A summer daytime wedding in Puglia: heat is the only real problem, and how to solve it

At three in the afternoon in July, the problem is not rain

Couples who marry in Puglia in summer worry about rain. But a July storm is rare and soon passes; the heat of the middle of the day is there almost every time. At a daytime summer wedding it is the only real problem, and it brings two: how your guests get through the day, out of doors for hours, and logistics, because flowers, cake, wine and instruments suffer in the heat too. Guests flying in from cooler countries feel it more than locals, and they have not had a week to get used to it.

The masseria is inland, on the Murgia plateau of northern Puglia, at about 340 metres, away from the coast. The ceremony takes place wherever you choose: what decides how everyone will feel is the hour.

Move everything towards the evening: the times month by month

The simplest answer is to start the ceremony once the sun has lost its strength, about two hours before sunset. On 15 July the sun sets in Andria at 20:27: a ceremony at 18:30 takes place with the sun low, and the aperitivo, the Italian pre-dinner drinks, arrives as the air lightens. A rough guide, on the 15th of the month, Italian local time:

• May: sunset at 20:05, ceremony around 18:00
• June: sunset at 20:29, ceremony around 18:30
• July: sunset at 20:27, ceremony around 18:30
• August: sunset at 19:56, ceremony around 18:00
• September: sunset at 19:06, ceremony around 17:00

If you really want a lunch, keep guests indoors or in full shade through the middle of the day, and move outdoors only what can wait. The table for every month is in sunset times for wedding photos; choosing the season itself is in the best time to get married in Puglia.

Guests: water, shade, little waiting

Guests stay seated for twenty or thirty minutes and on their feet much longer. The sun should never be in their eyes: turn the chairs so they have it to one side or behind them, with the couple in a patch of shade. With the sun low, shadows stretch towards the east, so a row of trees to the west of the chairs shades the whole ceremony. Olive trees give a dappled shade that lets the air through: check it at the hour you will marry, and ask to see it on your visit.

• Water on arrival, cool and already poured, where people wait.
• Fans or straw hats on the chairs: a fan can double as the order of service.
• A ceremony under half an hour: a civil ceremony usually lasts 20 to 30 minutes; keep readings short, two at most.
• No waiting in the sun: guests sit down when the ceremony is about to begin, and between one moment and the next there is always somewhere shady to go. Vito explains how in wedding day flow.
• Elderly guests in the best shade, close to the aisle; small children with a parent at the back or on the side.
• Shoes and clothes: thin heels sink into grass and earth; how to say it on the invitation is in dress code for the Italian countryside.

Logistics: what else suffers in the heat

Heat does not only weigh on people. Here is what needs protecting, and how it is usually done:

• Flowers: arranged in the cool hours, kept in water and in the shade until the last moment. Flowers in season hold up better, one more reason why flowers and styling here follow the season.
• Cake and desserts: out of the fridge as little as possible, on display only for the cutting, never in the sun.
• Wine and sparkling wine: kept cool until served, in ice buckets when outdoors.
• Musicians and instruments: in the shade, with a chair and water for them too; string instruments suffer in direct sun.
• Candles and light fabrics: for the evening in the hills, which is often breezy, candles inside glass and veils tied down.

The evening in the hills, and the plan B

Up on the Murgia, after sunset the air changes: it usually turns drier, and a breeze often picks up. That is why a summer party here gives its best in the evening. Someone who was hot at the six o'clock ceremony may want a shawl at dinner.

Heat, like rain, has its plan B: here every moment of the day has one, and if needed the party moves, it does not stop. Vito explains how the rest of the day works in our masseria wedding venue near Bari.

My logistical advice: once you have a date, write down the sunset time and the ceremony time and send them together to your photographer, your musicians and whoever does the styling. If you do not have a date yet, tell us the month you have in mind: we will tell you at what time the sun leaves the front row in peace.

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