Best time of day to get married in December?

I am getting married January 9th with the ceremony at 2:30pm. We should be done by 3pm which will give us an hour of light and some time with the sun going down and it dark as well. Our wedding breakfast is a 4:30 so we have 1.5 hours in total for photos. Hope that helps! xx

If you are marrying at the venue I would also have said about 2-2.30 to have some light. Then take more inside especially if there is a nice sweeping staircase etc. You can get some nice pics of just you two in the dark tho. Just make sure your tog knows and can deal with it. It's a question I would ask. Some winter days don't have much light all day depending on the weather.

Good question! I'd leave it late-ish... I photographed a wedding on 3rd Jan at 3pm and it was sunset during the drinks reception. So I managed to get bridal portraits at sunset and after dark. The sit down time for the meal was 5pm.

Make sure your wedding photographer has the necessary flashes to shoot your group photos indoors. Even if the weather is good it may be too cold for you to stand outside to have the photos taken.

In winter I usually aim for the main group outside, then shoot all smaller groups inside, then take the couple out for 5-10 min.

I got married in December. We had our ceremony at 12pm to try get some outdoor pics but the weather was so bad we didn't get out at all!

It was a long day but it still flew by for us. We had a church wedding then a 10 minute drive to the venue, lots of our guests were staying overnight so the early ceremony gave them time to check in etc while we got photos.

I know 12 is too early for some people but it worked for us.

I'm not December but late November. We are getting married at 12 (COE) and have a 20-30 min drive to the venue. The is a ruined castle near the church so will be having some pictures there before we go to the venue.

That time of year brings several issues to the fore. Temperature aside, the lighting will vary dependent on the weather on the day. Light will fade from 3PM, earlier if its very overcast.

I would suggest a 1PM ceremony and aim for a long day(and pray not for rain.....) FWIW, when I go mrried (many years ago!!!) we had a January wedding with a 1.30 ceremony to allow the photographer some reasonable chance with the light....We did OK, although even then, it was dropping off.

I just completed the shots for a couple with a very late event. Light was failing dramatically, although having the "right lenses" made continuing outside with the photography possible. It was a fantastic venue with great grounds, so what we achieved was much better than moving inside and using flash.....

Peter

We're getting married on New Year's Eve at 1pm. It will be getting dark by the time we get to our reception but we should get photos in the daylight.

I thought that 1pm was a good balance of us having time to make the most of the day (and the daylight) without feeling rushed to finish the meal before the evening reception, and having time in the morning to get me, my Mum and my bridesmaids sorted by the hairdresser and the makeup artist.

I agree with Peter and say no later than 1 pm but that also depends on if your ceremony is at the same place as the venue, if it is a church that also includes a 1/2 hour transit to the venue then I would say 12 or 12.30.

Yes beautiful sunset shots are great but if you give yourself a chance for some shots in the better light then it will still be getting dark soon enough and you will have the best of both worlds.

Another thing to consider is that if you are having a winter wedding then ask any potential wedding photographer if they can show you weddings that they have shot in the past in those low light/ cold or indoor weddings conditions, I have a whole gallery of winter/rain weddings here

I'd definitely agree with the guys above and would suggest around the 1pm mark. Even if the sun isn't due to drop until 3pmish, if you happen to get a not very nice day weather wise it can be gloomy and cloudy all day . So if you opt for an earlier time, you're giving yourself options if nothing else.

As has been said, make sure you book a pro who's used to working winter weddings and had the necessary kit and experience to deal with shooting indoors and low light and you'll be set

We get married on 16th January and I asked to have the ceremony at 1 but the rest of the day the same, so it allows a bit of extra time if there is any day light (we get married in Scotland)... so I think our guests will have about 2.5 hours between the ceremony and going down for the breakfast but I didn't want to end up rushing with it all.

I'm looking at a December wedding too and my chosen venue suggests 2pm ceremonies for all weddings so that the reception between ceremony and meal isn't too long. However my chosen photographer said we should probably have it slightly earlier to allow plenty of time for outdoor photos before it gets too dark. Sunset is around 3-30pm in December so we are having a 1.30pm ceremony. It's only half an hour difference but we aren't having a church ceremony so it should be done within half an hour allowing a good hour for photos before it begins to get dark. You have to remember that you probably won't rush straight into photos as soon as the ceremony ends as you might want to have 20mins to yourselves to chill out after the big "I do" and to give your guests a chance to leave the ceremony venue. Also probably depends on your venue. If the whole day is in one place you will probably have more time but if you have to travel between ceremony and reception venue you will lose time.

As others have said no later than 1pm, weddings always run late so that will give you a buffer if it does run late.

Outdoor photography is about the quality of light, not the quantity of light. An earlier ceremony offers more opportunities to use whats going on on the day with the light to your advantage. If the window of opportunity is bigger, the greater the potential.

Plus sunset is arbitrary in December....poor quality light on a not so good day could kick in much earlier......

Peter