standing around.
Be sure to let whomever is on the formal family portrait list know they’re on the list (even if it seem obvious). Setting up proper expectations just make things run smoothly and quickly! Plus, to be honest, your family is ready to join cocktail hour and would rather not spend the entire time getting photos done. Yes they love you, but no they do not want to spend FOREVER doing photos. They’re there to celebrate and have a fabulous time.
HAVE SOMEONE GRAB DRINKS RIGHT AFTER CEREMONY FOR BRIDAL PARTY
Image this, your perfectly quirky ceremony has ended. You’ve just spend the last 15-45 minutes standing in front of all the people who mean the world to you and this is probably hour 12 of your day. To say you’ll be thirsty and ready for a cocktail (or maybe a mocktail) is an understatement. As you are relaxing in your hiding spot, it’s recommended to have a person in charge of grabbing you, your spouse, and the bridal party a drink to celebrate. This saves time on the day mostly because you keep the groomsmen from wondering off to the bar (and us having to hunt them down for a few photos at the alter). It’s almost like joining your cocktail hour earlier than the guest!
BONUS TIP!!!! A WEDDING COORDINATOR WILL DO ALL THIS FOR YOU
You may be thinking, whoa slow your roll. This tips are fantastic, but they’re just more to add to my never ending “to do list”. Aa great thing is there are wonderful people out there who ACTUALLY love doing these types of things. Hiring a wedding coordinator will ensure someone is there to take charge of your day! Plus they’re job is to make your day stress free as possible and stay on schedule. Side note, a wedding coordinator is different than a venue coordinator.
Planning a stress free wedding can be a major task, but our goal is to help you along the way. As wedding photographers, we want you to enjoy the day and not have to worry about the small things that you quite honestly you had no clue about. That is why we love sharing these planning tips with you! If you are in need of a quirky wedding photography team for your fall Kentucky wedding, send us a message.
Happy Planning!
Nicole & Ryan
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