Photo courtesy of Amanda Pair Photography

This next tip comes from a conversation that I had with a Mother of the Bride.  She was the planner for the wedding and decided that the wedding day timeline was just too long, especially for the grandparents (having to arrive 2-3 hours before the ceremony for pictures).  

Don’t get me wrong, timelines are essential on a wedding and they are always longer than people (the groom) realize at first.  Let’s say you are getting married at 6:00, you need to be hidden away at 5:00, so his family will do pictures at 4:30, your family at 4:00, the bridal party at 3:00, you and your groom at 2:00, so that puts you getting dressed around 1:00, if your hair and makeup is already done. Whew!!  

For little ones and our older family members, this is an especially hard day.  This mother decided that since the couple was doing a 1st look (to get all of the photos over with before the ceremony) that they would save the grandparent pictures until after the ceremony.  It would also increase the length that the grandparents would be able to come to the reception!  Every wedding should do this!