Should we plan our timeline around golden hour?

You're not losing the best photos. You're trading an hour of golden-hour portraits for an hour of candid dinner moments — laughter, toasts, your grandmother crying through your dad's speech. Both are great. One of them is more rare and harder to recreate.

What I do: build a "golden hour sneak-out" into the timeline. After dinner is plated and people are eating (about 20-25 minutes into the meal), I steal the couple for 10 minutes. Walk outside, do a quick set, come back before dessert. Guests are eating so they don't notice the couple stepped out, you don't miss anything important, and you get the shot.

Golden hour starts about 60 minutes before sunset and stays good for 30-40. So if your sunset is 7:15pm, your sweet spot is 6:30-7:00. Plan dinner to start at 6:00 so you can sneak out at 6:30.

If you absolutely cannot leave the room: ask if your venue has west-facing windows. Some of my favorite "golden hour" shots are couples backlit by window light during the toasts.