TWILIGHT WEDDINGS IN KENT

ARE YOU PLANNING A TWILIGHT WEDDING IN KENT?

A growing trend that I have seen over the last few years, is the rise of twilight weddings. These can be held at any time of the year, and offer a shorter wedding day and often feel more initimate than your traditional 2pm ceremony wedding day.

There’s something undeniably romantic about a twilight wedding. As the golden sun dips below the Kentish countryside and the sky, the atmosphere transforms to a softer, dreamier, and filled with intimacy.

Twilight weddings often have a ceremony time around 5pm, often skips the wedding breakfast, and then straight onto the wedding reception. Or to put simply, ceremony and then straight into the party. Which is perfect if you’re looking for something a little less formal and a bit more intimate.

There are many venues around Kent offering twilight wedding, such as The Barnyard, Ferry House Inn, Winters Barn, Cooling Castle and The Orangery although I’m sure this list will grow with the current trends and popularity.

However, there are a few things that you need to consider when booking a twilight wedding, and these can vary massively depending on the time of year you choose. I’ve put together a few tips for you, if you’re considering a twilight wedding in Kent.

night time photographs of bride and groom dance floor photos in the arboretum at confetti photo in the orchards at wedding photos in the orchards at the barnyard in unchurch Kent wedding venue

Pick the right venue for your twilight wedding.

Venue choice is super important for your twilight wedding. Weddings in the months with later sunsets pose perfect conditions for your photographer. However, if you’re getting married in the autumn or winter months with a ceremony around 5pm then it may be dark when your ceremony ends. You’ll want some outside space that is well lit for photographs (most importantly group photos) or space inside that can be used without hindering the flow of your wedding day. It’s also worth considering your ceremony time and the impact it will have on your photos, if you’re having a winter twilight wedding, you won’t get golden hour photographs a the sun will have set before your ceremony, but it will open up stunning opportunities for different types of photos!

Timings

With a later ceremony, the rest of the day is compressed into the remaining time. So it’s important that you’re are efficient with the time on your wedding day. As you will more than likely want to do confetti photos, group photos as well as your couple photos before the party starts. Group photographs and couples photographs during twilight weddings in the months with earlier sunsets will quite often need to be lit by the photographer. This means that they can take a little longer than weddings with daylight. Of course, these still look good and really do offer something different to what you could consider as traditional wedding photographs.

golden hour at mount Ephraim kent wedding venue

dance floor photos in the arboretum at confetti photo in the orchards at wedding photos in the orchards at the barnyard in unchurch Kent wedding venue

Pick the right suppliers

Pick suppliers that have experience with twilight weddings. Whilst this may not make much difference for a wedding cake maker or a florist, it will have major implications for your photographer and/or videographer. Knowing how to maximise the time of a wedding day, and maximise photographic opportunities especially in winter twilight weddings.

Skip the wedding breakfast

With a later ceremony, it’s all about maximising the time on your wedding day A BBQ or a hot buffet sounds perfect, which means you can still socialise with your wedding guests whilst you’re all still being fed.

Enjoy your wedding day and embrace whatever happens!

This is great advice for any wedding, wether it’s a summer or winter wedding. There will be many factors that are not in your control, with the largest being the weather. But whatever happens, embrace it. Spend time with your guests, go and dance in the rain and have the most memorable day ever!

Overall a tiwlight wedding in Kent is a great option for your wedding day. A twilight wedding can feel more intimate for your and your guests. By skipping the long wedding breakfast you free up time to spend with your wedding guests.