Golden hour for wedding photos, month by month
Published . Updated .
For a UK wedding, golden hour starts between about 40 and 80 minutes before sunset, depending on the month and how far north you are. In mid-June that means from about 20:25 in London to 20:56 in Edinburgh. In mid-December it starts before 15:00 everywhere in the three cities below, often while the drinks reception is still going on. The table below gives the start and sunset for the 15th of every month.
Find the times for your own date and town with the sunset and golden hour tool. It covers more than 80 UK towns and cities, or any latitude and longitude you type in.
When is golden hour?
Golden hour is the stretch before sunset when the sun sits low enough to give warm, soft light from the side. There is no official start time, so this site uses one working definition: golden hour starts when the sun drops to 6 degrees above the horizon in the evening, and ends at sunset. The sunset tool and the timeline builder both use that definition, so their times agree with this page.
Photographers also call it the magic hour.
Magic hour for photography: why the light changes
When the sun is high, light falls from above and puts shadows under eyes and noses. As it gets lower, the light comes from the side and passes through more of the air, which softens it and warms its colour. For portraits that means fewer hard shadows and faces lit from the front or side, which is the reason to plan ten or fifteen minutes outside in the evening.
Golden hour light on a cloudy day
The times in this guide are about the sun’s position, not the weather. On an overcast evening the warm colour may not come through, but the light still fades on the same timetable. After the end of civil twilight, which the sunset tool also shows, outdoor photos need lights.
Golden hour time on the 15th of each month
These times were worked out with the sunset tool for 2027, in UK clock time. Each city heading opens the tool for that city on 15 June 2027; change the date to see any other day.
| Month | London | Leeds | Edinburgh | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden hour | Sunset | Golden hour | Sunset | Golden hour | Sunset | |
| January | 15:21 | 16:19 | 15:10 | 16:14 | 14:58 | 16:09 |
| February | 16:25 | 17:14 | 16:22 | 17:14 | 16:19 | 17:14 |
| March | 17:19 | 18:04 | 17:22 | 18:09 | 17:25 | 18:14 |
| April | 19:10 | 19:55 | 19:18 | 20:06 | 19:27 | 20:17 |
| May | 19:54 | 20:44 | 20:07 | 21:00 | 20:20 | 21:17 |
| June | 20:25 | 21:19 | 20:40 | 21:38 | 20:56 | 22:00 |
| July | 20:20 | 21:13 | 20:34 | 21:30 | 20:49 | 21:50 |
| August | 19:39 | 20:25 | 19:49 | 20:38 | 20:00 | 20:52 |
| September | 18:34 | 19:17 | 18:39 | 19:25 | 18:44 | 19:33 |
| October | 17:23 | 18:09 | 17:23 | 18:12 | 17:23 | 18:15 |
| November | 15:20 | 16:13 | 15:12 | 16:10 | 15:04 | 16:07 |
| December | 14:51 | 15:52 | 14:37 | 15:45 | 14:20 | 15:38 |
April to October are shown in British Summer Time and the rest in Greenwich Mean Time. In 2027, according to GOV.UK, the clocks go forward on 28 March and back on 31 October. That is why sunset in London jumps from 18:04 in mid-March to 19:55 in mid-April.
How long golden hour light lasts
From the table, golden hour lasts about 45 minutes in London in March, April and September, when the sun drops through the sky most steeply. It is longest in midwinter and midsummer, when the sun sets at a shallow angle: 61 minutes in London on 15 December, and 78 minutes in Edinburgh on the same day. The further north the venue, the longer it lasts.
Real light can go earlier than the table says. These times assume a flat horizon, so hills, woods or tall buildings to the west of the venue will put the sun behind them before it sets.
Planning golden hour photos into the day
For most of the year, golden hour falls after the meal. On a June wedding with a 1pm ceremony, the meal and speeches are over by 17:30, so a short portrait session around 20:30 comes just after the evening food is served at 20:15. Stepping out is easier with some planning:
- Put the time in the timeline. The timeline builder adds golden hour, sunset and a 15-minute sunset portrait slot when you give it a date and a town.
- Tell the venue, so nobody is looking for you to cut the cake at that moment.
- Agree the spot with your photographer beforehand, ideally somewhere facing the sunset with a clear view to the west.
The directory’s on-the-day page lists weather forecasts and other sun calculators for checking a second source.
Winter weddings
From November to January, sunset in all three cities falls before 16:30, and in mid-December before 16:00. That changes the order of the day, because the group photos and portraits that would normally sit in the drinks reception can run out of light.
Take a wedding in Leeds on 15 December 2027. With the builder’s defaults and a 1pm ceremony, the group photos run from 13:55 to 14:25, golden hour starts at 14:37 and the sun sets at 15:45, so the photos finish in daylight with time for portraits in the low sun. Move the same ceremony to 14:30 and the group photos would not start until 15:25, finishing after sunset. The builder shows a warning for exactly that case: “It will be dark before the group photos finish.”
The usual ways round it in winter:
- Hold the ceremony earlier, around noon or 1pm, so the photos come before sunset.
- Take some groups before the ceremony, if you are happy to see each other first.
- Plan the groups indoors and ask the venue which room has the most light.
In the far north the sun can stay low all day. On 21 December 2027 the sun in Lerwick sets at 14:57, and on days when it never climbs to 6 degrees the sunset tool says so in place of a golden hour time.
What time is golden hour today?
The sunset tool opens on today’s date, so it doubles as a golden hour calculator for today. Choose your town and it shows golden hour, sunset and the end of civil twilight, which is when you would need lights to take photographs outside.