Founding photographer
Yuliia B.from €1,400
Paris, Bordeaux & the South West +2 · Documentary, Film
Wedding photographers in Biarritz
An imperial resort on the Basque coast: the Atlantic in front, the Pyrenees on clear days, and the sun going down over the sea after half past nine in June.
Biarritz grew from a village into a fashionable resort because of one couple: Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, whose summer villa of around 1855 is now the Hôtel du Palais, on the Grande Plage. The town spreads along rocky points and beaches — the Rocher de la Vierge and its footbridge, the old fishermen’s harbour, the lighthouse on the Pointe Saint-Martin — and the Côte des Basques, where Europe’s first surfers took to the waves in the 1950s.
A wedding here is an Atlantic wedding: a civil ceremony at the town hall if you qualify, or vows in a palace hotel or a villa garden, then portraits on the rocks while the sun goes down over the sea. The ocean sets the tone — big tides, wind, rain on nine or ten days a month even in summer — so keep a covered plan and let the light, which comes late in June, make the evening.
Photographers
4 photographers in Bordeaux & the South West
They shoot everywhere in Bordeaux & the South West — in Biarritz too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.
See all 4 photographers
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Margaux C.from €250
Bordeaux & the South West · Documentary, Fine art
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Natalia D.from €1,400
Paris, Provence +6 · Romantic
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Joseph J.from €1,000
Paris, Loire Valley +6 · Documentary, EditorialCeremonies
Where couples marry in Biarritz
The Hôtel de Ville
Biarritz marries couples where one of you, or a parent, has a home in the town, or has lived there for at least a month before the banns. The file goes in no earlier than a year and no later than a month before, both of you present; the date and hour are then set from the slots available, Monday to Saturday except public holidays.
The Hôtel du Palais
Built around 1855 as Empress Eugénie’s summer villa, turned into a hotel and casino after 1880, burnt in 1903 and rebuilt within its walls: the palace on the Grande Plage has its own weddings service.
A church wedding
In France it may only follow the civil wedding. Biarritz’s Catholic churches belong to the diocese of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron; the Chapelle impériale, built for Eugénie in 1864–66 and dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a listed monument. Ask the parish which church can take your date.
Villas and terraces
Most couples from abroad marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in a hotel, a villa garden or on a terrace over the ocean. The beaches are public: ask the mairie before planning chairs or an arch on the sand.
Portraits
Where to take your portraits
The Rocher de la Vierge
A rock in the sea crowned since 1865 by a statue of the Virgin, reached by a metal footbridge of 1877 from the Schryvers workshops — not Eiffel’s, whatever you hear. It is open free, day and night, but the footbridge closes in storms, and you can’t park in front.
The Côte des Basques at sunset
Cliffs over a long beach facing the ocean and, on clear days, the Pyrenees; the tourist office calls it the place for sunsets in any season. The tide decides how much sand there is, so check the town’s tide tables; for a view from higher up, climb the “100 marches”.
The lighthouse and the Pointe Saint-Martin
A white tower of 47 metres, lit since 1834, standing 73 metres above the ocean; 248 steps lead to a 360° view from the Landes beaches to the Basque coast and the Pyrenees. Opening hours change with the season, the last climb is 30 minutes before closing, and it shuts in bad weather.
Through the year
When to marry in Biarritz
Météo-France’s Biarritz-Pays-Basque station (71 m, 1991–2020 normals) averages highs of 22.5 °C in June, 24.2 °C in July, 25.1 °C in August and 23.3 °C in September, and 1,474 mm of rain a year — rain falls on 9 to 10 days a month even from June to September, and autumn is wetter still (147 mm in October). The coast faces west over the Bay of Biscay: on 15 June 2027 the sun sets at 21:49, with golden light from 21:05 to 22:10 (NOAA’s solar equations); on 15 September at 20:17.
Bordeaux & the South West, month by month
- January: Quieter
- February: Quieter
- March: Quieter
- April: Quieter
- May: Good with planning
- June: Best
- July: Best
- August: Best
- September: Best
- October: Good with planning
- November: Quieter
- December: Quieter
Practical
Good to know before the day
Getting there
Biarritz Pays Basque airport is 4 km from the centre, about five minutes by car, with bus line 11 into town. TGV trains reach Biarritz from Paris Montparnasse in about four hours, with five return trips a day in TGV Inoui’s timetable, and from Bordeaux in two.
A space for the wedding car
The town reserves a parking space for the couple’s car on request: send its 2026 wedding form to the Service Réglementation (reglementation@biarritz.fr) at least 15 days before. A late or incomplete request is refused.
Drones
French rules ban drone flights at night and over public space in a built-up area, and the airport is 4 km from the centre: check the official restriction map before any flight along the coast, and never over your guests.
Papers for a civil wedding
A foreign partner brings a full birth certificate under six months old with a sworn translation (or a multilingual extract), a certificate of custom and a certificate of single status or capacity to marry, also under six months old. Our guide to getting married in France sets out the steps.
Questions
Questions about marrying in Biarritz
Can we get legally married in Biarritz?
Yes, if one of you, or a parent, has a home in Biarritz, or has lived there for at least a month before the banns. Otherwise marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here; a church wedding in France also comes only after the civil one.
How far ahead do we file at the town hall?
No earlier than one year and no later than one month before the wedding, both of you in person, since the registrar may interview you together. Once the file is complete, the date and hour are set from the free slots, Monday to Saturday.
Where are the best sunset photos in Biarritz?
The Côte des Basques and the Rocher de la Vierge both face the ocean to the west. In mid-June the sun sets at about 21:49 and golden light lasts until about 22:10; in mid-September it sets at about 20:17.
Does it rain much in Biarritz in summer?
More than on the Mediterranean: Météo-France’s Biarritz station records rain on about 9 to 10 days a month from June to September, and 1,474 mm a year. Plan a covered place for the ceremony and a flexible hour for the portraits.
Sources (19)
- biarritz.fr/mes-demarches-desmartxak/etat-civil-elections/dossier-de-mariage
- biarritz.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/biarritz/Ville/telechargements/POPULATION/Dossier_de_ma…
- biarritz.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/biarritz/Ville/telechargements/POPULATION/Liste_des_pie…
- biarritz.fr/mes-demarches-desmartxak/domaine-public/occupation-du-domaine-public-26
- biarritz.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque/2026/RGLT/1_-_Demande_AODP_2026_-_MARIAGE.docx
- biarritz.fr/cadre-de-vie-bizi-ingurunea/plages/horaires-des-marees
- service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F930
- destination-biarritz.fr/decouvrir/le-rocher-de-la-vierge
- destination-biarritz.fr/decouvrir/le-phare-de-biarritz
- destination-biarritz.fr/decouvrir/la-cote-des-basques
- destination-biarritz.fr/decouvrir/le-port-des-pecheurs
- destination-biarritz.fr/pratique/venir-se-deplacer-a-biarritz/comment-venir-biarritz
- hotel-du-palais.com
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hôtel_du_Palais
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_impériale_de_Biarritz
- object.files.data.gouv.fr/meteofrance/data/synchro_ftp/REF_STATION/FICHECLIM_64024001.pdf
- ecologie.gouv.fr/exploitation-drones-en-categorie-ouverte
- geoportail.gouv.fr/donnees/restrictions-uas-categorie-ouverte-et-aeromodelisme
- gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html
France
Marrying in Bordeaux & the South West
Plan
Read before you plan
- What a wedding photographer costs in France, and what changes the pricePublished prices for photographing a wedding in France run from under €1,000 to €12,000 and more. The ranges with their sources and dates, by length of day and region by region, what goes into a price, the French specifics (two ceremonies, TTC or HT, kilometres) and how paying works on Lens & Vows.
- Getting married in France as foreigners: the mairie, the church or a symbolic ceremonyFrance’s routes for couples from abroad — why only the mairie can marry you, the residence rule, the banns and the documents, a church wedding after the civil one, same-sex couples, and where the photographer fits in.
- A symbolic wedding in France: marry legally at home, celebrate in FranceWhy couples from abroad sign the papers at home and hold a cérémonie laïque in France, what the law says about it, who can lead it and what it costs, where you may hold it — beaches, parks, protected sites — and what it frees up for the light and the photographs.
- The best time to get married in France: month by month, region by regionMétéo-France’s climate normals for eight places couples marry, how many couples marry in each month (INSEE), the best months for each region, the holidays, ponts and events of 2027, and sunrise, sunset and golden hour for 2027 in eight cities.
- How to choose a wedding photographer: the steps, and the questions to askThe decision in order — whole weddings, style, availability, the package, the contract and deposit, cancellation, delivery and a conversation — then a checklist of questions, with why each one matters.
- Where to elope in France: 15 places, from the Étretat cliffs to the CalanquesFifteen named places in Paris and the Loire, Normandy and Brittany, Champagne, the Alps, Provence, the Riviera and the South West — what each looks like, how you get there, when the light is right, and which permits, fees, tides and seasonal closures apply before you say your vows there.
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