Timeline In Mexico

AliciaW · July 14, 2016

Hello all,

We have just started planning our wedding for April 2017. We have picked a resort in Riviera Maya but have not booked it yet as our travel agent is just waiting to hear back about rates. One of the questions she asked me was what time of day do we want to get married and I hadn't thought about that. I said 5 because I thought maybe it won't be so hot then. I also found my dress last night, it's a mermaid dress and I'm worried that I'm going to be very warm and sweaty haha. My question is when did you or are you having your ceremony? Is 5 too late for a ceremony? Also how long do you take taking pictures between the ceremony and reception?

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dreamweddings · July 14, 2016

@@AliciaW in April we change to summer time.

I always recommend the following:

for summer time ceremony is at 6pm, reason being at that time the sun is still quite high. And you have plenty of time to have your sunset pictures.

If you are having a symbolic ceremony times will be:

6pm to 6:30 for the ceremony

6:30pm to 7:30pm cocktail hour (this is also the time to get the family and group pictures)

reception to follow afterwards

Make sure you communicate with your photographer on the timeline, so you are both on the same page.

Happy Planning

JasminMattPhoto · July 14, 2016

@@AliciaW

Welcome to BDW! You'll find there's a plethora of useful information on this site, and most notably within the varying forums.

We wanted to offer our suggestion, as photographers who live and work in the area photographing weddings, families and couples, that April timing is still a grey area, and should not immediately be considered part of the summer schedule. I will highlight that April sunset early in the month is at 7:03PM and by end of April, 7:13PM. Anticipate mostly darkness (difficult for photos that aren't artificially lit) by 7:30pm during this time of year. We typically feel setting aside 45-60 minutes for the newlyweds session is ideal. This allows time to stray away from the immediate location, use varying portions of the grounds at the resort to have a variety of backdrops, and still allow time for a bathroom break to freshen up before the reception begins.

With your initial gut instinct of 5pm, you'd be allowing a perfect amount of time to allow the day to flow smoothly and stress-free into the reception. Often in this heat, guests too, enjoy a chance to return to their rooms to freshen up, change clothes, whatever is required, before continuing to the cocktail hour that precedes the reception. With a ceremony from 5-5:30pm, this allows for time afterwards to hug, congratulate the couple, do family/group/wedding party photos & a quick freshen up/change clothes for guests from 5:30-6:30, with cocktail hour 6:30-7:30pm,. The newlyweds photos would occur during that cocktail hour, with time to freshen up and/or attend the final portion of cocktail hour, before reception, once photos are done.

A 2-hour time frame between ceremony start time and reception is what we would recommend, at the least, and a 2 ½ hour time frame (example: 5pm ceremony and 7:30pm reception) allows for a less stressful flow of events during that time.

Hope this helps answer your questions and should you have more, feel free to let us know, either here, or via PM, or email.

And I'll include a few recent photos from weddings we have photographed, including a handful of sunset photos (pending weather, clouds, etc) for some additional inspiration when it comes to photography in the Riviera Maya.

Moments That Matter · July 14, 2016

Congrats on your upcoming Mayan Riviera destination wedding, AliciaW and welcome to the boards!

We advise our wedding couples to consider the sunset time on the day of their wedding and set the ceremony time at 2 hours before sunset. That's optimal timing to capture that magical Golden light of sunset for their newlywed photos - Pure! Gold!