Sicily

Baroque towns, Greek temples and Mount Etna above the sea — the Mediterranean’s largest island, with a long warm season.

Photographers When to marry here

Sicily is a world of its own: Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano, above the east coast; honey-coloured baroque towns in the south-east, rebuilt after an earthquake and listed by UNESCO together; Greek temples, Arab-Norman churches in Palermo, citrus groves, vineyards and islands all around.

Weddings mix the grand and the simple: a baroque church and a palazzo in town, a farmhouse in the country, a terrace over the sea in Taormina, a wine estate on Etna’s slopes.

A baroque church at the top of a long stairway in Modica

The old town of Cefalù above its beach at dusk

Sea stacks and an old watchtower at Scopello

Through the year

When to marry in Sicily

May, June, September and October are the island at its best: long warm days and a warm sea. July and August are hot, inland above all, and now and then the sirocco blows hot air from Africa for a day or two. The season runs late: November is still mild, though wetter.

January: Quieter
February: Quieter
March: Quieter
April: Good with planning
May: Best
June: Best
July: Good with planning
August: Good with planning
September: Best
October: Best
November: Good with planning
December: Quieter

SpringThe island at its greenest, with wild flowers everywhere and snow still on Etna’s summit.
SummerHot and almost rainless; the hills turn gold and the coast is lively until late at night. Plan the day around the heat.
AutumnThe sea still warm from summer and the harvest under way — late on Etna, often into October.

Places

Where couples marry here

The kinds of places — ask your photographer which ones they know well.

Baroque churches and palazzi
Golden stone, grand stairways and balconies — a church ceremony and a palazzo dinner in the old towns.
Terraces over the sea
Gardens and hotel terraces high above the Ionian, with Etna on the horizon.
Farmhouses and wine estates
Old country houses among olive and citrus trees, and vineyards on the volcano’s black soil.
Coves, islands and temples
Sea stacks and coves in the west, small islands offshore, and Greek ruins for portraits at golden hour.

Light

How the light falls

Southern light is strong and clear, and the baroque stone glows gold in the evening. The east coast faces the sunrise over the Ionian, with Etna behind; the west coast has the sunsets into the sea. Midsummer middays are hard — portraits belong to the first and last hours.

Travel

Getting there

Fly into Catania for the east and Etna, or Palermo for the west. The island is large — a few hours by car from one side to the other — so it is best to choose one side for the whole wedding.

Photographers