A church and a civil wedding on the same day: how it all fits
Two ceremonies in one day ask for a good order and a realistic timeline. How a church and a civil wedding fit together with room left for portraits.
Lazar Mihajlović
Published: 11 September 2026
Gordana and David got married twice in the same day: first at the registry office, then in church. Between the ceremonies they fitted the transfer, the congratulations and a quick coffee with their closest people, and the day passed without a minute of delay, because the order was set the right way.
Two ceremonies in one day are a common scenario here and entirely doable, provided the timeline is built realistically, with air between the blocks. This text holds everything I know as a photographer about fitting those two solemn moments together without the album losing anything. All of it has been tested at weddings I have photographed across Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region.
The order and the realistic length of each ceremony
The most common arrangement is the civil wedding early in the afternoon, then the church ceremony, then the celebration. Some couples reverse the order, which is a matter of agreement with the registry office and the priest, but the logic stays the same: the ceremonies follow one another, with a time reserve in between. Roughly speaking, this is what an afternoon that breathes looks like:
- Civil wedding: with the gathering and the congratulations count on about an hour
- Transfer to the church: the real driving time plus parking and gathering
- Church ceremony: depending on the church and the rite, from half an hour to an hour
- Congratulations in front of the church: at least twenty minutes, they always run longer
- Portraits of the couple: half an hour before setting off for the venue
The numbers are approximate, but the principle is firm: every block gets its time and a little more. How such blocks fit into a whole day is covered in more detail in the piece on the wedding day timeline.
Photography rules inside the church
Every church has its own rules: where you may photograph from, whether flash is allowed, how close to the altar you may come. In some places the rules are relaxed, in others very clear, and I respect all of them without exception, because a ceremony is not repeated for the sake of a frame.
That is why I ask couples to raise photography as well when they meet the priest. One sentence in advance settles everything. A church ceremony has a weight and a stillness that are best photographed quietly and from a distance, with a long lens, without walking around the altar.
Light inside churches is a story of its own. Candles, half darkness and a ray of sun through a window can create the most solemn frames of the whole day, precisely because nothing in them is arranged. Those are photographs people still stop in front of many years later.
The transfer: the part of the day everyone underestimates
On paper the drive takes fifteen minutes. In reality a column of twenty cars parks more slowly, someone gets lost on the way, and in front of the church you sometimes wait for the previous ceremony. So add at least half an hour to every transfer on top of the pure driving time.
For me the transfer is very much working time: the column with the flag at the front, the horns, the waving through windows, guests calling to each other from the car park. All of it carries the energy of this part of the world and ties the two ceremonies into one story in the album. That is why I never rest in the car, something is always happening.
Where the portraits fit into all of it
In a day with two ceremonies, portraits are the first thing to suffer if they are not planned. Their most natural place is after the church ceremony and the congratulations: the emotion is at its peak, the clothes are still fresh, and there is usually just enough light left before dinner. So we choose a portrait location near the church or on the way to the venue, so no time goes into extra driving.
If the timeline really does not allow it, we agree to step out of the venue for fifteen minutes before sunset. Half an hour alone somewhere in the day is all I ask for, and those are exactly the frames that carry the album later.
Lazar Mihajlović Photography
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