Afternoon vs. Evening Outdoor Wedding

If it's outdoors and you're concerned about photos, I vote for Sunday at 4. Or Sunday at 3. Mine was on Saturday at 4 (outdoors) and it was great. BUT… you're less likely to have people staying too too late for a Sunday wedding or an afternoon wedding at all.

What date/month are you thinking of? Are you willing to do portraits BEFORE the ceremony vs after (i.e., are you okay to see your future spouse before the ceremony)?

Our ceremony will start at 7pm, but since we are getting married in mid-September, sunset isn't until about 7:15. We'll do our portraits beforehand (the hour before sunset and the hour before sunset are considered the best lighting for photos).

I think the bigger thing to consider is your guests. If you have a lot if OOT guests, it's nicer to have it on a weekend for travel purposes.

I've considered that also. I love the idea of having two days to get everything ready I'm just worried that it will get too dark too fast, I guess I could look into renting lighting? but I wouldn't have any idea where to even start looking for that either.

It will be in May. We have considered doing all photos except the ones of us together before hand but we're not sure yet. Friday would be better for some of our guest but we're not sure how many oot guest will actually come no matter what day we have it on bc they live 4 states away.

In mid May, in Alabama, sunset will be just about 7pm, and then you'll have about 20-30 minutes of "twilight" after that (so, its not really light anymore, but its not really dark, either). I think you'd be okay for pictures for your ceremony, but if you want to do any portraits outside after that, you'd probably need to hire a photographer who provides portrait lighting (you know what i mean-- they have someone follow them around with a lamp and white umbrella).

If you feel like twilight would be too dark for your ceremony, there are lots of companies that rent/setup lighting. You can find them by going to "Vendors" at the top of this page, putting in your location, and selecting "Lighting and Decor".

I think for OOT guests, they're kind of out of luck either way-- neither Friday or Sunday is really ideal for eliminating the need to take off work, In your shoes, I'd probably pick Friday b/c I'd love to have the extra time to set-up!

Hi Kim,

A good photographer will be able to take great photos in ANY lighting situation. That being said, a afternoon wedding will allow for daytime photos (with plenty of light), as well as evening/night photos which will allow for photos to be taken during the golden hour (sunset, with all the colors) and night time photos with stars.

We had an outdoor reception from 5-9 on a Friday evening and people partied way later than we did. We did rehearsal and prep all day Thursday which was great. We had lighting so photos werenʻt too dark.

Thank you everyone! I'm leaning more towards Friday, I'm looking into renting lighting for the area we will be getting married at, the reception is inside and beside the barn so it is all well lit I'm just worried with it being in the shade that it will be dark even during twilight. This photo is during the day and it's still a tad bit dark, I could only imagine what it would be like after the sun went down.

I love the idea of having the day before to decorate. Oh what I would have give for that! If you have a good photographer, maybe she has some type of stand up flood lights that can light up the area. I bet they could figure this out for you so that it won't be an issue! Their flash alone on their expensive cameras may be enough!