It's a question that many people ask afterwards.
Well, I recon the answer is that you have so much to fit into the few hours allocated in the "time allowed" that you just dont have time to think ......... so the average wedding day is like a ten minute event to many couples.
Time planning is one of the most important things you must do if you wish everything to run smoothly. After many years of watching and many, many weddings attended, this is generally how the timings work out.
Church Wedding Mass is 1.25 hours .......... maybe a little more - never less.
Signing register is about 15 minutes.
Greeting guests and congratulations at church door is 20 minutes for each 100 people.
Group shot outside church is 10 minutes
Family shots take about 30 minutes by the time all necessary people are found and located.
Travel to reception is on average 40 minutes depending on the location and the time of day.
All of that adds up to 3.5 hours ......... so if it the wedding is at, say, 1.00pm and you have, say, 220 guests then by the time you reach the reception it will be in or around 4.30pm !
This is assuming the ceremony begins ON TIME. If the bride is late walking up the aisle then add that amount of lost time on.
We have not added time for visiting a scenic location on the way for some photographs so this is an extra portion of time also and there are still bridal party photographs to be done !
My best advice is to begin on time and allow 4.5 hours from start of ceremony time to sitting down time. If guests are not ready to sit on time then the quality of the food is going down while its being kept hot and its not exactly fair to the venue or other guests to be kept waiting.
This also applies to us photographers. Its not "our day out" and keeping everybody waiting while we demonstrate our abilities and egos is simply not on either. The greatest complement that I ever get is when the couple send a card to say a special "thank you" to me for "making the day so easy and enjoyable" .......... when the priest says that I was hardly noticable in the church or when the hotel manager says thanks for getting finished on time.
A wedding day is not about photographs and many other people have parts to play in the success of the once in a lifetime event and we as photographers should never be the cause of having events running late because we are desperately trying to capture the next "award winning shot".
So ....... there you are ! ........................ Hope this is of help to some of you out there !
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