# Wedding photographers in Annecy

> Canals, an island prison and a clear mountain lake — a day that can move from the wedding room to a boat, then up to a pass for the sunset.

- URL: https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps/annecy
- The French Alps: https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps
- France: https://lensandvows.com/france
- Français: https://lensandvows.com/fr/france/french-alps/annecy.md
- Lens & Vows: https://lensandvows.com/

Annecy sits at the northern end of a lake 14.6 km long, at 447 m, which SILA, the body that looks after it, counts among the purest in Europe for a lake ringed by towns. The Thiou carries its water through the old town, past the Palais de l’Isle, a 12th-century fortified house on an island in the river that later served as a prison. Along the shore lie the Pâquier, a lawn of 6.2 ha, and the Jardins de l’Europe, a garden of ornamental trees on what were once two marshy islands.

Since 2017 Annecy has been one commune with five of its neighbours, and the civil wedding is not held in the lakeside town hall but in a wedding room on the avenue des Îles, or in one of the other mairies. Then the day goes out to the water: portraits along the canals and in the parks, which the town leaves open to wedding parties for photographs, dinner in an old abbey at Talloires or aboard a lake boat, and the last light from the Col de la Forclaz, high above the lake.

## Wedding photographers in Annecy

They shoot everywhere in the French Alps — in Annecy too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.

https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=french-alps
https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=french-alps&sort=rating (Highest rated)
https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps.md

## Where couples marry in Annecy

- **The wedding room on the avenue des Îles:** In the commune déléguée of Annecy, civil weddings take place in the Salle Yvette Martinet, 15 avenue des Îles, which seats 80. Weddings are held every day but Sundays and public holidays, Saturday afternoons included from April to October (in winter, one mairie at a time, on a rota); the town sets the hour. Hand in the file two months to a year ahead, and bring two to four witnesses.
- **The old town’s churches:** The parish of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal brings together the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, consecrated in 1539, Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, Saint-Maurice and the community of the Basilique de la Visitation on the hill above town. Its rule is that a wedding is celebrated in the parish where you usually live, with registration by September for the following year — so couples from abroad start with their own parish.
- **The abbey at Talloires:** A Benedictine priory from 1018 on the lake’s eastern shore, a hotel since the late 19th century. Its gardens host both secular and religious ceremonies, and the guests can stay the night.
- **The Château de Menthon:** Above Menthon-Saint-Bernard, a castle whose first fort dates from around 923. It takes receptions of up to 120 guests in its 17th-century cellar, with marquees possible on the terrace.
- **On the lake:** The Compagnie des Bateaux du Lac d’Annecy, sailing since 1886, hires out its boats in part or in whole for a wedding or a wedding reception. The Libellule, the only restaurant boat on the lake, takes 25 to 250 guests.

## Where to take your portraits

- **The Pont des Amours, early:** The footbridge of 1907 over the Canal du Vassé, between the Jardins de l’Europe and the Pâquier, with boats moored under the trees along the quay. Come early in the morning, before the lakeside fills, while the canal is still smooth.
- **The Palais de l’Isle and the canals:** The 12th-century house on its island in the Thiou — later a prison, now the town’s heritage centre — and the lanes along the canals around it. The market fills the old town on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings from 7:00: choose another morning.
- **The Jardins de l’Europe:** An English-style garden planted in the winter of 1863–64 between the canal and the lake, with some 250 trees today, giant sequoias and a ginkgo among them. The town’s wedding charter leaves its parks to couples and their guests for photographs.
- **The lake shore at first light:** The jetties along the shore at dawn, before the walkers and the boats are out. Stepping into the water for a picture is another matter: a town bylaw bans swimming in the lake anywhere in the commune outside the public beaches.
- **The Col de la Forclaz at sunset:** At 1,147 m above the eastern shore, the paragliders’ take-off, a 15-minute walk up, looks down the length of the lake. In Annecy on 15 June 2027 the sun sets at about 21:27, and golden hour runs from 20:41 to 21:50; on 15 September, from 19:08 to 20:06.

## When to marry in Annecy

Annecy has no dry season. Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals for Annecy-Meythet give 95 to 110 mm of rain in every month from May to October, on roughly 9 to 12 days; average highs are 20.3 °C in May, 24.2 °C in June, 26.5 °C in July and 21.3 °C in September, and July is the sunniest month. Three dates fill the town: the international animation film festival (13–19 June 2027), the Fête du Lac fireworks on the first Saturday of August — 7 August 2027, before nearly 200,000 people — and the Retour des Alpages, when the herds come down from the pastures, on the second Saturday of October.

The French Alps, month by month:
- **Best:** June, July, August, September
- **Good with planning:** January, February, March, October, December

## Good to know before the day

- **Getting there and around:** Geneva airport is about 50 km away, linked to Annecy by train and coach, and direct TGVs run from Paris. The lakeside quarter has been pedestrian since March 2024 and the whole town drives at 30 km/h, so allow for short walks between the cars and the photos.
- **At the wedding room:** Arrive 15 minutes early: more than 15 minutes late and the ceremony can move to the end of the half-day or to another date. Rice, confetti and petals are banned inside and out — only soap bubbles, on the forecourt — and photos and video must not disturb the ceremony. If either of you does not follow French, an interpreter is compulsory.
- **Drones:** French rules for open-category drones ban flying over public space in a built-up area or at night, above 120 m or over a crowd. Annecy’s airport lies inside the commune, at Meythet, and two national nature reserves line the lake, the Bout du Lac and the Roc de Chère: check the official drone map and the reserves’ rules before any flight.
- **The legal route:** A civil wedding here needs one of you, or a parent, to live in the commune — at least a month’s continuous residence when the banns are posted, and they stay up for 10 days. A church wedding may only follow the civil one. Most couples from abroad marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony by the lake.
- [How to marry legally in France](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-france)

## Questions about marrying in Annecy

### Can we marry in the town hall by the lake?

No: in the commune déléguée of Annecy, civil weddings are held in the Salle Yvette Martinet, 15 avenue des Îles, and the other five mairies déléguées have rooms of their own. Either way one of you, or a parent, must live in Annecy; if not, marry at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here.

### Can we hire a boat on Lake Annecy for the wedding?

Yes. The Compagnie des Bateaux du Lac d’Annecy hires out its boats, in part or in whole, for weddings and wedding receptions; its restaurant boat, the Libellule, takes 25 to 250 guests. It is a lovely way to bring the portraits onto the water.

### When is the Fête du Lac in 2027?

On Saturday 7 August 2027 — it is always the first Saturday of August — with fireworks over the bay of Albigny for nearly 200,000 spectators. Part of the Pâquier lawn is ticketed that night. Marry on another weekend unless you want the crowds and the show.

### Does it rain much in Annecy in summer?

More than couples expect: 95 to 106 mm a month from June to August, on about 9 to 10 days each (Météo-France, Annecy-Meythet, 1991–2020). Book a place with a covered space, and keep a second portrait spot in mind.

### Where in town can we have our photos taken?

In the municipal parks, which the town’s wedding charter opens to couples for photographs, along the canals and on the lakeside. The Château d’Annecy is a museum: professional photography there needs the director’s prior permission.

## Other places in the French Alps

- [The French Alps](https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps): The whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps.md)
- [Chamonix](https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps/chamonix): Glaciers that reach down to the forest and Mont Blanc above the rooftops — a valley where the lift timetable and the afternoon storms plan the day with you. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/france/french-alps/chamonix.md)

## Read before you plan

- [What a wedding photographer costs in France, and what changes the price](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-france): Published 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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-france.md)
- [Getting married in France as foreigners: the mairie, the church or a symbolic ceremony](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-france): France’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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-france.md)
- [A symbolic wedding in France: marry legally at home, celebrate in France](https://lensandvows.com/journal/symbolic-ceremony-france): Why 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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/symbolic-ceremony-france.md)
- [The best time to get married in France: month by month, region by region](https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-france): Météo-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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-france.md)
- [How to choose a wedding photographer: the steps, and the questions to ask](https://lensandvows.com/journal/how-to-choose-a-wedding-photographer): The 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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/how-to-choose-a-wedding-photographer.md)
- [Where to elope in France: 15 places, from the Étretat cliffs to the Calanques](https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-france): Fifteen 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. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-france.md)

## Sources

- https://www.annecy.fr/annuaires/catalogue-des-demarches/detail/mariage
- https://www.annecy.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque_annecy/D%C3%A9marches/Mariage/Dossier_Mariage.pdf
- https://www.annecy.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque_annecy/D%C3%A9marches/Mariage/charte_ANNECY.pdf
- https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F930
- https://www.diocese-annecy.fr/le-diocese/les-paroisses/paroisse-sainte-jeanne-de-chantal/paroisse/accueil-paroissial
- https://www.diocese-annecy.fr/le-diocese/les-paroisses/paroisse-sainte-jeanne-de-chantal/vie-et-sacrements/copy_of_mariage
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Saint-Pierre_d%27Annecy
- https://www.abbaye-talloires.com/en/mariage-annecy-1447
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbaye_de_Talloires
- https://www.chateau-de-menthon.com/en/weddings-receptions/
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Menthon
- https://www.bateaux-annecy.com/qui-sommes-nous/
- https://www.bateaux-annecy.com/privatisation-groupes/
- https://www.bateaux-annecy.com/flotte/
- https://www.sila.fr/nos-missions/la-gestion-partagee-du-lac-dannecy/caracteristiques-du-lac-dannecy/
- https://www.sila.fr/notre-territoire/les-espaces-naturels-proteges-de-la-cluse-du-lac/
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/immanquables/vieille-ville-annecy/
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_l%27Isle
- https://www.annecy.fr/activites/loisirs/parcs-et-jardins
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardins_de_l%27Europe
- https://www.annecy.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque_annecy/Mon_quotidien/Tranquilit%C3%A9_et_s%C3%A9curit%C3%A9/Arr%C3%AAt%C3%A9_municipal_rives_du_lac.pdf
- https://musees.annecy.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque_musees/Documents/2024-reglement-interieur-musees-2.pdf
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/immanquables/panoramas-a-couper-le-souffle/
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/agenda/marches/
- https://meteofrance.s3.sbg.io.cloud.ovh.net/data/synchro_ftp/REF_STATION/FICHECLIM_74182001.pdf
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annecy
- https://www.annecyfestival.com/
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/immanquables/fete-du-lac-d-annecy/
- https://www.annecy.fr/activites/fete-du-lac-dannecy/une-fete-pour-tous
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/immanquables/le-retour-des-alpages/
- https://www.lac-annecy.com/pratique/comment-venir-au-lac-d-annecy/
- https://www.annecy.fr/ville/amenagement/pietonisation
- https://www.annecy.fr/quotidien/deplacement-et-stationnement
- https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/exploitation-drones-en-categorie-ouverte
- https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html