Reyva.

Reyva runs from 12 March – 7 April, the ninth of the nine nakaiy of Iruvai and the ninth 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 peaks and then, towards the end, the first clouds and occasional showers arrive ahead of the south-west monsoon. Fishermen read it as the turning of the year.

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.

Warm light with the first real clouds of the year, which often make for the most dramatic sunsets of the dry season, between 17:50 and 18:20. Days stay hot, so a shaded spot for guests before the ceremony matters. Late in Reyva a wet-weather option is worth holding. 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.