Best Time of Year to Get Married in Florida: A Photographer + Videographer's Perspective
So you just got engaged, and you’re feeling high on life and love!! All of a sudden it crashes down on you… you have to PLAN A WHOLE WEDDING!! Where is it going to be, who will you invite, what’s your budget, and maybe the biggest question of all…WHEN?!
This blog post is going to give you the perspective of a Photographer + Videographer who’ve lived in Florida their whole lives (that’s us, Manny + Ashley, owners of Iz and Liv Films😆). We hope you’ll gain some insight, learn something different, and ultimately be able to make a confident decision about when to have your wedding in Florida.
Why does the time of year matter for your wedding?
As we all know, Florida can be a bit… emotional at times. Kind of like a toddler, going from one extreme to the other in 0.2 seconds flat! Seriously though, Florida has very distinct seasons, and each one comes with advantages and challenges for your wedding day.
For example, Florida’s rainy season typically lasts from May-October, peaking from July-September. Summer also brings lots of hot weather and humidity, which is great for sipping Pina Coladas by the beach, but not so great if you want an outdoor wedding.
The time of year in Florida will dictate things like:
What kind of florals are available
What the scenery around a venue will look like
What time sunset is, and how much residual light remains
Humidity + how hot or cold you’ll be on your wedding day
We’ll have a brief overview of some Advantages and Challenges to having a wedding during each season in Florida, give you a couple tips to keep in mind, and give you our Favorite season to photograph during at the end!
Winter Wedding
Advantages:
Cooler Weather - Florida has a wonderfully mild winter, and it can still get kinda chilly at night! It personally is my favorite time of year to capture outdoor weddings. Imagine being able to take your photos and video on your wedding day without sweating?! Uhh-maze-ing!! Cooler weather is also incredible for florals; Flowers wilt incredibly fast in the heat and sun, so cooler weathers means your florist can take their time setting up, which contributes to an overall relaxed atmosphere on your wedding day, and who doesn’t want that?
Amazing Scenery - I absolutely love how Florida looks in the winter time. A lot of trees will drop their leaves, but a of trees are evergreen, just with a more muted color, which is just a dream to edit with our natural, shadow embracing, and filmic editing style.
Less Rain! - While Florida definitely rains all year round, it rains much less in the winter months than it does in the summer months. Less rain, and cooler weather means overall less humidity, which also means less sweating, less hair frizzing, less of a need for a big tent outdoors, and less of a chance you’ll have to use your plan B option.
Challenges:
Holidays - Being that peak wedding season in Florida is November-April, you do have to worry about your wedding colliding with Holidays. During the holiday season, venue/vendor prices might be higher due to the high demand during that season.
Tourists + Snowbirds - While the weather is good for you, people all over the US are traveling to Florida in the winter time to take advantage of the weather too! Expect an influx of people during these months.
Florals - Some of the most popular wedding florals that might not be available (or could be more costly) during the Winter Wedding Season in Florida include Peonies, Dahlias, Sweet Peas, Lilacs, Hydrangeas, Sunflowers, and more. While this might not be a huge challenge for you, it’s definitely something to consider. Make sure you talk with your Florist in depth so they can guide you through the best options for your winter wedding based on your preferences and budget.
Tips:
Book Early! - Venues and vendors will easily book up 6-12 months ahead of time, and in many cases, up to 18 months out! Jump on the wedding planning wagon early for the things you’re passionate about, that way you can guarantee the experience and results you want.
Back Up Plans (Weather) - Floridas weather is always changing and will throw some unexpected changes your way any day. Make sure you talk with your Venue, Planner, and/or Coordinator to have a solid back up plan in place for your wedding day, ESPECIALLY if you’re having an outdoor wedding. This will ensure your wedding day happens without a hitch, even if the weather decides to go haywire.
Have a GOOD TIMELINE! - We will preach this time and time again. Having a planner or coordinator, and a bulletproof Photography + Videography timeline is absolutely crucial to having a low stress wedding day for you, your family, and your guests. Want to learn more about this? Check out this blog post.
Interested in Applying to work with Iz and Liv Films? Click the link below to set up your FREE Consultation!
Spring Wedding
Advantages
Warm Weather - Springtime in Florida typically has beautifully warm temperatures, without being overly hot. It’s a beautiful time of year for outdoor weddings, especially for people who hate cold weather.
Spring Scenery - “April’s Showers Bring May’s Flowers”. All the rain brings an abundance of lush greenery and blooming flowers everywhere you look! This bright, fresh, lush greenery provides a beautiful backdrop for outdoor Wedding Photography and Videography.
Lower Prices - While the Wedding Season in Florida technically runs through the beginning of Spring, late spring tends to open up a bit more in availability. Less of a demand means that those higher prices we talked about happening with a winter wedding, might come down a bit more for a spring wedding.
Challenges
Rainy Season - That beautiful lush greenery doesn’t happen by chance. It happens from rain…and a lot of it. Spring starts the rainy season in Florida, so be prepared to have plans change around a bit if it starts to rain on your spring wedding day.
Pollen - Unfortunately, all those gorgeous blooming flowers, trees, and luscious green grasses have a downside. I’m sure you know the struggle well, pollen triggers allergies. This can be a challenge for guests or family members who struggle with allergies, and is a good thing to keep in mind when selecting both the season to get married in, and also the venue you choose to have your wedding at.
Humidity - Water + Heat = Humidity. Something else that Florida is very well known for. Being aware of this and planning relief for guests (drink stations + fans) will go a long way in making your guests comfortable for your Spring Wedding.
Tips
Indoor/Outdoor Wedding Venues - Looking for venues that provide more than one option for your ceremony is key for a spring wedding. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve shown up on a wedding day and have had to adjust to a different ceremony location because of the weather. Unfortunately in Florida, this is common, so make sure you love the indoor option as much as you love the outdoor option!
Shaded Options - Having lots of shade available for yourselves, your guests, and your photographer + videographer will elevate the experience for everyone! This Florida sun gets blazing, and we can’t have golden hour all day. For weather purposes, and photography purposes, visit potential venues with this intention in mind!
Embrace the Season - Spring time in Florida is so beautiful! Embrace all the vibrant greens, beautiful pastel colors, and the rich variety of life that it brings. Be ready with back up plans, and one or two things to keep your guests comfortable, and you will no doubt have an unforgettable wedding day in the best way!
Interested in Applying to work with Iz and Liv Films? Click the link below to check out our work!
Summer Wedding
Advantages
Longer Days - Summer means longer days!! This leaves more time for outdoor ceremonies and receptions and allows more daylight for outdoor wedding photography and videography.
More Availability - Summer starts the off-season for weddings in Florida, so vendors tend to book up less quickly and might even offer summer/off-season prices or discounts.
Summer Themes - This is a great time to plan a wedding that focuses on beachy, tropical, or summery vibes! Beach weddings anyone!? Having a beach wedding, either on or close to the beach, almost guarantees that you’ll have a little breeze when you’re outside, which is so refreshing on a hot summer day.
Challenges
Heat + Humidity - Well, if you’ve ever visited or lived in Florida in the summertime, there’s no need for me to explain this challenge to you. You are well aware of the blazing heat that accompanies the summertime here, and thanks to the near daily rain, we get plenty of humidity too. Natural sheen anyone?
Rain - Yup. Summer in Florida is the wettest time of the year; with June, July and August seeing 7-9 inches of rainfall each month. Hurricane season also runs from May-November. So while rain can be dealt with, if your wedding day happens to fall during a hurricane, there’s not much anyone can do about it.
Bugs - Mosquitos, No-See-Ums, Ants, and Love Bugs (they sure do love cars and people lol) are the most annoying bugs/pests to have to deal with while being outdoors on a warm summer day. If you’re getting married outdoors in the summertime, it’s definitely something to consider while making your preparations.
Tips
Indoor/Outdoor Venues - Having a hybrid indoor/outdoor venue option is going to help in a lot of ways. You’ll have good plan b’s in case of rain. You’ll have relief from the summer heat. You’ll have relief from the humidity and bugs. And you’ll have more than enough options for your Photographer + Videographer to get a wide variety of shots for your Wedding Film and Wedding Photo Gallery. We love shooting at Mansions, Manors and Plantations, as well as Barns that have A/C during the summer months, these provide a lot of variety, while still providing relief from the common Summer Challenges.
Choose Lightweight Fabrics - Summer weddings are the perfect time to have a more casual/relaxed/laid back wedding style! Using fabrics that are lightweight and breathable, like cotton, linen, rayon, and seersucker, will help you and your wedding party stay comfortable and cool on your wedding day.
Stay Hydrated - We don’t want anyone passing out or getting sick from being dehydrated. Wedding days happen fast, and can be chaotic, so make sure you’ve got hydrating drinks (not just alcohol), readily available for yourself, family, and guests throughout the entire day.
Have Bug Repellant - Splurge for the best of the best bug repellant, and get a few more cans than you think you need. You’ll thank yourself, your guests will thank you, your vendors will thank you… just trust me on this one.
Fall Wedding
Advantages
Warm Weather - Florida starts to cool off a bit in the fall time, so you’re looking at 80 degree days instead of 90-100! Later evenings and mornings tend to be the nicest weather wise, being a little cooler.
Beautiful Scenery - Fall in Florida won’t give you the typical Fall feels with bursting oranges, reds, and yellows, but it gives you a toned down version! You’ll get colorful leaves and blooming flowers.
Availability - Early fall is when weddings start to pick up, and by late fall, wedding season in Florida is in full force. In early fall, you might be able to snag some off season discounts, and venues might have a little more flexibility with dates.
Challenges
Hurricane Season - Unfortunately hurricane season runs alllllll the way to November First. As we mentioned in the Summer Wedding Challenges list, rain can be dealt with, but if a hurricane happens to develop and come through on your wedding day, no one can do anything about that.
Heat Waves - While overall the fall weather in Florida is nicer, we are no strangers to experiencing heat waves. There’s always a chance that it’ll be hotter than “usual” for that time of year, so if you’re wanting cooler weather for your wedding, we’d suggest planning a winter wedding in Florida.
Daylight Savings Time - Sometime in November, Daylight Savings Time will end, bringing a sunset between 5-6pm instead of 730-830pm. This means a shorter day when it comes to lighting, but also a cooler evening.
Tips
Embrace the Season - Fall is known for deep, rich color tones, all things spice, and the opportunity to incorporate fun fall specific items like fall foliage and pumpkins (doesn’t have to be orange lol) into your wedding decor! Leaning into the fall season will help your wedding be unique and memorable.
Have a morning wedding - Early risers anyone? I love a good morning wedding. The weather is much nicer in the mornings before the sun is out full force baking the earth away. Definitely consider a good morning wedding if you don’t mind being up early. It leaves more time for you and your partner to enjoy your wedding day together alone after all the formalities.
Have a backup plan - Make sure you talk to your venue and vendors about their policies regarding extreme weather events, and know what your options are, should a hurricane come through on your wedding day.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s pros and cons to getting married during every season in Florida, you gotta do what’s best for you boo! While every photographer and videographer is different, and brings different opinions to the table, our favorite time of year to photograph and film a wedding is going to be Fall and Winter. Why?
Allergies aren’t as bad
Overall Good Weather
The more muted colors match our shadow embracing, filmic editing style, but the evergreen trees in Florida allow us to focus on enhancing earthy greens.
Are you surprised by this knowledge? Wouldn’t Daylight Savings Time be a big turn off for photography and videography? For us, the answer is a solid no. Every single one of our packages comes with Customized Timeline Planning for Photography and/or Videography, why?
We want your day to be captured exactly how you want it to be captured! We will offer suggestions on timing, and answer all your questions, and then schedule it out so we have enough time to photograph and film in a way that’s going to allow you to have fun, relax, and enjoy the experience!
Interested in learning more? Ready to Book with us? Want pricing? Click the link below, and SUBMIT the form!