Venice & the Veneto

Canals, palaces and light off the water — and beyond the lagoon, the Prosecco hills, Palladian villas and Verona.

Venice and its lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are a city without cars: you arrive by boat, cross small bridges to the ceremony and leave by gondola or water taxi. Palaces on the Grand Canal, quiet squares and the coloured houses of the islands make every walk a portrait.

The Veneto around it is greener and roomier: the Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, another UNESCO landscape, Palladio’s villas on the plain, Verona, and the eastern shore of Lake Garda. Some couples marry in Venice and celebrate in a villa on the mainland.

A couple reading their vows on a bridge over a Venetian canal

A bride and groom in a gondola on a Venetian canal

A photographer kneeling to photograph a bride and groom in a Venetian lane

Through the year

When to marry in Venice & the Veneto

May, June, September and October are mild, with long days and the lagoon at its prettiest. July and August are hot, humid and crowded. From November to January fog and high tides are part of the city — beautiful in photographs, harder for guests — and Carnival, usually in February, fills Venice.

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: Quieter
December: Quieter

SpringMild days, wisteria in hidden courtyards and the lagoon fresh after winter. Easter and spring weekends are already busy.
SummerHot and humid, with the city at its busiest. In mid-July the Redentore night fills the lagoon with boats and fireworks.
Autumn and winterThe harvest in the Prosecco hills in September, then mist on the lagoon. From late autumn, high tides — the acqua alta — can flood the lowest squares for a few hours.

Places

Where couples marry here

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

Palaces on the canals
Old palazzi with water doors and painted halls, for a ceremony and dinner with the Grand Canal outside.
Small squares and churches
A campo with a well and a church, away from the crowds — and lanes and bridges for portraits.
The islands of the lagoon
Coloured fishermen’s houses, gardens and quiet churches a boat ride from the city.
Villas in the Veneto
Palladian villas and wine estates in the Prosecco hills, with room for a big party.

Light

How the light falls

Water is everywhere, so light comes from below as well as above: soft and bright even in narrow lanes. Sunsets across the lagoon put domes and bell towers in silhouette, and on winter mornings fog turns the city into soft grey layers. For empty bridges and squares, photographers start at dawn.

Travel

Getting there

Fly into Venice Marco Polo, then cross the lagoon by water bus or water taxi; the airports of Treviso and Verona are close too. Inside the city everything moves by boat or on foot — plan luggage and the guests’ transfers by water.

Photographers