Pictures before the Ceremony????

[TheFutureMrs.Sears]

My friend just got married in the Bahamas and she told me that she and her groom saw eachother before the ceremony to takes pictures. I'm not sure if I want to do this, but now I'm wondering if I will have enough time for pictures after the ceremony and during cocktail hour.

 

What are you doing??

[riokayak]

I've always liked the idea of him not seeing me until the ceremony, but every wedding I've been to/in has had the pictures before the ceremony. Having it before allows you to go right to the party vs. an hour of "smile". I don't know what I'm doing yet... I don't have a photographer yet.

 

My friend got married in Mexico and that was one of the things she said she would have done differently. She had her photos after the ceremony and said all she wanted to do was celebrate with the guest.

[jk1101]

When my sister got married they did pictures before the ceremony. They set her up in one place hidden and brought her husband up and had a moment when they first laid eyes on each other that was beautiful and they took pictures of. I think if you do something like that it's not a bad thing and can be romantic. It also depends on the number of guests you have and might potenially be ignoring.

In my mind I picture FI not seeing me until I come down the aisle, but now that this has been brought up I may re-think it.

[*Nadine*]

It would be nice to do them before to get them over with, but my favorite part of the wedding is when the bride and groom see each other for the first time as the bride walks down the aisle. I really do not want to give up that moment, so ill just do pics on my own and with my girls before hand.. then we will do our couples pics together after teh ceremony. To each their own!

[riokayak]

Oh, I guess one other friend did it where they took care of all the picture that didn't require the bride and groom to be together. So all the bridesmaids with the bride, all the groomsmen with the groom, groom with his family, etc. and then they had a short session after the wedding where they took all their photos together. So, that's another option and it won't take quite as long to get from the ceremony to the guests.

[mich999]

We didn't see each other until the ceremony and did separate groomsmen/bridesmaid photos before ceremony and an hour of us alone photos while our guests were at a cocktail hour. It's just a personal preference and there's no wrong answer - I think most people do photos before the ceremony now and do a private see each other for the first time moment. But even though I would have loved to have been at the cocktail hour, I wouldn't trade seeing DW and his emotion for the first time as I walked down the aisle just before we said our vows and hearing the stories of how nervous he was as our wedding hour approached.

 

I know many members have spoken of similar experiences in the first moment stage that jerseykitten mentions, but for us we wanted to have that moment right before we exchanged vows. Whatever you choose will be the right decision for you, though! I can't think of anyone who regretted either way they went, as long as you realize that if you do photos after, you will likely miss a little of the celebration.

[autjo]

I'm a big ole cry baby and I think we are going to do the "first sight" photos before hand. But keep it something special and private just between us. Altough I think sharing that moment with your guests is pretty cool. I also like the idea of getting all of the picures that don't require the bride and groom before the ceremony. That way your family can head straight to the party and you don't leave your guests on their own for too long. We went to a wedding and the couple took 3 hours for photos between the ceremony and reception and I thought that was kind of rude.

[MayaLove]

We are planning on doing a reveal and most of the photos before the ceremony. That way we will only have to do a few more photos of us afterwards. Plus, FI has said it will help calm him down if we could spend a little time together before the ceremony.

 

And that special moment is still there walking down the aisle even though you've seen each other. At least it was for some of my friends I've stood up for.

[*Meagan*]

My fiance and I are having our photos done before the wedding. Since we are getting married at beaches. We hired outside photographers to take us off property to take our photos. And we will use beaches photography for ceremony pics~! Our ceremony is at 430pm so if we went after it would be in the dark and we would be gone for 3hrs or more! I think we will do a reveal moment, just him and I. I think it is totally romantic!

[cbell]

We're doing photos beforehand because I too am a cry baby and want to get that special moment captured with just my FI and I. Also, the sun sets so early I want to get group pics out of the way afterwards so everyone can enjoy the cocktail party while he and I take some more shots on the beach. I'm not worried about people seeing me before I get married, I figure it's so intimate with just a small group of us there it's OK.