“When should I get married. What is the best time for lighting during my outdoor wedding?”

This is a question I hear a lot when talking with wedding couples. Generally they’re still a little early in on their planing process and (God bless them) worried about the lighting for their wedding and proceeding portraits.

First, I want to thank each and every single bride and/or groom who is voicing this concern, or even reading this article. Thank you for making our jobs, as the wedding photographer, easier. It’s eminently harder to take outdoor wedding photos when the

sun has already set. Trust me, I’ve been there.

As an outdoor wedding photographer in the Houston area, I tend to photograph a lot of outdoor weddings. Go figure, lol. It’s my favorite type of wedding. Minus a month or so in August and a month or so in January or February when it’s too hot or too cold, Houston pretty much has an ideal climate for year-round outdoor weddings. Even so, I find myself photographing outdoor weddings year-round even during the more harsh times of year.

To answer the question, ‘When is the best time to get married?’ First you must consider the time of year and the direction your wedding will be held. Imagine yourself standing at the alter with your love saying “I do.” Now imagine your wedding photographer and the background they’ll have taking those precious photos.

1. Make sure the sun isn’t setting in your face, but behind it. That means the sun is setting behind your officiant. If it’s setting in the opposite direction, you’ll have squinty eyes, harsh shadows and interesting coloration in your photos.
2. For the love of all things holy, avoid a High-Noon wedding! If you insist on having an earlier wedding (and there are many good reasons to do this) either have the wedding ceremony an hour or two before or after noon. Again, consider the angle of the sun during your outdoor ceremony. There is very little we can do, aside from pulling out a flash to putting you under a tree to work with the harsh shadows from noon.
3. If you’re having an outdoor wedding during the golden hour (which falls during civil dusk), make sure you give yourself enough time to take portraits after your wedding before the light is gone.

I use this sun graph all the time when I’m trying to figure out when to set up engagement portraits, bridal portraits and when clients ask me when is the best time for them to have their outdoor wedding.

To use this graph, hover your mouse (or finger) over the graph and move it around, you will see the date below in pink changes. When you get to your preferred date, click on the graph. I have mine set to 1/21/2020. You’ll see (if you are looking at the same date) that night starts at 7:12pm. If you were taking photos outside today, you should be totally done by this time and inside, hopefully eating! You have between 5:49 pm to 7:12 pm to take awesome sunset photos during and after your outdoor wedding ceremony.

Was this helpful? Leave a comment below to let me know how helpful this was, or if you have more questions about when to start your outdoor wedding.