November advice

Hey Jaclyn! I just googled the sunset time for November 7th, 2020 in MD and it's estimate at 4:58 PM From what I've read, it takes about 60-90 minutes after sunset to get completely dark. Hope that helps!

How much time you have depends on what time your ceremony will be. I got married in December and by 5 p.m. it was dark. My ceremony was at 3 p.m. and we did the majority of our pictures before the ceremony. Our ceremony ended at 4 so we had about 1 hour to take more pictures at the church before it getting dark. Even if you don't do a first look you can still take most of your pictures before the ceremony that don't include both of you. You'll need to discuss the timing with your photographer and your venue to see what time you're able to access the venue and for your photographer to give you a timeline. We did a first look so our photography timeline looked like this:

12:30-1: detail shots and getting ready shots

1-1:30 first look

1:30-2:45 wedding party and VIPs

3-4 ceremony

4-4:15 group shot

4:15-5 wedding party and VIPs at church

4:15-5:45 cocktail hour at reception venue

6-11 reception (photographer left at 8 after cake cutting and first dance)

Also consider where in MD you are getting married. There are areas near the Catoctin Mountains where the sun may dip behind the mountains before the sunset time, causing darkness to fall even sooner than expected.

I would suggest going to the venue THIS year near November 7th to gauge how good the light is as the sun is setting. That's what we did when my daughter got married last year in October. We planned a trip to the venue in PA at a ski and golf resort and were able to gauge what the daylight would be for the outdoor ceremony and subsequent photos. We ended up shifting the ceremony a half-hour earlier to make sure they had enough time to get all the outdoor photos they wanted.

Welcome to the WeddingWire community Jaclyn!

It’s a great idea to visit your venue this year around the same date as your wedding so that you can check out what the lighting is like in the evening! If you are having your photos taken after your ceremony, you will be able to get some beautiful ‘golden hour’ shots!

Have you booked your venue(s) for a specific time?

I got married on October 6, and by 6:00 pm we had to have all of our photos done. We did a first look and our wedding started at 5:00pm, cocktail hour at 6:00, and then reception from 7:00 - 11:00 pm.