Why I'm glad we had a receiving line...

Originally I didn't want to do a receiving line at the wedding.  The only receiving line I'd ever participated in was at Grama's visitation, and I just hated it.  There were all these people and I had to awkwardly figure out what small talk to say.  Ugh.  What do you say to people?  Why is there so much hugging?  Plus, I'm horrible with names when I'm put on the spot!  And I'm just not that much of a smiler...

I was also worried about timing (my mom can really be a talker ) and thought that a receiving line would be a waste of photographer time.

But Jeff thought it would be nice to have a receiving line.  And he didn't have a big list of Must Haves for the wedding, other than marrying me (awww!), so Receiving Line it is.

I even tried to come up with alternatives to the normal Following The Ceremony receiving line.  "Hey, see the new couple as you get in line for the buffet!"  But, no, if we were doing a receiving line, the best option was the norm.

We also decided that the receiving line would be just us, the happy couple, which allowed our parents and the girls to just mingle.

And you know what?  I am really glad we did the receiving line.  Like, VERY glad!

Some of our guests were able to stay only for the wedding.  If we hadn't had the receiving line, I would not have had the chance to talk to them.  *Jeff, on the other hand, got to mingle before the ceremony.*

For some, it was the one time where I felt I was able to focus solely on that individual, even for just 5 seconds.  Surrounded by dozens of people, it was a really intimate time, even though on the outside I'm sure it looked like chaos.

I wouldn't give up that 15 or 20 minutes of time during our wedding day for anything.

all photos by Eric Lockstein