Calling all November brides- past & future!

My wedding is November 23rd. As of right now, the church is set for 4pm and the cocktail hour starts at 7pm. The church is in Bellport, Chateau La Mer in Lindenhurst, so by the time we get out of the church (5) and with the 35 minute drive to CLM, there would only be about an hour lapse before the cocktail hour.

Question is, should I move the church up? If the church ends at 5, is it going to be dark outside when we go outside for pics and throw rice, etc.? We are thinking of making the church at 3 and keeping the reception at 7 so we have enough time to get pics done in between and we'll be able to enjoy cocktail hour with everyone. What time is your church/reception? And what time does it get dark in November? What are your plans?

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I can't help much, but if you check out weatherchannel.com they have the average sunset times listed.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

My wedding is the 26th of November and I know in November, that it gets dark around 4:00pm. Its your choice if you want to move the church up. We are actually seeing each other before the ceremony (Jewish tradition) for pictures so, we can do daylight pictures before the ceremony and then evening ones after.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

my church is at 2:30 and the cocktail hour doesn't start until 7:30, so time for pics is not an issue for me. The sun is! The sun sets around 5, so if you want outdoor pics, they need to be done before that. If your church ends at 5, it will be fairly dark by the time you get out. And by the time you get to CLM it will be very dark. But pics outside would still look nice, you just won't get natural light. Or like you said, you could up the church and then be to CLM in time for the sunset - that would be pretty!

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I would move it to 3.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

We are getting married at 5pm on November 4th. Our cocktail hour doesn't start untill 8pm. This gives us time to take our pics. We know it will be dark but the watermill has beautiful settings for indoor pics as well as outdoors at night. The photographers have great lighting for such an event so no matter what your pics will be great.
Another option is the ecology center in Holtsville. I think it is free and you can reserve your wedding date to go and take your pics whenever you want. They have great backrounds for brides.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I got married 11/27/04, our church was at 2 and the CH started at 6:30. By the time we got to the picture taking place, it was about 3:15 I think. We only took pics for about 1/2 hour b/c we were all getting really cold (sun was setting). We got to the hall about 4:30-5:00 and took the rest of our pics and all family pics and were done a little before 7.

I think we timed it pretty well. I wanted to go to the CH, and we got to say hello to everyone there.

Let me know if I can answer any questions

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I was thinking about doing the same thing. My only concern with pushing the time of the ceremony up is that it might be harder for people to come because it's earlier, and then there is a big gap between the ceremony and reception (my ceremony is at 5, reception at 7:30)... which can be an inconvenience for guests...

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I got married at 3:30 on November 7th. This was a concern for us too. The plan was church would start on time, (and it did!) and we would be done by 4:30, no receiving line at church, take a few photos and then head to the Swan Club to take more photos before it got dark. If I had to do it over, I would have taken more outside photos at church, because we were losing light quickly on the ride to the Swan Club, and the outside photos there did not come out as nicely as I had hoped, because it was getting dark (and you are a few weeks later than that.)

If you can move the church up and want outside photos, I would say do it. Don't wait, though, because I know my church was pretty booked for that weekend.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

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Posted by GoingNutty

I was thinking about doing the same thing. My only concern with pushing the time of the ceremony up is that it might be harder for people to come because it's earlier, and then there is a big gap between the ceremony and reception (my ceremony is at 5, reception at 7:30)... which can be an inconvenience for guests...

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Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

You better move it up if the sunset is important to you.
I got married 11/14. Our ceremony was @ 2:30, ended about 3:15-3:30 by the time we got out of there & into the trolley. Drove 30 minutes to beach, sun was at perfect setting time (figure 4:30ish). That time will be even earlier for you.
Good Luck!

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

If moving it to 3 is an option and you don't mind the bigger gap, I'd do that. My ceremony was at 3, cocktail hour at 7. By the time we got out of the church, it was already twilight-ish (is that even a word?) so having a ceremony at 4 pretty much guarantees you're going to have zero light when the ceremony is over.

I liked the bigger gap because it allowed plenty of time for pictures and we didn't miss a minute of our cocktail hour.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I checked this year and on Nov 19th it was almost dark by 4:30 so if you want daylight pictures you should move the church time. My ceremony is at 3pm and the reception is at 7pm. I'm planning on taking outdoor pictures at the church since by the time we get to the hall it will too dark for outdoor pictures.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

we are keeping the church at 4 since we agreed to do pics before the ceremony

sunset on my day (11/25) is 4:45 pm so yours is around there too

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

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Posted by Anti-Bride

we are keeping the church at 4 since we agreed to do pics before the ceremony

sunset on my day (11/25) is 4:45 pm so yours is around there too

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Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I purposely moved my church up to 2, cocktail hour is at 7 b/c i was concerned about getting some daylight in my pics.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

Our ceremony was at 3pm. We took pictures right outside the church. They came out great with just enought sunlight. It started getting dark after taking pictures and getting into the limos. This was before 5pm. Definetly move it up

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

Our wedding was November 6th and sunset was around 4.45pm which meant by 5.15ish it was very dark. If you want daylight or sunset pictures, you'll have to move everything up.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

Hey I got married the night before Thanksgiving too! If you can move the time-do it. My church was 5PM and it was still light out but when we got out it was night.
Unfortunately for me it rained this year so we really didn't take pics outside, but the rain had no bearing on our day. We have beautiful pics anyway.
Outdoor pictures are great, but being inside isn't the worst thing.
If I can help you w/ any ques. don't hesitate to ask.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I had the same thing 4pm church and a 7pm cocktail hour. I am getting married on the 4th of Nov. I decided to move the church to 3 but my church would move it to 3:30 since it is the 1st Friday of the month and they have a special mass. My photographer also suggested not doing a lineup right after the mass where the bridal party & the parents line up and tell everyone thank you. I have gotten alot of groans from other people about leaving this out but you have to do what you have to do---it is your day and you can't thank everyone for coming to the church and then the reception. If you still want to do the lineup right after church which could potentially take an hour if you do full bridal party--just do you & your husband & both sets of parents--that is who the people came to see everyone else can wait in the limo or outside. Just a couple of thoughts. Hope this helps.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

Awesome girls, thanks so much for the help!!! Looks like we're going to do the church at 3 and the cocktail hour at 7. We are pretty much gauranteed no pics during cocktail hour and we'll get the sunlight that we want. For those of you that checked out what the weather was like, on your days, sunset times, etc.... where did you find it? I searched all over the web!

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

go to www.lessings.com then click on timber point or bourne mansion - there is alink for sunset times - where you put the town in and the month - it gives you the sunset times for each day of the month

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I would move it earlier for pics. You never know what might delay you.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

I did a search on Google sunrise and sunset. I think it came up with a Naval calendar which was very accurate.

Re: Calling all November brides- past & future!

Thanks again!