The Maldives in Furabadhuruva.

Furabadhuruva runs from 14 February – 26 February, the seventh of the nine nakaiy of Iruvai and the seventh of twenty-seven. The nakaiy are the traditional Maldivian almanac, about thirteen days each and named for the stars; fishermen still read the weather by them. Heat builds through the second half of February, rain is rare and the wind stays light. Traditionally these are the dry weeks when fresh water runs short on the islands.

Iruvai is the dry season: mostly clear days, a north-east wind and calm lagoons, and December to March is the busiest stretch on the resort islands. Planning is about heat and wind rather than rain: shade and water for guests, florals kept cool until the last hour, anything tall weighted against the breeze. Seaplanes fly in daylight only, so arrivals and set-up are scheduled around the light. We still hold a covered venue, rarely used in Iruvai; how we plan for rain explains what we hold.

Hot, clear and very bright at noon. Keep the ceremony to the last hour before sunset, which falls between 17:50 and 18:20, and give guests shade and water beforehand. Evenings are warm and still, so dinner on the sand runs late without fuss. At four degrees north the length of the day barely changes and the golden hour is short, 30 to 40 minutes rather than sixty. We time the ceremony to it, and Golden hour in the Maldives explains how.