You can hold the nikah and walima on the same day, and many UK couples do: the nikah in the late morning or early afternoon, a rest and an outfit change, then the walima in the evening. It works when the day is built around your mosque’s prayer times, with a real gap between the two events.
Below: summer and winter timelines, prayer times, segregated or mixed rooms, the rukhsati, photo and film coverage, and civil registration. It is part of our guide to planning multi-day Asian weddings. This is practical advice, not religious guidance: on questions of faith, your imam and your family’s scholars have the final word.
The short answer: a same-day nikah and walima usually runs from the bride’s preparations at around 08:30 to a finish at 21:30 or 22:00. Hold the nikah around midday, leave about three hours for rest, travel and the outfit change, and start the walima at about 16:30 in winter or 17:00 in summer. Check every time against your mosque’s prayer timetable.
Can you have the nikah and walima on the same day?
Yes. Traditionally the walima is the groom’s family’s reception and often follows a day or more after the nikah, but a same-day walima saves a second venue and a second journey for guests. The trade-off is a long day: 13 hours or more for the bride.
Scholars differ on when the walima should be held, for example whether it should follow the couple’s first night together. If that matters to your family, ask your imam before you book the venue.
A same-day nikah and walima timeline: summer
A Saturday in mid-July, with the walima at a hall 30 minutes from the nikah. Your mosque sets the nikah time, so treat these as a shape, not a rule.
| Time | What happens | Photo and film |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Bride’s hair and make-up, in a women-only room if needed | |
| 10:00 | Groom’s side getting ready | Photographer with the bride (a woman, if you ask), filmmaker with the groom |
| 11:15 | Both sides leave for the nikah | |
| 12:00 | Nikah, timed with the mosque around Zuhr | No flash; microphone near the imam if allowed |
| 13:00 | Close family photographs, then couple portraits | 20 to 30 minutes of portraits |
| 14:00 | Lunch, rest, travel; bride’s outfit change | Crew sets up at the walima venue |
| 17:00 | Walima guests arrive | |
| 18:00 | Couple’s entrance, then stage photographs with each family | Often an hour or more |
| 19:30 | Food, speeches, duas | Clean audio of every speech |
| 20:20 | Ten minutes outside for golden-hour portraits | |
| 21:10 | Maghrib, around sunset | Cameras down |
| 21:30 | Rukhsati, where families include it | Both crews together |
| 22:00 | Finish |
In mid-July, London’s sunset is around 21:10, according to sunrise-sunset.org, and golden hour starts around 20:20: a short window for portraits before Maghrib.
A same-day nikah and walima timeline: winter
A Saturday in mid-December: shorter light and closer prayers move everything earlier.
| Time | What happens | Photo and film |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Bride’s hair and make-up | Sunrise is around 08:00, so lamps are needed |
| 09:30 | Groom’s side getting ready | Photographer with the bride, filmmaker with the groom |
| 11:30 | Nikah, timed with the mosque | No flash; agreed positions |
| 12:15 | Family photographs, then couple portraits outside while the light lasts | 20 to 30 minutes of portraits |
| 13:30 | Lunch, rest, travel; outfit change | Crew to the walima venue |
| 15:50 | Maghrib, around sunset | Crew finishing set-up |
| 16:30 | Walima guests arrive | |
| 17:30 | Couple’s entrance, then stage photographs | |
| 19:00 | Food, speeches, duas | |
| 20:30 | Rukhsati, where families include it | |
| 21:30 | Finish |
Mid-December has London’s earliest sunsets, so plan every outdoor photograph for around midday. Our guide to winter wedding photography in the UK explains how we light portraits indoors.
How do prayer times shape the day?
Get your own mosque’s prayer timetable for your date before you set any times: timetables change through the year and differ between mosques.
- Maghrib is at sunset: around 15:50 in mid-December and around 21:20 in late June in London. In summer it falls during the walima; in winter, before it starts.
- Zuhr falls after midday, so a late-morning or early-afternoon nikah is timed with it. Your mosque will tell you whether before or after.
- In winter, Zuhr, Asr and Maghrib come close together and Isha follows early in the evening. Ask your walima venue for a quiet room set aside for prayer.
Give your photographer the prayer times too. We put the cameras down during prayers.
Segregated or mixed: planning the rooms
Some nikahs and walimas are fully mixed, others separate men and women, and many sit in between. The plan follows your family’s practice.
| Layout | What it means for photo and film |
|---|---|
| Fully mixed | One team can see everything |
| One hall, separate sides | The team works both sides, by agreement |
| Separate rooms or halls | A photographer or filmmaker in each room |
| Women-only part of the evening | A female photographer, or no camera at all |
If any spaces are women-only, ask whether your studio can provide a female photographer or filmmaker for your date, and for which parts. Our page on Muslim and nikah weddings explains how we approach this. At some nikahs the bride is in a separate room for the offer and acceptance, so the moment happens in two places at once: tell us, so one of us is with you and one with the imam. Our guide to nikah photography etiquette covers mosque rules, privacy and the mahr.
Where does the rukhsati fit?
The rukhsati is the bride’s farewell to her family. In many South Asian families it follows the bride’s family’s own reception, with the walima a day or more later. On a single day, families place it differently:
- At the end of the walima, as in the timelines above.
- Straight after the nikah, before the bride travels to the walima.
- Not at all: Arab, Turkish, North African and many other families celebrate differently.
Ask the elders on both sides early. Wherever it falls, it needs both crews: one with the bride, one on her family.
How much photo and film coverage do you need?
| Part of the day | Coverage that works | Crew for 300 guests or more |
|---|---|---|
| Preparations, nikah and portraits | 3 to 4 hours | 1 photographer and 1 filmmaker, or one per side |
| Walima | 4 to 5 hours | 2 photographers and 2 filmmakers |
Each event is priced on its own. At 300 guests or more, stage photographs can take over an hour, so send us your family photo list grouped by household.
Most couples choose a three to five minute highlight film across both events, the nikah in full, and the walima speeches uncut, recorded as our guide to filming wedding speeches explains.
Tell us which moments and guests must stay private: under section 85 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, commissioned wedding photos and film can’t be shown publicly without your permission. An unplugged nikah keeps guests’ phones away too.
Do you need a civil ceremony as well?
Usually, yes. A nikah held outside a building registered for marriages, without civil formalities, is not normally a legal marriage in England and Wales, as the Court of Appeal confirmed in HM Attorney General v Akhter and Khan (2020), reported by the National Secular Society. Couples usually choose one of two routes:
- A civil ceremony on another day, often a short register office appointment beforehand.
- A nikah at a mosque registered for marriages, with an authorised person or a registrar present. Ask your imam whether yours is registered.
Either way, you give notice at least 29 days before, and a civil ceremony cannot include religious content, according to GOV.UK. Our guide to the legal routes to marriage covers each step; check the details with your register office.
From behind the camera
The part of a same-day nikah and walima that goes wrong is rarely an event. It is the gap. The bride needs to eat, rest and change, and we need to travel, set up lighting and connect microphones before the first guests arrive. In our experience, less than three hours between the end of the nikah portraits and the walima start feels rushed for everyone.
I also ask every couple for their mosque’s prayer timetable for the day. It goes on our run sheet next to every other time, so nobody is setting up a stage photograph as the adhan begins.
Frequently asked questions
Can the nikah and walima be on the same day?
Yes, and many UK couples hold them on one day: the nikah in the late morning or early afternoon, then the walima in the evening. It saves a second venue and a second journey for guests. Scholars differ on when the walima should be held, so if this matters to your family, ask your imam before you fix the date.
How long is a walima?
Most walimas we photograph run four to five hours, from guests arriving to the last family groups on the stage. Food, the couple’s entrance, speeches or duas and photographs with each household take most of that time. At 300 guests or more, photographs on the stage alone can take over an hour, so plan them in.
Do we need a civil ceremony as well as a nikah?
Usually, yes. In England and Wales a nikah held outside a building registered for marriages, without notice and a registrar or authorised person, is not normally a legal marriage. Couples either add a civil ceremony, often at the register office on another day, or hold the nikah at a mosque registered for marriages. Ask your imam and your register office.
Keep reading
- Nikah photography: etiquette, privacy and planning the day: mosque rules, female photographers and the mahr.
- Getting married legally in England and Wales: notice, fees and the civil ceremony, step by step.
- The Asian bride’s getting-ready checklist: timings for hair, make-up, the dupatta and the outfit change.
Planning a nikah and walima? Tell us both events and your family’s wishes, and we will price them together, or see how we cover Asian weddings across every event.
