What happens after your ceremony?

You have a wonderful ceremony, declared husband and wife, make it official, walk down the aisle and then what? So many couples I have seen get to this point and wonder what they are supposed to do now. Normally I allow the guests to congratulate the newly married couple. However, there are certain things to be mindful of when doing so.

Allowing your guests to congratulate you is a great way to include your guests in the wedding day and give it a nice, natural feel to it. However, this is when planning and timing is crucial. If you are hosting your ceremony close to sunset, or if your receptions starts 30 minutes after your ceremony finishes, this may not be the best way to spend that time. If this is the case, then I will usually allow the parents of the groom to congratulate the bride and groom.

In a perfect world, you would let every guest in attendance congratulate you, however if you have over 150 guests and the sun is rapidly setting in the distance, then I try to get things moving a little faster. So what is the process after walking back down the aisle? Well, first thing is a group photograph. This is a fantastic way to make sure every one of your guests is in a wedding photo. It also looks fantastic on a canvas or stretched over 2 pages of your album. Then I normally do family photographs. I break up the bride and grooms family, do parents first and then add to the parents e.g. siblings, siblings partners, grandparents etc

When planning your wedding photography, a good rule of thumb is to allow 90 minutes in between ceremony finish and the start of the reception. This will allow for ample time for congratulations, group shots, family shots, bridal party shots and around 30 minutes of bride and groom photos. It is also a good amount of time for your guests to get to the reception while you get your portraits done.

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