Winter wedding in Ohio

I got married Nov 24 in the mountains. I googled the sunset time for my wedding day and zip code and then added a little wiggle room. Sunset was officially at 5:15 but I thought it might look darker sooner in the mountains, plus it was cold and I didn't want to be rushed. We started the ceremony at 3:00pm and did cocktail hour photos outside from 3:30-4:30. Reception was inside 4:30-8. I thought it was perfect. We could have started at 3:30 and it would have been ok too but since it was a Sunday we wanted to end a little early so people could get to work on Monday if they wanted to.

Have you talked to your photographer about how they work around sunsets?


Almanac.com which has been used for centuries to predict weather says your sunset on that day is roughly 5pm so have your ceremony finish by 4:30 at the latest. A secular ceremony can last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes while a religious one can last an hour or more.

That’s definitely a conversation to have with your photographer. They’re great at knowing when to do things, how long things may take, etc. Also talk to your venue. They can offer input on when they’d prefer to start and end things. Receptions often need to end by a certain time, so that can have a huge impact on your timeline.