Mel and I have a wedding this November where the ceremony begins at 5 pm.  The bride and groom are not going to see each other pre-ceremony, so all of their together, group, and family shots have to be done after the ceremony.  Do you think this would be an instance where we need off-camera lighting to get the job done?  I'm thinking so.  Any advice?  I'm a little bummed there will be little to no natural lighting for us to play with.

Definitely off camera...It'll be almost dark by the time the ceremony ends, I would think! Boo.

I can't comment as a photographer, but as a winter bride. We got married in Dec and did all of our photos after, in the dark. I know our photog did not use any off camera lighting and our outside images came out great (I have a ton posted in my bio you can check out, even my bio photo was one from outside)

april, there was snow on the ground which helped bouncing available light.  That definitely helped your photographer!

Allie, I don't know but I'd be prepared if I were you.  If her ceremony is half an hour it'll be at least 5:30 by the time you can take their photos.  Are you in south cal? Sun sets before 5 in november down south, so it'll be very dark.  I LOVE off camera flash at night photos though.  As long as the light is diffused properly, the subjects always look stunning!  A lot of fashion magazine photos are shot in that style and I love it!

ahh good call yelp!

No yelp, we are in Colorado.  There will most likely be snow on the ground for us as well, if it's actually "warm" enough outside to even get them out there!

Video light is great, too. I own a 100w dimmable Frezzi and it's gonna be fun to use this winter as we get some night shots for our brides & grooms.

Off camera lighting at night doesn't even have to be diffused.  If shot properly with the right power and settings, the effects can be dramatic and quite stunning.  Especially if you are shooting into the light with your subjects blocking the blast or set the power low and have it just off to the side.

I would rent or buy some Pocket Wizards and start playing NOW.  By November, you could have a lot of your issues solved and even come up with some great planned shots. 

I did this one at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this summer. There is NO landscape ligting in this shot - there are three Nikon SB28's controlled by four Pocket Wizards - one on camera and one on each flash. The flashes are bounced up to the trees on the left and right and behind the couple. It's about a 1/4 to 1/8 second shot to get the night sky a little brighter behind them but don't be fooled - it was pitch black dark under there.

I had to visit the garden on two nights (before the wedding) to get the effect I wanted. I went with only one flash at first and then decided I needed three so I went back the next week and that's when I knew what I needed to do. I was only going to be given FIVE minutes to get this shot with the couple as many times, that's all you are given when they want to be partying at their reception. ;o) They agree this was worth leaving for five minutes.

This might seem totally random, since I've only posted in here a couple times, but like April I was a winter bride :)

Our photogs had us leave the reception for about 10 minutes for evening shots - there was tons of fresh snow (it dumped all week) and there were small flakes flying.  They used off-camera lighting and we're super impressed with the results!  People who see those evening shots always comment that they look like they're from a magazine or something.  The shots of DH smoking cigars with the guys are pretty cool, too.

Mel, in terms of getting them outside I'm hoping your bride is easy going.  On our day it was -25 ... freakin' cold!  And that doesn't include the wind chill.  I did whatever I had to do - sometimes I was not covered, and sometimes I put a wrap on.  Something nice that our photogs did was have a bag full of blankets - so in between shots we could warm up with them.  For example, while they took photos of DH and his BM my MOH and I were snuggled in a blanket together!  I don't think you can tell in these photos that it was FREEZING outside!

Hi Amanda!  Our concern is that it may be dark.  Not even evening light, but nightime nearly black dark!  I guess it depends on how long the ceremony is of course, but we will need to be prepared to shoot inside 100% of the day (if necessary).

What time was your wedding?

Weird time for me to make my first post in this group, but I guess I can only stalk for so long :-)

Unfortunately, I have no tips! Just another nighttime bride giving my $.02. It was not winter, but the dancing portion of our reception was outdoors after 9 PM. There was NO lighting out there, and I believe our photogs used off-camera lighting. And also some flash photography mixed in, too.

Here are two of my favorite shots from the evening.

Pitch black! LOL 

I absolutely love our black and white evening photos. You ladies are the experts, so you probably know how and why b&w works well. I just like looking at them! :-)

ETA: I have many others in my bio. Some of the lighting options worked better than others, so maybe you can tell more by looking at them?