Where to get married in Cyprus: coast, village, vineyard or mountain

Paphos is where most couples from abroad marry: a harbour with a medieval fort, sunsets straight over the sea, and the town's own range of ceremony places, from the municipal gallery to beaches, hotels and boats. Along the coast to the east is Petra tou Romiou, Aphrodite's Rock, where the goddess is said to have risen from the sea; inland are hill villages with views down to the water. Paphos airport is twenty minutes away.

North of Paphos, the coast around Latchi and the Akamas peninsula is the island at its quietest: a fishing harbour, clear water and a wild headland kept largely free of building. It suits a small wedding, an elopement or a weekend for a few close friends, under an hour from Paphos.

Limassol is the island's liveliest city: a long seafront, a marina, an old town and the large hotels. West of it, the ancient theatre at Kourion stands on a cliff over the sea, a famous place for photographs; a professional shoot at an ancient site needs the Department of Antiquities' permission, so ask first. Behind the city, the wine villages are under an hour away.

Larnaca is the easiest place for guests: the main airport is ten minutes from the palm-lined seafront. It has a calm, old-fashioned charm, the salt lake where flamingos winter, and a town hall used to marrying couples from abroad.

The east has the island's sandiest beaches and the turquoise water of the postcards, with the sea caves and cliffs of Cape Greco between the two resorts. The Ayia Napa municipality marries couples at its town hall, on beaches such as Agia Thekla and Kambouri, and at the chapel of Agioi Anargyroi above the sea near the cape.

In the mountains and their foothills, villages such as Omodos, Kakopetria, Platres and Lofou have stone houses, cobbled squares, old churches and wineries. A summer evening there is cooler than on the coast by several degrees, which makes them a real answer to an August wedding. They are an hour or less from Limassol, and the roads are slow: plan the transport.

Halfway between Larnaca and Limassol, Lefkara is the village of Cypriot lace, lefkaritika, and of silverwork: honey-coloured houses, narrow lanes and a church in the square. It suits a village wedding within an hour of both coasts, and a lace detail in the dress or on the invitation.

The capital is inland, with Venetian walls round its old town, and it is hot in summer. Couples marry there when their families live there; it has the large halls for big Cypriot weddings, and is about forty-five minutes from Larnaca airport.

• Where your guests fly from: Larnaca has the most flights, and Paphos is close to two hours' drive from it.
• The month: on the coast in May, June, September and October; in July and August look at the mountains, or an evening by the sea.
• The size: a beach or a chapel for a small wedding, a hotel, an estate or a hall for a few hundred.
• Where everyone sleeps: a village wedding with guests staying on the coast needs transport both ways.