Photos before or after ceremony?

I would say during your first look and during your cocktail hour.

I’m having a hard time with this too, I don’t love taking photos so we’re going to be doing a quick session after the ceremony while guests start the cocktail hour portion of the reception then we go in to join them for dinner. My photographer offered doing the first look, or setting it up an entirely different day, I personally don’t those, just because I’m super traditional and superstitious sometimes! Lol

SO thats just me though, I wanted more candid shots during the party and ceremony rather then be fake and force too many shots, we’re not models and we both hate talking pictures! We said 45 mins to an hour MAX for that photo session. I’d rather her focus on the wedding as a whole so we can look back at that rather than have a gazillion photos of just us

We're doing a first look because we want to enjoy the time with our guests! There's very few weddings I can think of where you actually get to socialize with the bride and groom, and we didn't want ours to be like that.

Are you and your FH okay with a first look? If so, I vote to take photos then. Your hair and makeup will also be freshest then!

I would say to do first look photo's.

My main reason is that given the time of year, you want to make sure you still have daylight in which to take pictures as well as you can save money by not having a cocktail hour.

I have the same situation and I'm just going to get our MC/usher to wait near the parking and try and keep people who are early at bay. So like, I will have pictures done (hopefully) by 5 and ceremony at 5:30 (still contemplating times but you get it) so realistically we should be hidden away before they show up. (At least his side... they tend to be late to things like this.)

Our photos, ceremony and reception are all at the same venue too, but we are doing photos after the ceremony.

We didn't want to do a first look, so we ruled out getting photos done before the ceremony. Plus, we'd be in the same area as the ceremony site so guests would see us all ready to go before the actual ceremony starts.

We also did pictures after the ceremony during cocktail hour. We opened the bar, had canapes, and a guitarist entertain while guests mingled and visited with each other, then joined everyone for the luncheon (our was luncheon, but no reason why this wouldn't work for dinner too!)

People are used to gaps between the ceremony and reception. Our guests were family and some had flown in for the wedding so everyone was happy to visit with each other while enjoying some yummies.

I'm in a similar situation in the sense that this will be held at one venue for me too. My fiancé and I plan to do "first look" pictures prior to the ceremony to have time alone together without distractions. As you said, that means there will be less guests standing around during this time. After the ceremony, guests will begin cocktail hour so we'll just be pulling family for portraits.

In order to do "first look" pictures, you'll need to be at your venue early to avoid what Casey mentioned as obviously you don't want your guests to see you beforehand.

After the ceremony for us too! I want the first time he sees me to be when I'm walking down the aisle. And our ceremony, reception, and photos are all being done at the same venue as well so there's tons of time while our guests are at cocktail hour (2 hours).

We’re doing out photos after the ceremony! We are not fans at all of “first looks”. And having the photos after the ceremony gives guests time to go home and relax before the party!

If I were doing my pictures at the same place as the ceremony, personally I would do them after the ceremony so the first time everyone sees you is walking down the isle.
Guests are used to pictures being done during cocktail hour and normally do not mind waiting.
we are doing our photos (first look and wedding party) before the ceremony and then family photos and more of us afterwards.
it really comes down to how much time you have in between your ceremony and reception.