Elopement photographer in Valencia

Valencia forces a choice that other cities do not. The natural setting is La Albufera, twenty minutes south of the city, where the sun goes down across a freshwater lagoon with nothing on the horizon. The natural meal, in the restaurants of El Palmar on its shore, is paella, which Valencians traditionally eat at lunchtime and not in the evening. Four hours will not stretch across both. You can marry late in the morning and spend the afternoon at the table, in the cooler months, or marry in the last forty minutes before sunset and eat something that is not paella. Neither is a compromise, but they are different days, and it is worth deciding which before anything else is booked. From November to April the flooded paddies add a mirror to either version.

When to book in Valencia

The choice between a lunchtime paella and a sunset ceremony, described above, decides the hour. For the season, the cooler months are best: from November to April the paddies are flooded and reflect the sky, and the weather is mild. Spring is the most comfortable of all, with long evenings in April and May. Summer works only at the ends of the day, and the Albufera at dusk has mosquitoes from June to September. Avoid the Fallas week in March, when the city centre is closed and the noise reaches every corner. A weekday is quieter everywhere, at El Palmar included.