Nashville Wedding Ceremony Start Time

Hey Bride to Be!

I know it’s hard to pick your wedding ceremony start time!! That’s why I’ve created this resource to help you pick your ceremony time! My name is Jennifer Cooke, and we are Nashville Wedding Photographers serving detail oriented & joyful brides looking for timeless, bright, and romantic wedding photography! See More About Us Here!

You have two options…

1) Read the section below to pick your ceremony time yourself OR…

2) Book a call with us, and we can help you!

Book a Call With Us!

If you need help picking your ceremony time, book a call with us and we’d love to help you!

How to Pick Your Ceremony Time!

First, Google “sunset time on your wedding date and year at your venue’s location/city”

For example, type this into Google but apply it to your specific wedding information…

“Sunset time on May 11th, 2024 in Nashville, TN” OR “Sunset time on May 11th, 2024 in Lynchburg, VA”

Sunset time on May 11th, 2024 in Nashville, TN is 7:44PM CT. Now that you know what time sunset will be on your wedding date in your particular wedding’s city, go to step two!

Second, plan for your ceremony to start 2-3 hours BEFORE sunset to allow plenty of time for photos after your ceremony! If you want your ceremony to be earlier, than you can have a time for romantic portraits AFTER your ceremony and a time for Golden Hour Portraits about 30 minutes BEFORE sunset!

I highly recommend that you plan your ceremony to start at LEAST 3 hours before sunset. Going back to our example above, that would mean that your wedding ceremony start time should be 4:30PM or 5:00PM (5:00PM being the latest).

Here’s an Easy to See Timeline for You:

4:30PM – Ceremony Starts

5:00PM – Family Formals

5:20PM – Full Bridal Party Portraits

5:30PM – Romantic Portraits

6:00PM – Reception Entrance

6:10PM – Dinner is served.

6:50PM – Speeches/Toasts

7:05PM – Cake Cutting

7:15PM – Golden Hour Portraits

7:44PM – Sunset (this means that it is dark outside and TOO DARK to keep taking photos)

If you still need help picking a ceremony time, BOOK A CALL WITH US! We’d be glad to help!

If you’d like to see more about who we are and what we do, go find out more about us HERE!

SHARE this blog post with a Bride to Be to help them pick their ceremony time!

We are Nashville Wedding Photographers, Jennifer and Daniel Cooke, serving detail oriented & joyful brides who love timeless, bright, & romantic photography that will last a lifetime! If you’re still looking for your perfect wedding photographer and think we’d be a good fit, reach out to us below!!! We are excited to hear from you!!!

Thanks for reading and happy planning!

xoxo, Jennifer and Daniel