Palm Beach Wedding Sunset Timing Guide

Jun 6

Of all the numbers on a Palm Beach wedding timeline, the one that matters most is sunset. Build the day around it and golden-hour portraits, the ceremony light, and the mood of the whole evening fall into place. Get it wrong and you are scrambling in the dark. Here is how we think about timing on the island, with approximate sunset times to plan against.

Approximate Palm Beach sunset times by month

These are rough sunset times for Palm Beach; always confirm the exact time for your specific date, and note that Daylight Saving Time shifts the clock about an hour from mid-March to early November.

January — around 5:45 PM
February — around 6:05 PM
March — around 6:25 PM (7:25 PM after DST begins)
April — around 7:40 PM
May — around 8:00 PM
June — around 8:15 PM
July — around 8:15 PM
August — around 7:55 PM
September — around 7:20 PM
October — around 6:45 PM
November — around 5:35 PM
December — around 5:30 PM

How to use sunset to build the timeline

The most flattering light arrives in the ninety minutes before sunset, and the soft afterglow lingers for about fifteen minutes after. We generally place the ceremony so it ends ninety minutes to two hours before sunset — that leaves room for family photos, then a relaxed window for couple portraits as the light turns gold. If a first look is on the table, an earlier slot frees the entire golden hour for the two of you. A winter wedding with a 5:45 sunset means an early-afternoon ceremony; a June wedding can begin much later and still catch the light. Our planning guide walks through the rest of the timeline, and the portrait locations guide covers where to be when the light peaks.

A note for film

Sunset matters even more on video. Motion reveals harsh midday light in a way stills can sometimes hide, so the same golden window that flatters photographs gives a wedding film its warmth and depth. When one team shoots both, we plan a single golden-hour window that serves the gallery and the film at once rather than splitting the couple's attention. For how this plays out at one venue, see our guide to The Breakers.