Winter wedding schedule

I have a late November wedding in the mountains and the sun sets at 5:18pm. My ceremony is at 3:00pm, cocktail hour and family/couple photos between 3:30-4:30pm. That gives us some wiggle room, and also it gets darker in the mountains before the sun sets if the sun is behind the mountain, so it depends on where you are standing. Our entrance will be at 4:30 and the buffet will open. Reception ends at 8. I don't want it to run too late anyway because it's a Sunday and it'll be cold and dark. I'm getting a shuttle, but also I don't want people drinking and driving in the dark mountains late at night. Hopefully they will just use the shuttle anyway if they're planning to drink a lot.

Thank you!!! Those are all my concerns. Really glad to hear how someone else is handling it.

I would also talk to you venue about starting that early, they may not allow it due to logistics.

For instance we've having a Saturday wedding in December and our venue will not allow us to start our ceremony until 6pm; and the earliest we can arrive for setup and photos is 3pm. Our venue is a community golf course and they have an obligation to members who would like to use the facilities as well as time to prepare our food, set up tables and chairs, etc.

Our wedding was in December. We did a first look which allowed us to take most of our pictures before the ceremony and then a few more afterwards. This was our timeline:

9 a.m. Bridal party get ready in bridal suite; breakfast and lunch served

12:30 p.m. Photographer arrives for detail shots and getting ready shots

1-1:30 p.m. First look

1:30-2:45 p.m. Wedding Party and VIP pics

3-4 p.m. Ceremony

4:15-5:45 p.m. Cocktail hour (wedding party and VIPs took more pics during this time and joined cocktail hour around 5 p.m.)

6-7:30 p.m. Dinner served

6:05 p.m. Welcome toast by bride

7:30 p.m. Bridesmaid's toast on behalf of wedding party

7:45 p.m. Cake cutting

7:55 p.m. First dance (after 30 seconds invited everyone to join us)

8 p.m. Dance floor open; photo booth open

8:30 p.m. Cake served

9 p.m. Smores served around the fire pit

10 p.m. Grilled cheese sandwiches served

11 p.m. Last dance; end of reception

We're getting married on 1/25/20 in southeastern Pennsylvania. Our venue is a hotel, we are doing everything (ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, afterparty) at the hotel.

5:30pm Ceremony

6:00pm Cocktail hour

7:00pm-11:00pm Dinner & Reception

11:00pm-2:00am Afterparty at hotel pub.

I too am worried about lighting for pictures, and am considering we take all outdoor photos before the ceremony. That way we should be able to enjoy some of the cocktail hour as well!