What is the best time to have your wedding ceremony in Florida?

If you are looking to determine the best time to have your wedding ceremony in Florida, there are a few factors that will go into play. Some of those will include things that revolve directly around your wedding. This post is to assist our couples in selecting the time for their best lighting for ceremony and family. Spoiler alert, you can’t have both. Please, not the following is not definitive advice for planning, consult with a wedding coordinator for your specific needs. There’s not a solid answer to figuring out when the best time to have your wedding ceremony in Florida is, but this may help.

Florida offers really strange, but also beneficial weather in some instances for your wedding. If you’re having a wedding in Daytona Beach, check out our most recent weddings and get an idea of when or where it was taken. If you’d like to sign up for our planning assistance CLICK HERE, you can do so. We can answer questions about timing, share photos and include the time of day those were taken. This is $79.00 and includes 5 questions to help answer those tough decisions.  Take a look at the following we’ve put together so that you can better plan your wedding.

For me as a photographer about 1hr before sunset during any given month is the best time. Here’s a chart to find out when the sunsets on your particular date. You can select any month in the past or present. For instance, here’s December/January 2020

What to plan for (DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME) March-November

During DST

It’s nearly impossible to have your ceremony and Photos line up for the best lighting opportunity if you’re having a traditionally planned wedding ending at 10/11pm. However, we recommend having your ceremony as late as you can. For example, if it was our choice, my wedding would be 6:30 pm ceremony, 7-8 pm for post photos. But that leaves you only 2 hours on most venues that require you to be completed by 10/11pm. You may not be happy with a short reception.

Non DST November-March

Ceremony planning is a little easier for lighting. Since the sunset during December is right around 5:30 pm a 3:30 pm is simple and easy to do. Give yourself from the sunset 1.25hrs before to start the ceremony or even 1.5hrs before sunset to start the ceremony depending on the location. If your ceremony is 1hr long then adjust it accordingly to end at 1.25hrs before the sunset.

Post Ceremony Photos (takes about 1 hr from start to finish of Family, Bridal party, Bride and groom photos)

Weather is awkward in the summer, spring and winter it kind of follows this trend

Winter (December – February) See temperatures below.
Typically during these months, you can expect clear bright sunny days (not ideal for photography) or overcast or a mix between. Some lingering rain showers.

Spring (March-May) Rainfall picks up with rain showers  (Below is averages for Florida)

Summer (June-September) Strong thunderstorms and persistent rain throughout the day is common. A Seabreeze helps keep beachside clear of rain.

Fall (September- November)

Summary:
The best light is late as you can be. When the sun sets around 8-9 have your ceremony as late as you possibly can. In the other months when the sun sets at 530 the ceremony and planning will lay out nicely with a 330 approximate ceremony and finishing up photos for the bride and groom around 530pm

Temperatures

°F	Month	°C
58.1	January	14.5
60.0	February	15.6
64.9	March	18.3
69.3	April	20.7
75.4	May	24.1
80.0	June	26.7
81.6	July	27.6
81.5	August	27.5
79.4	September	26.3
72.6	October	22.6
66.0	November	18.9
60.0	December	15.6
70.7	Entire Year	21.5

 

Direct/Afternoon/Cloudless/Sun Above Couple/No Shade

Afternoon/Cloudless/Sun Above Couple/Partial Shade

Afternoon/Shaded/ Sun behind the photographer

Between Afternoon and Evening/No Clouds/Direct Sunlight

Evening/Cloudy/Rainy

Evening/Shaded/No Clouds

Evening/No Shade/No Clouds/Sun Behind Couple