When it comes to weddings one might think they must be held during daytime. That may almost always be the case but nocturnal weddings do occur. Depending on your taste or convenience one can easily go against the grain and have a moonlit ceremony. Planning a wedding at its earliest stage would of course be figuring out what month or season you’d like to have it in, then comes finding suitable venues to cater to your choice – after which setting a date and time becomes inevitable. Dates can be pretty easy, maybe a particular date that holds meaning to both you and your partner, maybe a date most convenient to everyone. Time has a lot more to do with establishing aesthetics and convenience than you might think. Nine o’clock in the morning? Braving the hustle and bustle of daily routines? Eleven o’clock in the morning? Willing to face the sun at high noon, because whether you’re outside at the beach or in the garden the sun will be there. Inside the church or chapel the sun’s sweltering heat will still find you. How about at night? Not to be partial but this does seem like the easier choice…or does it? The sun may be gone, but for outside weddings you do have to take into consideration other extenuating circumstances. Mosquitoes maybe? How about snow? And you can’t rule out darkness, much like you can’t rule out too much light playing to your disadvantage during daytime, there’s such a thing as too much darkness too.
It is probably best to rough out the timing as early as possible. While you don’t have to have exact details set yet, you do have to hold firm on specifications before booking the venue and everything else. Prestigious locations that are in demand tend to be less flexible to your demands and may have their own. Maybe your date at the time of your choosing has already been taken, maybe they only have enough time to pencil you in to whatever timeslot they have available. In those cases maybe hold firm on one or two specifics and sacrifice others. It’s not unheard of to have the venue dictate the time and date of your wedding as opposed to the other way around. If they do pencil you into the morning or afternoon, remember all the heat and sun shining down upon you before setting the dress code and even your own attire and the same can be said for nighttime – probably something less revealing to shield you from pests or provide you with more warmth.
Daytime weddings will either have lunch or brunch during its reception; something lighter and more energizing than its nighttime counterpart of more decadent and heavy-set courses. The time of your wedding comes into play in a lot of other aspects, as the planner will tell you. Planners, the middleman of all operations, will have your time as a major aspect to consider when it comes to booking a venue, catering services, photographers and even the hiring of your officiator.
Like I said, time has a lot more to do with aesthetics and convenience than you might think – it’s best to keep that in mind before sending out the invites to your I do’s.
