The Absolute Best Time Of Year For Your Beach Wedding

For many, a destination beach wedding is the dream. However, with all the logistics to handle, including picking the perfect date, planning can quickly become a nightmare. Before you choose the anniversary of the day you met or the day that your mom's best friend Sharon says it's easiest for her to get off work, take a look at the weather. The best time of year for a beach wedding depends entirely on your destination, but you'll probably want to choose peak season for wherever you go.

Whether you prefer a relaxing Mexican beach destination or beaches where the sand color is the main attraction, like the startling black sands of Maui, every travel destination has a peak season and an off-season. While you might usually prefer to travel in the off-season to save money and avoid crowds, if you and all your family and friends are going to wear the most expensive clothes you've ever owned right next to the ocean, you should probably prioritize a time when the sun will shine on your perfect beach wedding.

"It was a total enchanted experience ... A dreamy and euphoric beach wedding a couple could wish for," one Tripadvisor user wrote about their experience getting married at the Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay in February 2024. "We are lost for words to say how grateful we are as we are immensely overwhelmed by how our 7-month wedding preparation carried us to our magical day in paradise."

You can't go wrong with the Philippines if you're looking for gorgeous blue water and warm white beaches. Before you book a resort on Boracay Island or an Airbnb rental where you can have almost an entire island to yourself, you should ensure the weather will be as beautiful as the rest of the ceremony. There are no guarantees when it comes to nature, but your best chance will fall between November and April.

While your instinct might be to choose the hottest time of year for a day out on the beach, temperatures have been recorded soaring up over 100°F. Unless you and your beloved are real sun bunnies, you might want to travel in November, December, January, or February. If you choose the Philippines specifically to bask in the heat, go for March or April. By selecting peak season, you skip the wet and typhoon seasons altogether.

"Could not be more beautfuil," One user on Cruise Critic who got married on a Bahamas beach in December reported: "We literally did not see another sole on this beautfiul beach. It is like you have your own bahamas beach for your wedding. No joke. So pretty, palm trees blowing in the wind, no people anywhere ... like a postcard." Unless you book a private beach like this satisfied bride, even on an underrated island in the Bahamas with secluded beaches, peak season is going to be busy — but the gorgeous deep blue water and white sand beaches make planning ahead worth it.

The Bahamas have beautiful, balmy weather most of the year, but the absolute best, least rainy, and most likely to be hurricane-free times to visit are the end of December, January, February, March, and the beginning of April. If peak season in the Bahamas is outside your budget, the rainy season spans May to October. While it might mean that you don't have pristine, cloudless blue skies and have to contend with quick showers during your event, you probably won't have to worry about the serious storms some other island beaches have.

"Okinawa Marriott will forever have a special place in my heart. It is the place where I got engaged and the place where I had the BEST wedding ever!" One Canadian bride enthused about her October wedding on Tripadvisor. "Floor to ceiling windows facing the ocean ... It was like I was in heaven!"

Japan might be home to remote mountain towns where you can relax in steamy hot springs, but if you catch a flight to Okinawa, you can also dip your toes in the ocean surrounded by lush forest and walk on white sand beaches for your wedding. In general, you want to plan your wedding for peak months so that you can enjoy the best weather, but things are a little different on Okinawa. If you hope to swim during your stay, you'll want to splurge and go in July, August, or September, when the weather is warm and beautiful — however, those peak months are also part of Okinawa's typhoon season.

You might still manage to have an incredibly romantic wedding when the island is on lockdown because of a major tropical storm, as one mother-of-the-bride showed on her YouTube channel, Heart of Japan. However, if you don't want to risk having to reschedule, you might want to consider October-March. Since it's a little chilly for swimming on Okinawa during this period, there will also be far fewer crowds to contend with.

"We decided to elope and chose one of the most romantic places on earth to have the ceremony ... We had a legal wedding in the morning at the town hall ... and then a regular ceremony in the afternoon on the beach," one New Yorker who had their September destination wedding at St. Regis Bora Bora wrote on Tripadvisor. "We can't wait to return for our anniversary!"

French Polynesia's Bora Bora has one of the longest peak seasons, so you have many options for selecting your ideal wedding date. Any time between May and October should provide you with a warm and sunny beach day without too much risk of rain wrecking the big moment. It can be challenging to book your destination wedding on a budget, no matter where you choose to go. Still, Bora Bora is undoubtedly a particularly pricey choice at the height of tourist season. Couples may want to skip June and July to avoid blowing their budgets since they are the most popular. If you arrive at the beginning of May, however, you might get a chance to enjoy some of Bora Bora before the crowds, or if you wait until September or October, most of the tourists may have already left.

While you might think of islands first when choosing a destination for your beach ceremony, a Moroccan wedding in a romantic destination like Casablanca might be the perfect fit. If tall, towering palms, rocky beaches, and a view of the horizon over the waves sounds like a dream come true, you will want to head to Morocco in April, May, June, July, or September. After May, the weather will get much hotter, and you probably wouldn't want to travel through some Moroccan cities (since temps can reach a sweltering 100°F in some areas). Fortunately, the coast stays around 20 degrees cooler, so there is more flexibility in choosing your perfect date.

One Tripadvisor reviewer who stayed at the La Sultana Oualidia hotel after their July wedding stated, "We would love to go back, and would highly recommend it to anyone seeking calm, harmony with nature, nice and well-balanced food, altogether with a swimming pool offering a breathtaking view."