Golden Hour in Wedding Photography

Have you ever heard of the evasive Golden hour? It is the time when the sun is close to the horizon and illuminates the entire atmosphere in a soft, golden light. As a photographer, it has to be one of my favourite shooting conditions as it is very flattering light for the bride and groom and if your clever, you can incorporate sun flare into your wedding photos which can be tricky.

Golden hour can be somewhat misleading and can sometimes only last 20-30 minutes, especially in winter. When meeting with client’s, I always try ask “what time does your reception start?” as this is an important factor when timing a location shoot after your ceremony. Location shoots usually go for 90 minutes (if we are lucky) so it is important to work fast, especially in the fading light.

In winter, Golden Hour starts at approx. 4pm and go until 5pm. After 5pm, it is almost impossible to use natural light when taking wedding photographs.  In Summer however, Golden hour can start at 7pm and go to 8pm. When planning your big day, if you like the look of Golden Hour, try and incorporate it into your day by planning around it and having the ceremony a little bit earlier or the reception a little bit later. Otherwise, a skilled photographer should be able to take high quality wedding photographs, regardless of the time of day. If you would like to see more of our wedding photography at golden hour, please visit our wedding photography gallery.