Guide · The light
What time should your ceremony be?
In Cancun and the Riviera Maya the answer comes from one number: the sunset on your date. Everything else in the day is built backwards from it.
Start the ceremony one and a half to two hours before sunset. On this coast that is around 4:10 p.m. in December and around 5:30 p.m. in June.
For your date
Calculate it for your wedding day
Why one and a half to two hours
After 14 years photographing weddings on this coast, this is the one rule I would plan the whole day around. At three in the afternoon the Caribbean sun is high and hard: it puts shadows under everyone's eyes, makes your guests squint through the vows and turns a beach ceremony into a test of endurance for anyone in a suit.
Two hours before sunset the light has already softened and warmed. The ceremony — usually thirty minutes — happens in that light. Family photographs come right after, while your guests start the cocktail hour, and the two of you still have the last hour of daylight for portraits. That last hour is the one people frame.
Why not closer to sunset? Because ceremonies start ten or fifteen minutes late, almost always, and dusk here is short. Push the ceremony too late and the light you were saving for your portraits is spent before you have walked back down the aisle.
Two real calendars
What the day looks like in winter and in summer
A wedding on December 15
- 4:10 p.m.Ceremony begins
- 4:40 p.m.Family photographs, while guests start the cocktail hour
- 5:10 p.m.Portraits of the two of you, in the last hour of light
- 6:10 p.m.Sunset
- 6:30 p.m.Reception begins, with the sky still holding colour
A wedding on June 15
- 5:30 p.m.Ceremony begins
- 6:00 p.m.Family photographs, while guests start the cocktail hour
- 6:30 p.m.Portraits of the two of you, in the last hour of light
- 7:30 p.m.Sunset
- 7:50 p.m.Reception begins, with the sky still holding colour
The full timeline — getting ready, first look, speeches — is built around these anchors for each wedding.
Month by month
Sunset and ceremony time through the year
| Month | Sunset | Start the ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| January | 6:28 p.m. | 4:28 p.m. – 4:58 p.m. |
| February | 6:47 p.m. | 4:47 p.m. – 5:17 p.m. |
| March | 6:58 p.m. | 4:58 p.m. – 5:28 p.m. |
| April | 7:07 p.m. | 5:07 p.m. – 5:37 p.m. |
| May | 7:18 p.m. | 5:18 p.m. – 5:48 p.m. |
| June | 7:30 p.m. | 5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| July | 7:32 p.m. | 5:32 p.m. – 6:02 p.m. |
| August | 7:18 p.m. | 5:18 p.m. – 5:48 p.m. |
| September | 6:51 p.m. | 4:51 p.m. – 5:21 p.m. |
| October | 6:24 p.m. | 4:24 p.m. – 4:54 p.m. |
| November | 6:08 p.m. | 4:08 p.m. – 4:38 p.m. |
| December | 6:10 p.m. | 4:10 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. |
Times for the 15th of each month. Quintana Roo does not change its clocks, so this table holds every year.
What can move the time
Where the sun actually sets at your venue. The beaches on this coast face east, toward the sea: the sun goes down behind the resort, not over the water, so a beach can fall into shade before the sunset itself. Some venues have a terrace, a lawn or a lagoon view that holds the light longer. Each of my venue guides notes where the light lasts.
A ceremony with a fixed time. A chapel mass, a resort's schedule or a ceremony timed by a muhurat stays where it has to be. We plan the portraits around the light that day instead.
The season. From June to October afternoons are hotter and storms can roll in and out quickly. A slightly later ceremony is kinder to your guests, and a covered option nearby is worth having for any date.
Photographed in that light
Questions couples ask about ceremony time
What time should a beach wedding ceremony be in Cancun?
Start it one and a half to two hours before sunset on your wedding date. On this coast that means around 4:10 p.m. in December and around 5:30 p.m. in June. The ceremony gets soft, warm light, and you still have the last hour of daylight for family photographs and portraits.
Is a ceremony at sunset a good idea?
It sounds perfect and it rarely is. Ceremonies usually start ten or fifteen minutes late, the vows happen while the light is disappearing, and by the time you finish there is no daylight left for portraits. Dusk is short this close to the tropics. Starting earlier gives you the sunset for the two of you instead of spending it on the ceremony.
Does daylight saving time change our ceremony time?
No. Quintana Roo — Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the whole Riviera Maya — stays on the same time all year, so the only thing that moves is the sunset itself, which runs from about 6:05 p.m. in late November to about 7:35 p.m. in late June.
What if our ceremony time is fixed by the venue or the tradition?
That happens with chapel masses, with some resort schedules and with ceremonies timed by a muhurat. It is not a problem: the ceremony stays where it has to be and we plan the portraits around the light that day, before or after it. What matters is knowing it early so the timeline is built around it, not discovered on the day.
More guides
Have a date in mind?
Tell me your date and venue. I'll send back the light for that day and a timeline built around it.