Île-de-France, France
ParisWedding photography
The proposal capital of the world, and a city built entirely from one kind of stone.
We photograph proposals, elopements and weddings in Paris — dawn on the Trocadéro before anyone is on it, hôtels particuliers behind courtyard gates, and châteaux within an hour of the city. Proposals from $1,800, elopements from $6,500, weddings from $14,000.
More proposals happen here than anywhere on earth, and the difficulty is not finding a beautiful place. It is finding one that will be quiet at the hour you need it, which is a question about the date and the sun rather than about taste.
Paris was rebuilt in the nineteenth century in a single material, to a single height, with a single roofline — which is why it photographs as a coherent thing in a way no other capital does. Everything is the same warm limestone. Everything reflects the same colour back into the shadows. You can photograph in almost any street in the centre and the pictures will belong together.
More proposals happen here than anywhere else in the world, and we treat that as a craft rather than a cliché. The work is in the preparation: a position chosen for where the sun actually is at that hour on that date, a long lens, a direction of approach agreed in advance, and forty minutes of standing in place before anything happens. Nobody is introduced. Nothing is repeated.
For weddings the city is a different proposition. Paris is a place people elope to and propose in far more than it is a place people move a hundred guests to, and the commissions we take here reflect that: small, short, and built around the two of you in the streets rather than a room full of tables.
The light
When to marry in Paris.
The part a visitor cannot look up, and the reason this page exists rather than a list of packages.
April to June
Chestnut blossom, long bright evenings and changeable weather. The loveliest the city gets.
July to August
Hot, and half the city is away. Quieter streets, harder light, and very long days.
September to November
The photographer’s season. Soft grey days that suit the stone, low gold light on the facades, and the river fogging in the early morning.
The venues
Where to be married in Paris.
The rooms this market is built on, and what each one does to a photograph. Listed as places rather than as partnerships — we have no preferred-supplier arrangement with any of them.
Trocadéro at first light
Public terraces, 16th arrondissement
The tower view everyone wants, and by half past eight there are several hundred people on it. Everything that looks effortless in the photographs you have seen happened before the city woke up.
Shangri-La Paris
Former princely residence, 16th
Salons with tall windows facing the tower. Gilding and mirrors throw light around a room in a way that suits available light and defeats a flash.
Pavillon Vendôme
Orangery, Parc de Bagatelle
A glasshouse inside a walled park on the edge of the city — daylight indoors, which almost nothing in central Paris offers at this size.
Château de Villette
Seventeenth-century château, 45 minutes north
Formal gardens on an axis, with room for a full guest list. Far enough out that the light is country light rather than city light.
Pont Alexandre III
Public bridge, 7th/8th
Lamps and gilded figures, and a wedding party on it most afternoons. Worth doing at dawn, when it is yours and the river is still.
The kind of place
- Hôtels particuliers — private mansions behind courtyard gates
- Grand hotel salons with mirrors, gilding and enormous windows
- The bridges, quays and gardens, which are public and free and where most of the portraits happen
- Châteaux within an hour of the city, for a wedding with guests
What a Paris wedding plans around
- The classic locations are public and busy from mid-morning. Anything at the Trocadéro, on the Pont Alexandre III or in front of the tower is photographed at dawn or not at all.
- Commercial or tripod-based photography on public land is regulated differently from handheld personal photography. We work handheld here.
- A civil marriage in France requires residency in the commune, which is why most international couples marry at home and hold a ceremony here.
- August is genuinely quiet in the city; many of the best small venues and restaurants are closed for the month.
Frames
From Paris.
The commission
Photographing a wedding in Paris.
A Paris proposal is one photographer for ninety minutes, from $1,800. We are in position forty minutes early, at distance, with a long lens, having agreed which direction you will arrive from and roughly where you will stop. Nobody is introduced and nothing is repeated; afterwards we come and say hello and make twenty minutes of portraits.
An elopement is one photographer for three to six hours, from $6,500, planned around the light and a route that does not spend the morning in traffic. A wedding with guests starts at $14,000 for two photographers and a full day, and where it is at a château outside the city we treat the drive as part of the schedule rather than a gap in it.
Preview within a week, full set within four weeks for a session and eight for a wedding. Full-resolution files, a private archive, a print release that does not expire, and nothing published without your written consent.
- Wedding, from
- $14,000
- Photographers
- Two
- Preview
- 7 days
- Full delivery
- 8 weeks
Wedding photography commissions in Paris
Every commission on this site is available in Paris. See all seven.
Paris wedding photography — questions
How much is a proposal photographer in Paris?
From $1,800 for ninety minutes: location and timing planned against the light, discreet coverage of the proposal itself from a distance, and a short portrait session immediately afterwards. Forty to sixty edited frames within a week.
How early is early enough at the Eiffel Tower?
First light, and that is not an exaggeration. By half past eight the Trocadéro terraces have hundreds of people on them. Every session people love from this city happened before the city was awake.
Can you photograph a proposal without them knowing?
That is the entire method. We are in place forty minutes ahead, at distance, with a long lens and an agreed direction of approach. The nine seconds that matter are photographed from across a square by someone who was already standing there.
Can we legally marry in Paris?
A French civil marriage requires residency in the commune, so most international couples marry legally at home and hold the ceremony here. Your planner will confirm what your situation allows; it changes the paperwork rather than the photographs.
Do we need a permit?
Not for handheld personal photography in the streets and on the bridges, which is how we work here. A tripod, a light stand or anything that looks like a production is a different category, and we will tell you which one your plan falls into.
Which month is best?
September to November is the photographer’s season: soft grey days that suit the stone, low gold on the facades, the river fogging early. April and May give you blossom and long bright evenings with less reliable weather.
Nearby
Married in Paris?
Tell us the date and what you are planning. We reply personally, usually within two business days.