Now that winter is almost upon us I started thinking about what pieces of advice i can offer from a photography perspective if you're thinking about having a winter wedding.
Winter light is soft, golden and beautiful. But, unlike summer light, it doesn't last long into the evening. In fact, in Sydney it's pretty much gone by 5pm. So the best advice I can offer to anyone planning a winter wedding is to think carefully about your ceremony time.
Ideally I would suggest an early afternoon ceremony. Midday, 1pm, even 2pm is fine. That way you allow yourself enough location photo time after the ceremony before it gets dark.
Alternatively, if you wanted to do a later ceremony, of if you didn't really want to leave your guests to do photos after the service, you could think about doing your location photos with the bridal party before the ceremony. This does mean seeing each other before the wedding but not everyone is too bothered about that these days, It is a viable option though. Even in summer it can be an option for those not wanting to leave their guests while they go away for photos.
We are pretty lucky climate wise in Sydney. Yes, it does get cold in winter but in comparison with other parts of the world we do pretty well. Grooms and groomsmen are usually in suits with jackets so they have nothing to worry about. The bride and bridesmaids outfits however are often less equipped to deal with winter temperatures. So something I see a lot on winter weddings are bridesmaids with matching shawls or scarves just to wear on location. Especially when they're waiting around to be in some shots. A lot of the time they'll take the shawls off for the photos then put them back on again after.
So apart from taking the earlier sunset time into consideration and the cooler temperatures having a wedding in winter light makes for awesome pics. You just have to allow the time to do it.
