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How long in between are you thinking of needing for the pictures? may give us a little better idea of suggestions.
Are you getting married and having the reception at the same place? You can do a cocktail hour and have some hors d' oeuvres available. Otherwise if it is a long break between the ceremony and reception, most people will go back to the hotel and change or rest then go to the reception. You can have a cocktail hour set up at the reception site for people to attend while you are taking pictures.
Do you have any favorite tourist spots that you can suggest people visit while you are taking pics that is close to the reception?
Hey Ladies!
Thanks for the responses!
I am thinking that there will be about 3-4 hours between the ceremony and the reception.. (is that the normal time) I know the photograhper that we have is amazing :) and would do a few locations and a lot of pics!
We do not have a ceremony / reception location picked yet... very soon.. we are in the process of loooking at sme places.. and I am trying to figure out in my head how the day will flow if we do it at the same location versus two locations! Thats why I was trying to get some ideas so I will have an idea if we could have it two places and it still work or if we should try to stick with one (also! A lot of the places that we are looking at are not close to many other things so I am worried that if we stick with one location then there might not be a lot of things that our guests can do - which we dont want! )
I went to a wedding once where anyone who wanted something to do in between was given directions to the same bar. The couple has reserved a private room and all the wedding guests could mingle before the reception. It was a cash bar so I don't think it cost them much, if anything, but it was fun to be with all of the other guests! The bride and groom even showed up after they were done taking pictures, and it was a great way to visit with them before they got so busy at the reception!
Are many of these people OOT? Or local? If there is something touristy you can suggest or arrange that would be nice. You don't necessarily have to pay for something, just arrange it for those who want to go. (Ie. local wine tasting, art museum, boat/train rides). Also, I've heard of one of the parents or relatives hosting an open house for a couple of hours for those who want to join them.
If worse comes to worse, don't stress about it. Your guests will figure what is right for them. If they want to nap they will. If they want to bum around until the reception, they'll figure that out too. Maybe for those who are OOT, have some brochures of local attractions for them to check out.
Why would you need such a large gap between them if you're not doing the ceremony in a church? I've heard it's pretty typical in Catholic ceremonies, but if it's not in a church and you can do it anytime, why not make them closer together so you don't have to worry about the gap?
Hey Ladies!!
Thanks for the great ideas! And support! 
A lot of people are out of town - Mascara - I think it was a great idea to direct them to the same place (as in a restaurant)! Or provide them with some 'touristy' things to do!
And Tanya123 - you make a good point - they will do whatever their hearts desire! I guess we can just provide some options for them to choose from!
KateMW - the reason for the long break - We are investing a great amount of money in our pictures and have the photographer for a long time with multiple locations - I didnt think that 3-4 hours was that long either! Well.. since travel time to and from locations and ceremony to reception would be over an hour!
Either way.. I just dont want them sitting around killing time! 
If I go to a wedding with a break in between, I want to go back to my hotel. I do not want to go on a tour or anything like that. I am in heels!
Also, in my circle, a lot of people do not go to the ceremony. Especially if there is a break in between. I am also doing a oot wedding, though only by 1-2 hours oot. A lot of people are overnighting. If my ceremony was 3-4 hours before they would not be there for it. It would be mostly family. My ceremony is at the same place as the venue. We'll see how many make it to the ceremony!
Just my 2 cents!
Ac-ny - that is a very good point you have - as in wanting to sit with the heels during the break!
I am thinking it might be a good idea to do them both in the same place - problem is - we would need to find somewhere with hotel rooms close.. or well.. something close
I guess I don't understand the need for such a long gap. If I were a guest, I'd want to go from the ceremony/church to the reception and get the party going! In my family at least, people come to party and to prolong it seems weird, in my opinion.
I'd be curious to know what time your ceremony will begin. But here's my plan, and maybe you can take pieces from it to work for you guys. My ceremony will be in a church and it'll begin at 4 p.m. It will go for 1 hour and then guests will be able to start making their way over to the reception site which will begin with a cocktail hour followed immediately with the reception. So between 5 to 6 p.m. my guests will be making their way over to the venue, which is not far (we will have almost all oot so we wanted to make it simple) and then be able to snack on some appetizers and drinks. Our cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. and then 4 more hours of dinner, dances, etc. And if the bridal party finishes taking pictures sometime during that 6 to 7 cocktail hour then we can join in as well.
So since you have not yet nailed down a reception site, you might check with those that include a 1 hour cocktail hour in the per head cost, as in my situation.
Remember to make it as simple as possible on your guests.
Good luck.
I just looked at your location! I vacationed in St. John's a couple years ago!
Are you getting married in St. John's? It is not that big of a town that people couldn't easily go back to there hotel after the ceremony. (I'm a NYCer for comparision) Or do whatever they want., bar, tourist, whatever.
It was a pretty easy town to get around in and not like NY where it can take two hours to go one mile, you know.
But if people are traveling into St. John's from other parts of the country, some might skip the ceremony. Some would go to ceremony and then check into their hotels to freshen up. Then they might enjoy the break because it gives you that opportunity to go to the ceremony, then relax after the drive in. I once wore a sundress and sandals to the ceremony, then changed into cocktail and heels for the reception.
But your venue choice will really make that decision easier. I am getting married on an apple orchard and then having the reception in the barn afterward. So ceremony and location in one place right after another. We are doing photos beforehand where we are getting ready and then some after while the guests are at the cocktail hour.
Good luck! I loved Newfoundland!
Ac-ny!
Glad you visited - and loved Newfoundland! We will be getting married in St. John's! Its funny to put the distances in perspective... for me.. in St. John's a 30 minute drive would be from one side of the city to another (which I seen as beeing a long time) I guess it does make a lot of sense that no distance will be really far.. with comparison to some that you may have to work through!!!
And yes! I guess my pondering stems from the idea that I want it to be easy peasy for my out of towners to get from point a to point b. I just want to make sure that I am taking all factors into consideration when choosing a location for it all (which will be very soon - we are going to look at 4 next week!
)
I have to be honest and say that I think it's being kind of inconsiderate of your guests to have a 3-4 hour break between the ceremony and reception. What if people are driving a couple of hours to be there? 3-4 hours is a *really* long time. If you want pictures that badly, why don't you do a TTD session after the wedding, or take photos in the morning before the wedding? If I was a guest and was told there were 3-4 hours between the ceremony and reception, I probably wouldn't go to both, particularly if I had driven to a city I didn't know very well. In fact, I'd probably be offended that I was being expected to wait around while the bride and groom ran about town taking photos. And if something was scheduled, but I had to pay for it? That would be even worse.
I don't mean to sound harsh, but I think you should definitely take into account the possibility that this might really annoy/offend some of your guests. If you decide to go this route, be prepared for lots of guests to decline to attend one or both of your events.
I agree with Amandopolis, I think it's one thing to be having a Catholic/church ceremony that can only be held at a certain time and HAVING to have a gap, but choosing to leave your guests hanging just to have photographs taken? That seems a bit rude and inconsiderate to me. Start your photos in the morning before the ceremony or do a day-after shoot with your photographer.
@SpringBride-I'm also investing a large amount of money in a photographer {who isn't these days?}, but I'm doing things so that my guests are made to feel comfortable. We're doing our group shoot before hand and then we're doing a day after shoot to get the cool pics in different locations you want.
I'm also a bit confused about why there has to be such a large gap in time. We are having our ceremony and reception at the same location too. Our ceremony will be from 4:00-4:30, then cocktail hour will start right after that for guests. We'll have our pictures taken during cocktail hour, and it really doesn't take that long. I'm going to do a TTD shoot after at different locations throughout the city, but not on my wedding day. Otherwise, my guests would be waiting for hours at the venue, which just doesn't make sense.
Yeah, I have to second the opinion that 3-4 hours is waaay too long to make people wait. I was recently in a bridal party for a wedding with a 3-hour gap and even the bridesmaids were tired of how long they had to wait - and they were involved in many of the pics! I heard a lot of grumbling from guests, as well.
It IS your wedding, so if you really want to do it, then go for it. But you will have people complaining.
Hello amandopolis and KateMW,
The reason I started this thread initially was to brainstorm different ideas of things that our guests could do during the time and to figure out how to avoid them being bored. Hence we are taking these things into consideration before booking the ceremony and reception locations.
I defiently think you have misread my intentions.
No, we didn't misread. We're saying it's a bad idea. We don't have any suggestions for what to do, because we think you shouldn't do it.
I understand that you are looking for a way to keep your guests from being bored, but the purpose of my post was to point out to you that your guests might not see things your way. Since you haven't booked your ceremony and reception locations, there is still time for you to recognize that your plan to have a huge break between the ceremony and reception, regardless of what arrangements you make for them in the meantime, might annoy your guests. You're inviting them to come celebrate with you, and then abandoning them for an outrageously large period of the day. Weddings are not about photos- they're about celebrating your marriage with your friends and family. I stand by my original comment and reiterate that instead of planning a way to occupy your guests while you take photos, you may want to plan a way to take photos without inconveniencing your guests.
And of course, if you're set on having this large time gap, I also reiterate my warning that your guests might complain/be annoyed/get offended/not come.
I somewhat agree with KateMW and Amandopolis. 3-4 hours is a long time for photos even with multiple locations. The longest I think I've ever dealt with as a guest is 2 hours and it was whole lot of hmming and hawing back at the hotel. Alas, if that's what you want, then go for it.
In this case I would suggest finding separate venues for the ceremony and receptions as guests will less likely want to leave the ceremony spot if they have to head back for the reception. It will also allow guests to see more of the area. You could also provide a quick list of things to see in the area and maybe even create a map that marks these down in relations to your venues.
38404_1338649434050_1465560483_3076711.jpg (68.5 KB, 106 downloads) 1 year old 
Just an FYI -- I know you haven't made an decisions yet so I thought I'd tell you what happened to me: Last summer I was invited to a wedding that had a four hour gap between the end of the ceremony and the start of the cocktail horu and it was a big pain in the butt!! The bride and groom did set up a room with cheese and crackers and veggies and dip at the hotel - but it was very "lame" - and we walked in and out of the room and just ended up sitting in one of our hotel rooms waiting(and the boys were drinking beers) because we were bored. 3 or 4 hours is that odd time frame where there is just not enough time to do anything substantial but enough time to be bored. If I were you I would consider bringing it down to two hours -- do an hours worth of photos -- and then do a day after shoot. or perhaps take photos before the wedding (if you are okay with seeing each other before) good luck!
Maybe it's me because most weddings I've gone to are Catholic, so I'm totally used to 3-4 hour gaps. And some have been out of town. Spring Bride, is a gap something your guests are used to, or not? I think it would be helpful for you to reflect on past weddings. If they are used to a gap, I really think you are fine. If they usually have receptions right after the ceremonies, maybe try to cut your gap down to a couple of hours. Then you can have a cocktail hour to entertain them while you take pictures.
And if some guests skip the ceremony to get into town late for just the reception, sobeit. Lots of brides come on here, planning their weddings in ways, some guests might be offended. (And some of them might not come......destination weddings, not inviting children, not allowing plus ones). You can't please everyone. Try your best to consider their feelings. Maybe check around to see how they feel about the gap. Then do what feels the most comfortable. I can appreciate if you don't want to have pictures before your ceremony. It's one of those traditional things.
Hello again.
Yea Tanya 123 it is very common for wedding at home to have this kind of gap. I went to a wedding last summer where the ceremony was 1 1/2 hours away from the reception and the reception was about 5 hours after the ceremony - while I can apprecaite that this is a very long time - none of us complained and it seemed that everyone was just happy to be sharing in the day of the bride and groom. I used the time to catch up with friends I do not see too often and have a few drinks. We certantly do not want guests to be bored - but we really do want pictures between the ceremony and reception (as in about 3 hours) - we are coming up with some ideas that I think my guests would be very pleased with! The people that we are inviting are pretty easy going and I think they will have fun regardless (as I know all of the people and they will be happy to be at the wedding rather then complaining about it).
Thanks so much for all of the help with this one!
I think having a gap between the ceremony and reception is more common in some places than others, so I can see how it could work for you and your guests. If it's something that is common with your families, maybe during that time they'll go back to their rooms to change and freshen up.
We had about 1.5-2 hours after the end of the ceremony to take photos, but this also included all the family photos, so they all hung around for a while. Then, they headed towards the reception venue where the bar was open and appetizers were being passed. Since you haven't booked your venues yet, I would consider having a smaller time frame and instead doing some of the photos before the ceremony. That way, instead of worrying how to occupy them, they can just go and enjoy a cocktail hour while you finish up some more photos.
Since you are investing so much in your photography, I think it would be cool if you could negotiate putting those hours towards another day to do a TTD type of shoot, that way you won't have to worry about your guests and you can get some awesome photos with your new hubby! It's really great you are thinking of your guests...one piece of advice I do have from my wedding, though, was that even though it didn't seem like the gap between our ceremony & reception was that great, it ended up being enough time for A LOT of our guests to get quite tipsy before we even got to the reception. As a result, some people didn't make it to the end because they were ready to pass out.
To me, the wedding is to be there celebrating with family and friends and I wished I had more time on my wedding day to be with my guests instead of being worried about other things, especially since they are OOT guests, you don't get to see them often, so I would just want to spend as much time as I can with them. I think, though, at the end of the day you should do what you want because it is your day and the type of guests are will complain about a time gap are probably going to be the type to complain about something one way or another. Good luck and let us know what you do end up deciding with your venues & when you book them maybe you can share photos!
Have you considered doing your pictures before your ceremony? I know a lot of couples that choose this option to avoid a large gap in time before the ceremony and/or so that they can enjoy their cocktail hour with guests. This could be a good option for you.
We will be having a 2.5-3 hour gap in between our wedding and our reception as well. We are getting married at garden in town where they schedule 3 weddings a day so they had specific scheduled times we could get married.
Luckily, it is pretty common to have a large gap in the two around here - in fact, I have only been to one wedding where the reception immediately followed the ceremony. It may be inconvenient to some guests, but probably 80-90% of our guests are in-town anyway.
I am making pocketfold invites so I am going to include an insert where people can go in between. I am going to list 5 places that are popular and include a little key to each and include: food, drink, outdoor seating, and waterfron (with icons representing each). This way their can choose their spot and know what they are "in for."
Maybe at most a 2 hour gap. Have guests provided with lemonade and maybe some fun outdoor games (croquet, bean bag tic tac toe, horshoes, etc), and maybe a caricature artist to make pics of them while they wait?
We're doing our wedding and reception at the same venue...so 4-4:30is the ceremony, and then the cocktail party will start and we'll go get photos done with family, then we'll take off by ourselves for a bit and do pictures...and we are set to be back for 6:30...so 2 hours of photos...then dinner will be served by 7pm...
Our venue is also downtown, so if the cocktail paty gets boring people have lots of options to wander around the market (Ottawa is known for its "market")...and considering most are from out of town, it'll be all new and exciting for them haha..but I'm thinking food and drinks will keep them occupied for 2 hours!
I'm having photo with my guest! i want them all in my photos (not every single photo but some). I would feel rude if i was to leave to entertain themselves while i was getting photos done...I doubt we're even going to take an hour for group/family photos after the ceremony...
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Hey all !
My fiance and I have decided that we are not getting married in a church. The only thing that we are wondering about.. or a little puzzled about! is what our guests can do with the time between the ceremony and reception (as in when we will be off getting our pics done
). We dont want our guests to be wandering around with nothing to do... but are looking for an idea that don't break the bank and is fun for the guests !
Any suggestions would be lovely