Sunrise weddings are a unique way to make your Big Day memorable, but as beautiful as they can be, before you decide to have one for yourself you need to think about these seven essential factors.
Sunrise times vary each day, usually only by a few minutes and you can check the timing online in advance. However, you should allow ample time for not only any changes that may happen with the sunrise, but for your guests to show up on time! Sleeping in happens, so make sure you put the timing on the invitations appropriately!
Since sunrise is usually around 6am, prepare yourself and your wedding party to get up around the 3am mark. It’s sounds drastic, but if you factor in how long it takes for all of you to get ready AND have a few happy snaps taken then you’ll understand.
Image from ruiyichem.com
There are two options you can take when wanting to set up for your wedding, and both vary on location. Depending on how public it is i.e. beach vs. forest, you can either set up on the day, or the night before. A beach is more public than a forest, so preferably you’d want to set up the day of, whereas a forest is a lot more secluded so the night before – given you cover everything because of dew – you can set up the night before. Just make sure you bring more than a flashlight!
It is known that before the sun rises, it can get pretty darn cold depending on the season! Regardless of how warm you think it might be, always prepare by letting your guests know to rug up or even supplying blankets for them to wear. Don’t forget something for yourself and your wedding party!
A sunrise wedding is a fickle thing when it comes to attendance. People you think would obviously come may decline because waking up at 4am on a Saturday or a Sunday does not agree with them. Others will wholeheartedly accept the sunrise challenge and be there on time and chipper. No matter the response, don’t take it to heart. The people who decline the ceremony may still come to the reception, so make sure that is an option on your RSVP’s!
If your sunrise wedding is taking place outside and far away from a venue, you need to prepare double time. Sunrise weddings need light before the light comes so you need to have either some kind of generator to light up your ceremony! This as well as if your caterer for the reception needs electricity you have to co-ordinate with them on how you can give them this.
Are you going to have breakfast nibbles before or after the ceremony? Are you going to have the ceremony and the reception in the same spot? Is there some type of fire ban in the area you are having it so you cant have portable heaters? Are you going to have a break between the ceremony and the reception? SO many questions needing answers! This is why a sunrise wedding needs incredible amounts of detail. Not only for your own wedding benefit but for the benefit of those who are attending! You may even need to consider a wedding planner is this is getting to over your head. The point is figure out eh details so you can have an amazing wedding!
Image from mormonbride.com
Main image from Paris and Joey’s wedding. Photography by APL Photography.
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