Pick the setting, the month and the rain plan in one place: NOAA weather and sunset times for Los Angeles, 6 outdoor venue styles, park permit windows, tent costs, and venues we confirmed host weddings.
Illustrative
Aim for May, June, September and October. In Los Angeles those months average a 78°F high and about 0.6 rainy days each. California has 12 months that pass our comfort test, #1 of 50 among US states. For a peak-season Saturday, start talking to venues 12 to 18 months out.
Comfortable month = normal high between 65°F and 86°F and no more than 8 days with 0.10 inch of rain. That is our rule of thumb, applied to NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals for Los Angeles. The 12 to 18 month window is what venues commonly advise (Mayfair Farms, 2026). Venue budget is our estimate for an average California wedding (see the California cost breakdown); the US average wedding is $34,200 per The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study.
Outdoor guests spread out across lawns, docks and dance floors. Put one QR code on the tables and the welcome sign, and they add photos from the phone browser, no app and no account.
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Normal daily highs and rainy days for Los Angeles, with the best outdoor months marked.
Bars show the normal daily high in °F, with the normal low under each bar. The drop counts the average days per month with 0.10 inch of rain or more. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, station LOS ANGELES DWTN USC CAMPUS, CA US (USW00093134). Mountain and coastal venues can run cooler than Los Angeles.
Share of days with 0.10 inch of rain or more: NOAA rainy days divided by the days in the month. Outlined cells are the best months. August is the driest at 0%, February the wettest at 17%. Our math from the normals, not a forecast.
IllustrativeCoastal fog is common in late spring and early summer, so beach and bluff ceremonies need a plan for gray skies and cool air
IllustrativeInland wine regions and valleys can run hot in midsummer, which makes evening ceremonies more comfortable
IllustrativeWildfire smoke can affect air quality in late summer and fall, so ask every outdoor venue about an indoor fallback
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Sunset time on the 15th of each month in Los Angeles, with the hour before it shaded. Build the ceremony and portrait times around it.
Local clock time, daylight saving included, for the 15th of each month in 2027 at the NOAA station in Los Angeles. We computed the times with the NOAA solar calculator equations; a venue in a valley or behind a ridge loses the sun earlier.
IllustrativeThe stretch shortly before sunset (and after sunrise) when daylight is softer and warmer, per the Wikipedia overview. How long it lasts depends on latitude and season.
One wedding studio puts the warmest window at roughly 20 to 40 minutes in practice (Candid Studios), so plan portraits for the last half hour before sunset, not the whole hour.
IllustrativeOn May 15 the sun sets around 7:48 pm in Los Angeles. Ask your photographer to slot portraits between about 7:03 pm and sunset.
Official booking windows tell you the earliest a park or venue takes reservations. Real demand runs earlier: for a peak-season Saturday, venues commonly advise 12 to 18 months.
Venue window: Mayfair Farms (2026). Engagement length: The Knot Real Weddings 2024 Vendor Report. Permit rows come from the official pages in the permits table below; a dashed line means the page sets a deadline but no opening date. Forecast: weather.gov.
IllustrativeYosemite National Park opens bookings 12 months ahead and wants applications at least 22 days before the date. That is the earliest you can book, set by the office that runs the land.
IllustrativeSide by side: typical guest counts and the months each setting looks best, from vineyard / winery to national park.
IllustrativeWine regions from Napa and Sonoma to Temecula host ceremonies among the vines, with tasting rooms and ballrooms as indoor backups. In Temecula, Wilson Creek Winery lists wedding locations from Cabernet Hill to Merlot Mesa.
IllustrativeCoastal ceremonies range from city beaches to state park grounds. Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, a unit of California State Parks, offers a beach site and a cypress meadow for up to 110 guests each.
IllustrativePublic gardens in Southern California offer mature landscaping as a ceremony backdrop. At Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, the Rose Garden is the most popular wedding location.
IllustrativeSierra Nevada and redwood settings trade vineyard polish for granite, conifers and big views. Parks here often limit decor and receptions, so many couples pair a park ceremony with a private lodge reception.
IllustrativeRanch venues in the Central Coast and inland valleys offer open space, barns and room for large receptions. Ask each ranch about vendor rules, since policies differ.
IllustrativeYosemite requires a permit for weddings at any location, with a $150 fee and $50 per hour for an event monitor on larger outdoor groups. Ceremonies are not allowed around sequoia bases, and meadows and riparian areas must not be damaged.
Photos are illustrative, not of specific California venues. The guest bar runs from 0 to 400 guests. For indoor and all-season options, see all wedding venues in California.
February is the wettest month in Los Angeles. Every outdoor date needs a backup written into the contract.
Days with 0.10 inch of rain or more, NOAA 1991-2020 normals.
How wet Los Angeles gets, and a four-step backup plan to agree with your venue.
Get the rain plan into the venue contract: a covered space, an indoor room or a tent, plus the hour you have to decide by.
Size the backup to the month. May in Los Angeles averages a 74°F high, a 58°F low and about 0.7 rainy days, so book sides, fans or heaters to match.
Follow the National Weather Service forecast for the venue's town every day and agree who makes the call: you, the planner or the venue manager. weather.gov
Make the call at the agreed hour, text guests where the ceremony is, and move the QR photo signs to wherever the party ends up.
IllustrativeFirst dance
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The lawn, the dock, the trail: the best shots stay on guests' phones. With Pix Wedding they scan one QR code and upload to your album, no app download.
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Ballpark rental prices by tent size, from one 2026 cost guide. Local quotes vary, so treat these as a starting point.
All-in assumes the tent plus standard flooring, sidewalls, basic lighting and a generator. Bar height follows the top of each all-in range. Source: Paperlust, How Much Does a Wedding Tent Cost? (July 2026), which says it draws on Zola, WeddingWire and national rental companies. The same guide says moving from a peak June Saturday to an October Thursday can save 20 to 40 percent on the same tent.
These are examples from three counties, not California rules. Ask your venue or the local fire marshal what applies at your site.
Settings like the ones you find in California, plus the moments guests catch on their phones. Landscape photos are illustrative, not specific venues.
Public land usually needs a permit or a reservation. Here is what the official pages say.
Rules depend on the managing agency. Yosemite requires a permit for weddings at any location, with a $150 nonrefundable permit cost and requests accepted up to one year ahead and more than 21 days before the date. California State Parks says fees and requirements vary from location to location, so each park or beach unit is booked on its own terms. City and county beaches and private venues set their own rules.
IllustrativeCheck the permit before you print the invitations| Place | What the official page says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Yosemite National ParkOpens 12 mo ahead22+ days before$150 | A permit is required for weddings at any location. The permit cost is $150 and nonrefundable, with $50 per hour for an event monitor for outdoor groups of roughly 30 to 50 or more. Requests are accepted up to one year ahead and must come in more than 21 days before the date. Events are limited to two hours, and balloons, arches and decorations are not allowed. | National Park Service, Yosemite National Park Checked 2026 |
| California State ParksOpens 6 mo ahead | Fees and requirements vary from location to location, so contact the individual park. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, for example, takes reservations up to 6 months in advance. For weddings at Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds, the page points couples to visitasilomar.com. | California State Parks, Weddings and special events Checked 2026 |
Fees and rules change. Confirm with the office on the source page before you put down a deposit.
Each one links to the page where we confirmed it hosts weddings (checked October 2026). Ask for current prices, most do not publish them.
Illustrative settingA unit of California State Parks. Asilomar Beach and Grand Cypress Meadow each hold up to 110 guests, and the Grace Dodge Chapel, designed by Julia Morgan, holds up to 100.
Wedding pageIllustrative settingThe garden names the Rose Garden as its most popular wedding location, followed by the Boddy House, and Flora Events is the on-site caterer.
Wedding pageIllustrative settingWedding locations include Cabernet Hill for ceremonies of up to 100 guests, Merlot Mesa for up to 250 and Vineyard Row for up to 80, and the Champagne Ballroom covers 5,100 square feet.
Wedding pageLawn games, the dock, the sunset walk: guests scan your QR code and upload from the phone browser, no app and no account.
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Comfortable outdoor months per year across the US, from the same NOAA normals and the same rule. Tap a state to open its guide.
Tile map, not to scale: each tile is one state with its number of comfortable months. Alaska and Hawaii sit bottom left.
Each state uses one NOAA station: California (Los Angeles), Arizona (Phoenix), Oregon (Portland), Nevada (Las Vegas).
What makes the setting different, and what to sort out early.
IllustrativeCalifornia is several wedding markets in one state. Monterey Peninsula couples can marry on a state park beach at Asilomar, which also rents rooms like the Seascape Dining Room, Los Angeles couples lean on public gardens like Descanso, and Temecula wineries such as Wilson Creek offer several outdoor wedding locations on one property. Public land rules differ by agency: Yosemite requires a permit for any wedding and does not allow arches or decorations, while California State Parks sets fees and requirements park by park.
Yosemite requires a permit for weddings at any location in the park. The permit cost is $150 and nonrefundable, outdoor groups of roughly 30 to 50 or more also pay $50 per hour for an event monitor, and ceremonies are not allowed around the bases of sequoias.
National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, 2026IllustrativePick the region first, since a Monterey Peninsula beach, a Los Angeles garden and a Temecula vineyard need very different weather plans
For Yosemite, submit your request more than 21 days ahead and up to one year out, and skip arches and decorations since the park does not allow them
Ask coastal venues when fog usually lifts in your month before you set a ceremony time
At Asilomar, compare the beach and Grand Cypress Meadow ceremony sites against indoor rooms that hold from 32 to 100 guests
Book wine country weekends early, and ask whether weekday dates carry a different rate if your date is flexible
A bride looks back on planning her outdoor wedding. Watch it next to the California weather and permit notes above.
LIZ DINEEN on YouTubeWeather, booking lead times, rain plans and permits: what couples ask before booking an outdoor venue in California.
May, June, September and October are the best months for an outdoor wedding in California. NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Los Angeles show highs of 74°F to 83°F in those months, with about 0.2 to 1.1 days a month that get 0.10 inch of rain or more. August is the driest month there.
Plan on 12 to 18 months for a Saturday in peak season. That is the window venues commonly advise (Mayfair Farms, 2026), and the average engagement runs about 15 months according to The Knot's 2024 vendor report. For public land, Yosemite National Park takes bookings up to 12 months ahead ($150). An official opening date is the earliest you can book, not a promise that your date is still free.
In Los Angeles, February is the wettest month with about 4.7 rainy days, and August the driest with about 0 (NOAA normals). Write the backup into the venue contract (a covered space, an indoor room or a tent), agree on a time to make the call, and follow the National Weather Service forecast in the last week. One 2026 cost guide puts a tent for up to 50 guests at $1,500 to $3,500 all-in.
Rules depend on the managing agency. Yosemite requires a permit for weddings at any location, with a $150 nonrefundable permit cost and requests accepted up to one year ahead and more than 21 days before the date. California State Parks says fees and requirements vary from location to location, so each park or beach unit is booked on its own terms. City and county beaches and private venues set their own rules.
Yes. Yosemite requires a permit for weddings at any location in the park, with a $150 nonrefundable fee. Requests are accepted up to one year ahead and must be submitted more than 21 days before the date, according to the National Park Service.
Asilomar lists Asilomar Beach and Grand Cypress Meadow at up to 110 guests each, and the Grace Dodge Chapel at up to 100.
