I am married to Liz who is a florist, so between us we have seen literally hundreds and
hundreds of weddings from start to finish. We see great things and the not so
great things so let me share some best advice with you so that you can
benefit from our experience.
Number one: Timing
Without exception, every couple I have ever photographed always say to me
“Wow the day went so quickly” So make the most of it, by planning your
timings to give you time to enjoy the day that you have probably been
planning for a very long time.
Work your way backwards, from the point when everyone goes to bed and
schedule from that point whether you are having evening guests or not.
So if dancing stops at midnight, don’t leave it too late to have the first dance if you
want to party into the night. If you are serving food at night give yourself at
least three hours, if not more, from the finish of the wedding breakfast
otherwise food is wasted.
From the end of the ceremony to the point that you sit down to eat allow
yourself plenty of time. I would suggest a minimum of two hours, but go for
longer if you can, this will then give you time to have photographs taken in a
relaxed and stress free period. It will also give you time to spend with family
and friends rather than rushing from ceremony to meal with just non-stop photography in between.
Now this might seam odd coming from a wedding photographer, but believe me, if the couple are relaxed and enjoying the day, my job is so much easier and it shows in the finished pictures.
You can serve your guests canapés and drinks and as long as everyone knows the time you are going to eat, then they should be happy, or they can feed themselves beforehand.
