San Antonio is the largest wedding market in Texas that gets the least attention from the wedding press, which is good news for couples: venues here book later and price lower than in Austin forty minutes up the road, and the light is the same. Here are the places couples ask us about and the timeline that fits them.
The light in San Antonio
Computed for the 15th of each month in 2027.
| Month | Start ceremony | Golden hour | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3:12 PM | 5:22 PM | 5:57 PM | 10.5 h |
| February | 3:37 PM | 5:50 PM | 6:22 PM | 11.2 h |
| March | 4:56 PM | 7:10 PM | 7:41 PM | 12.0 h |
| April | 5:15 PM | 7:28 PM | 8:00 PM | 12.9 h |
| May | 5:34 PM | 7:45 PM | 8:19 PM | 13.6 h |
| June | 5:50 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:35 PM | 14.0 h |
| July | 5:50 PM | 8:01 PM | 8:35 PM | 13.9 h |
| August | 5:29 PM | 7:41 PM | 8:14 PM | 13.2 h |
| September | 4:53 PM | 7:07 PM | 7:38 PM | 12.3 h |
| October | 4:18 PM | 6:31 PM | 7:03 PM | 11.5 h |
| November | 2:53 PM | 5:04 PM | 5:38 PM | 10.7 h |
| December | 2:51 PM | 5:00 PM | 5:36 PM | 10.3 h |
The start-ceremony column is sunset minus two hours and forty-five minutes. In summer that puts a ceremony in the heat, and the answer is the same as in Austin: shade or an indoor ceremony at 6:30, then fifteen minutes outside at eight. March through May and October through November are the months where the numbers just work.
The venues
| Venue | Google rating |
|---|---|
| Rancho La Mission | 4.6 (700) |
| Granberry Hills Event Facility | 4.6 (534) |
| The Veranda | 4.6 (284) |
| Lambermont Events | 4.4 (277) |
| The Club at Garden Ridge | 4.6 (255) |
| The Gardens At West Green | 4.9 (228) |
| Magnolia Halle | 4.6 (217) |
| La Fontana Springs Wedding & Event Center | 4.8 (151) |
Lambermont is the historic one, a late-nineteenth-century mansion on the east side of downtown with the kind of staircase and porch that make a getting-ready gallery on their own. Rancho La Mission, the most-reviewed venue on the list, is a ranch-style property on the south side that handles big Tejano weddings well, which matters in this city; a four-hundred-guest reception needs a different plan for the dance floor than a hundred-guest one, and we bring the second shooter. The Gardens at West Green carries the highest rating and is the garden-ceremony choice.
Big weddings and the second photographer
San Antonio weddings skew large. Above about a hundred and fifty guests, one photographer cannot cover the grand entrance, the reaction on both sides of the room and the parents at the same time. We recommend the second photographer, $500 on any collection, for anything above that size, and we would rather tell you now than deliver a gallery with half the room missing.
What we would do
For an April wedding: ceremony at 5:15, formals in the shade at the site, portraits at 7:30. For October: 4:15, and the whole reception in good light until seven. For a summer wedding at a venue with a ballroom: ceremony indoors at 6:30 and the two of you outside at 8:00. The full table is on our San Antonio page. The Hill Country venues north and west of the city, Boerne to Fredericksburg, are in this post with mileage from the Alamo, and every venue has its own page with our published pricing.
Elizabeth Scott is an independent wedding photography and film studio. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any venue named here; venue names identify where couples marry. Ratings and review counts are Google's as of our last check and will change. Sunset and golden-hour times are computed for the 15th of each month in 2027; an outdoor ceremony in open shade can run 20 to 30 minutes later than the start times we suggest.
Planning your wedding?
Elizabeth Scott photographs and films weddings nationwide — travel included, dates limited.
Check Your Date