Cyclades, Greece
SantoriniWedding photography
A drowned volcano, a thousand feet of cliff, and the most photographed sunset in Europe.
We photograph elopements and small weddings in Santorini — cliff-edge villas cut into the caldera wall, cave houses in Oia and Imerovigli, and the inland vineyards almost nobody photographs. Elopements from $6,500; a wedding with guests from $22,000.
One piece of advice matters more than everything else on this page: do it at sunrise. At six in the morning the caldera paths are empty and the light rakes sideways along the white walls. At sunset the same view has several thousand people in front of it.
Santorini is the rim of a volcano that collapsed into the sea, which is why the island is a crescent of cliff with a caldera in the middle and villages clinging to the top edge. Everything is whitewashed, everything faces west, and the sun sets straight into the water in front of all of it. There is no more reliable spectacle in European wedding photography.
That reliability is also the problem, and it is worth being direct about. The famous vantage points are extremely crowded at sunset. Oia in particular has thousands of people on it every evening in season, and a portrait session planned there for seven o’clock in July is a portrait session in a crowd.
The answer is the other end of the day. Sunrise on the caldera is empty, the light comes from behind the island and hits the white walls sideways, and the sea below is still. The best photographs anyone makes on this island are made before eight in the morning, and almost nobody does it.
The light
When to marry in Santorini.
The part a visitor cannot look up, and the reason this page exists rather than a list of packages.
April to May
Green on the slopes before the summer burns it off, warm days, cool evenings and few people.
June to August
Hot, dry, extremely crowded, and windy on the exposed cliff. The meltemi can blow for days.
September to October
Warm sea, calmer air, thinning crowds and a softer light. The best combination of the year.
The venues
Where to be married in Santorini.
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.
Canaves Oia
Cave suites and terraces, Oia
Carved into the cliff with terraces stepping down it. Whitewash in full sun is close to the limit of what a sensor holds, so exposure here is set for the wall, not the sky.
Grace Hotel
Caldera terraces, Imerovigli
Faces the caldera from the highest point on the rim, which means the sun goes down into the water directly in front of it and nothing is in the way.
Santo Wines
Winery terraces, Pyrgos
Volcanic vineyards and a terrace above the caldera, with room for a guest list the cliff villages cannot hold. The vines here grow in baskets on the ground, which photographs like nowhere else.
Agios Georgios, Oia
Blue-domed parish church
A working parish church rather than a venue, on a lane that is public and busy by mid-morning. Access is a matter of asking rather than booking.
Venetsanos Winery
Cliff winery, Megalochori
Built into the rock above the old port with a terrace cantilevered off it. Shade indoors at the hour the terrace is unusable, which in July matters.
The kind of place
- Cliff-edge villas and cave houses cut into the caldera wall
- Terraced hotels with infinity pools facing west
- Traditional churches with blue domes, most of which are working parish churches
- Inland vineyards and old wineries, which look nothing like the postcard and are excellent
What a Santorini wedding plans around
- The caldera villages are pedestrian and built as stairs. Everything — people, dresses, equipment — arrives on foot, down steps, in the heat.
- Sunset at Oia is genuinely crowded in season. A schedule that depends on a quiet vantage at that hour will not get one.
- The meltemi wind blows hard through high summer on the exposed western edge.
- The blue-domed churches are working parish churches, not venues, and access is a matter of asking rather than booking.
Frames
From Santorini.
The commission
Photographing a wedding in Santorini.
An elopement here is one photographer for three to six hours, from $6,500 — which on this island is the honest shape of the thing, because two people can stand somewhere at six in the morning that a hundred guests cannot. A wedding with guests is a destination commission from $22,000.
We plan the route in one direction, downhill wherever the village allows, so nobody is climbing back up in a dress in the heat. We walk it the day before to find out which of the lanes photographed on the internet are private property, and we agree a fallback for the meltemi, which through July and August can blow hard for days on an exposed western terrace.
Preview within seven days, the complete set within four weeks for an elopement and eight for a wedding. Full-resolution files, private archive, print release with no expiry. Nothing published without your written consent.
- Elopement & Private Ceremony, from
- $6,500
- Photographers
- One
- Preview
- 7 days
- Full delivery
- 4 weeks
Wedding photography commissions in Santorini
Every commission on this site is available in Santorini. See all seven.
Santorini wedding photography — questions
How much is a Santorini wedding photographer?
An elopement or private ceremony starts at $6,500 for one photographer and three to six hours, including the location planning and any permit research. A wedding with guests is a destination commission from $22,000 with two photographers.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunrise, and it is not close. At six the caldera paths are empty, the light is sideways and warm on the white walls, and you have the island. At sunset you have the same view and four thousand people. We will do both; if there is only one, it is the early one.
Are the stairs really a problem?
A factor to plan for rather than a problem. Oia and Imerovigli are built vertically, the steps are worn and often wet from pool overflow, and a long train needs a second pair of hands. We plan the route so nobody climbs back up in the heat.
When should we come?
Late September or early October: warm sea, calmer air, thinning crowds and softer light. April and May are green and quiet before the summer burns the slopes off. July and August are hot, very crowded and windy on the exposed edge.
Can we be married in a blue-domed church?
Those are working parish churches, not venues. Some will host a ceremony and most will not, and it is asked rather than booked. We plan the photographs so that the day does not depend on one.
What if the wind is blowing?
The meltemi blows hard through high summer on the western edge, sometimes for several days. Any villa worth its fee has a sheltered alternative; the question worth asking before you sign is whether you have seen it.
Nearby
Married in Santorini?
Tell us the date and what you are planning. We reply personally, usually within two business days.