What time should your
ceremony start in Perth?

The best thing you can do for your wedding photos costs nothing: pick the right ceremony time. Here is how we work it out, with Perth’s sunset time for every month of the year.

The short answer

For an outdoor wedding in Perth, start the ceremony about two and a half hours before sunset. The light is softer on faces by then, and it leaves the last hour of the day, the best light there is, free for your portraits.

Perth sunset times by month

Times are for the middle of each month in Perth and are right to within a few minutes. Sunset moves by up to a minute a day, so check your exact date. Western Australia has no daylight saving, so nothing shifts in summer.

Why two and a half hours?

Work backwards from sunset and it adds up quickly:

• Ceremony: about thirty minutes, including the signing.
• Hugs and congratulations: fifteen to twenty minutes. Don’t cut this. It is some of the best candid photography of the day.
• Family and group photos: twenty to thirty minutes with a written list.
• Bridal party: about twenty minutes.
• The two of you: the last thirty to forty-five minutes of light.

If you start later than that, something gets squeezed, and it is nearly always the portraits of the two of you.

Summer weddings: December to February

The sun sets after seven, so a ceremony around 4.45pm or 5pm works well. A 3pm ceremony in January puts you and your guests in hard, hot, overhead sun, and everyone squints. If you need an earlier start, choose a ceremony spot in open shade, under big trees or on the shady side of a building.

The trade-off is a later dinner. Tell your caterer early, and serve drinks and canapés while the photos happen.

Winter weddings: June to August

The sun is down by about twenty past five in June, so the ceremony needs to start around 2.45pm or 3pm. The good news is that winter light is low and soft all afternoon, so an early start costs you very little.

Your reception will start in the dark, so the room lighting matters more. Warm bulbs, candles and festoon lights all photograph beautifully.

If you would like a later ceremony in winter, do the portraits first. A first look an hour or two before the ceremony gets your photos done in daylight, and you walk straight into drinks afterwards.

When the venue sets the time

Some venues only offer set ceremony times. Wanneroo Botanic Gardens lists 10.30am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm, and Caversham House lists 9.30am, 1pm and 4pm. In summer, take the latest one. In winter the early-afternoon slot is the better fit. With a morning ceremony, ask about coming back out for twenty minutes near sunset.

Hills, valleys and beaches

The sunset time is when the sun reaches a flat horizon. In the Perth Hills, or anywhere with a ridge or tall trees to the west, the light can go twenty to thirty minutes earlier, so start a little sooner there.

On the coast you get every minute of it, plus the colour in the sky for a while after the sun has gone. That is why beach ceremonies at Fremantle and Cottesloe can run a little later than a ceremony in the hills on the same day.

Three quick checks before you lock it in

• Stand at the ceremony spot at your ceremony time. See where the sun is. Behind the two of you is ideal. In your faces is the one to avoid.
• Add the driving. If the ceremony and reception are in different places, every minute in the car comes out of the photo time.
• Keep twenty minutes free before sunset. Whatever else moves on the day, protect that. Here is how a full wedding day runs from behind the camera.

Not sure what suits your date and venue? Tell us both and we will suggest a ceremony time when we reply, within 24 hours. You can also browse the venues we have photographed to see how each one looks late in the day.