What time should our wedding ceremony begin? January wedding?

Daughter is getting married in So Cal in mid-January. Venue recommends ceremony begin at 3:30, followed by cocktail hour at 4:00. Sunset should be around 5. They will be doing first look and most photography before the ceremony. Reception will begin at 5.

I would get recommendation on photo timing from your photography- I feel about an hour is necessary if you aren’t doing any photos before hand

We spent about 2 hours before the ceremony taking photos and another 45 minutes after the ceremony. We got married in December and the ceremony was at 3 p.m. We joined the cocktail hour by 5 p.m and it was already getting dark.

Work your way backward when planning your timeline. What time do you want the reception to end? Working backward is so much easier.

January 19 bride here - We are doing a first look and getting all of our wedding party photos taken before the ceremony. The ceremony will start at 4pm, its about 30 minutes, then the guests have a 30 minute drive to the reception venue, so cocktail hour will start at 5pm.

Definitely work with your photographer on your timeline - you will probably need an early ceremony if you want photos outside & are not doing a first look.

I’m getting married this day as well! I think 4:00 is a perfect start time for the ceremony.