The honest answer is that yes, like anywhere tropical and green, Seychelles has mosquitoes, and we would rather give you the full, truthful picture than a breezy reassurance. The good news is real, the islands are malaria-free, so no tablets and none of that worry. The straight fact worth knowing is that the mosquito which lives here, the Aedes, can carry dengue, chikungunya and Zika, and it bites by day, so a little sensible protection is wise. The happy part for a wedding is that an open beach with a sea breeze at golden hour is one of the worst places on the island for a mosquito to be, which is exactly where we put you.
Why the beach is on your side
Mosquitoes are weak fliers and dislike wind, so the same sea breeze that keeps you cool on the sand also keeps them away. They favour still, shaded, vegetated, damp spots, the opposite of an open, breezy beach in the late-afternoon light where we hold most ceremonies. The Aedes mosquito that carries the tropical viruses bites through the day rather than only at dusk, so repellent is worth having for a garden or a walk inland, but the setting we choose for your ceremony and photographs happens to be the one they least like.
The honest health picture
Here is the straight version. Seychelles is malaria-free, so a wedding here needs no anti-malarial tablets, which is a genuine relief and unusual for the tropics. What the islands do have, like the whole Indian Ocean region, is the Aedes mosquito, which can carry dengue, chikungunya and Zika, and there are periodic outbreaks. None of this should stop a wedding and most visitors are never affected, but we would rather you knew than not. Pack a good repellent with DEET, and if you want the current picture before you travel, the CDC and the UK NaTHNaC travel-health pages keep an up-to-date note on Seychelles.
The simple things that keep them off the day
A little planning is all it takes. Pack a good DEET repellent and apply it before any evening or garden event, wear light cover for ankles and arms away from the beach, and let us place and time your ceremony for the breezy golden hour rather than a still, shaded spot. Many hotels also screen and treat their grounds and offer air-conditioned rooms, which mosquitoes avoid. Between the setting we choose and a dab of repellent, they are almost never a story couples tell about their wedding day.