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Paris, Provence +6 · Romantic
Wedding photographers in Monaco
A sovereign principality of about two square kilometres: the Rock and its palace on one side of the harbour, Monte-Carlo on the other.
Monaco is not France. It is a separate country — a principality with its own constitution, its own civil code and its own rules for weddings, photographs and drones — surrounded on its landward side by the French Riviera. You will not notice the border: Monaco is not in the European Union, but it takes part in its customs and border arrangements and pays in euros. A wedding here, though, is planned under Monegasque law, and that changes who can marry and where.
Couples come for the Rock: Monaco-Ville, the old town on its headland, with the Prince’s Palace, the cathedral where Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly married in 1956, and gardens hanging over the sea. Across Port Hercule, Monte-Carlo has the Belle Époque casino and the grand hotels. Distances are short but steep, and the best portraits come early, before the Rock fills with visitors.
Photographers
3 photographers on the French Riviera
They shoot everywhere on the French Riviera — in Monaco too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.
See all 3 photographers
Ceremonies
Where couples marry in Monaco
The civil wedding at the Mairie
The only wedding with legal effect in Monaco is the civil one, held at the town hall on the Place de la Mairie in Monaco-Ville, before at least two witnesses. It is open only if one of you is Monegasque, lives in Monaco, or has stayed there without a break for more than a month on the day the banns are posted; they stay up for ten days. The registry keeps Saturday mornings for weddings.
A church wedding
Catholicism is Monaco’s official religion. The Archdiocese asks couples to see the priest of the parish they would like to marry in — the cathedral, Sainte-Dévote, Saint-Charles or another — ideally a year ahead, and to follow its marriage preparation, which includes an engaged couples’ day each February. The priest sets the date and decides; couples from abroad need a tie to Monaco, and their file goes through their own diocese.
Symbolic ceremonies on terraces and in villas
A symbolic ceremony has no legal effect, so it can be held wherever a host allows — a hotel terrace above the harbour, a private villa, a restaurant garden — in your own words and your own language. Because of the residence rule, this is what most couples from abroad do: marry legally at home, then celebrate in Monaco.
Portraits
Where to take your portraits
The Place du Palais, early
The square in front of the Prince’s Palace, with old cannons along its parapet and the classic view down over Port Hercule to Monte-Carlo. The Carabiniers change the guard there every day at 11:55, and the square fills well before — come in the early morning. No drone may fly above the palace or its square.
Monaco-Ville and the cathedral
Narrow lanes of pastel houses behind the palace lead to the white stone cathedral, built from 1875 to 1903 where the 13th-century church of Saint-Nicolas stood. Rainier III and Princess Grace married here and are buried here. The lanes are quiet early and busy from late morning.
The Saint-Martin gardens
Monaco’s oldest public gardens, created under Prince Honoré V in the first half of the 19th century along the clifftop between the cathedral and the Oceanographic Museum: winding paths under pines, olive and carob trees, nearly 60 m above the sea. Their shade makes them the place for a summer afternoon.
The Japanese Garden
On the Avenue Princesse-Grace, in the Larvotto district, a garden laid out in 1994 at Prince Rainier III’s request by the Japanese landscape architect Yasuo Beppu. After the bright harbour it gives soft, even light under the trees and a completely different mood — green, small and quiet.
Sainte-Dévote, for the bouquet
The small church in the Gaumates ravine stands where, by tradition, Monaco’s patron saint was buried; a chapel was there before 1070. Princess Grace left her bridal bouquet here after her wedding in 1956, and Princess Charlène did the same in 2011 — a short, quiet stop between the ceremony and the dinner.
Through the year
When to marry in Monaco
May, June and September are the easiest months. Monaco’s own weather station (Météo-France, 1981–2010 normals) gives average highs of 20.4 °C in May, 23.7 °C in June, 26.6 °C in July, 26.9 °C in August and 24.0 °C in September, with August nights around 21 °C. July is nearly dry (13.7 mm on 1.7 days); October is the wettest month (128.7 mm). The sun sets at about 21:14 on 15 June 2027 and 19:41 on 15 September. The calendar matters as much as the weather: the Grand Prix runs on 4–6 June 2027, and its circuit takes about six weeks to build and three to take down.
French Riviera, month by month
- January: Quieter
- February: Quieter
- March: Quieter
- April: Good with planning
- May: Best
- June: Best
- July: Good with planning
- August: Good with planning
- September: Best
- October: Good with planning
- November: Quieter
- December: Quieter
Practical
Good to know before the day
A separate country
No passport check at the border, euros in your wallet, French as the official language — but Monaco’s own law applies: to who can marry, to photographs and to drones.
Getting there
Monaco has no airport of its own: Nice Côte d’Azur airport serves it. Regional trains along the coast stop at Monaco-Monte-Carlo, an underground station opened in 1999. Book cars for the guests in the evening — the town is built on a slope.
Photographs and privacy
The casino, the Hôtel de Paris and the other grand hotels are private. The casino’s owner, the Société des Bains de Mer, forbids filming in front of its entrance during opening hours and photographing its guests, and Monaco’s penal code punishes taking a person’s picture without consent where they are in private. Keep the session outside their doors and terraces. Monaco has its own rules for professional photography in public space; your photographer deals with them — nothing for you to arrange.
Drones
Any drone over 100 g needs a yearly approval from Monaco’s civil aviation authority and a permit for each flight. None may fly above the Prince’s Palace and its square or within 150 m of the heliport, and the government can ground all drones over the Principality for set periods.
The legal route
A civil wedding at the Mairie needs one of you to be Monegasque, to live in Monaco, or to have stayed there without a break for more than a month; otherwise, marry at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here.
Questions
Questions about marrying in Monaco
Is Monaco part of France?
No. Monaco is a sovereign principality with its own constitution and laws. It is not in the European Union but takes part in its customs and border arrangements, uses the euro and has French as its official language — which is why it feels like the Riviera around it.
Can foreigners get married in Monaco?
Legally, only if one of you lives in Monaco or has stayed there without a break for more than a month when the banns are published. Most couples from abroad marry at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Monaco, in any language, wherever a venue welcomes them.
Can same-sex couples marry in Monaco?
No: Monaco’s law does not open marriage to same-sex couples. Since a law voted in December 2019, couples of any sex can sign a contrat de vie commune, a registered partnership, and a symbolic ceremony is open to everyone.
Can we take wedding photos at the casino?
Outside, around the square, yes — but not in front of the casino entrance while it is open, and never of the casino’s or the hotels’ guests. Inside, the casino and the grand hotels are private. Most Monaco sessions stay on the Rock, in the gardens and by the harbour.
When is the Monaco Grand Prix in 2027?
On 4–6 June 2027, with a sprint race for the first time. Building the circuit takes about six weeks and taking it down three, so from late April to late June the streets around the harbour carry barriers and stands. If you want the harbour clear, choose another month.
Sources (23)
- legimonaco.mc/code/code-civil
- legimonaco.mc/code/code-penal
- mairie.mc/etat-civil-2
- monaco-tribune.com/en/2023/09/getting-married-in-monaco
- monaco-tribune.com/2019/12/loi-contrat-vie-commune-votee
- diocese.mc/service/service-du-mariage-et-de-la-famille/mariage
- diocese.mc/service/service-du-mariage-et-de-la-famille/page/preparation-mariage
- montecarlosbm.com/fr/mentions-legales-autorisation-prise-de-vue
- monentreprise.gouv.mc/en/themes/sector-specific-or-regulated-activities/specific-authoris…
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco
- donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_99138001.pdf
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairie_de_Monaco
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathédrale_Notre-Dame-Immaculée_de_Monaco
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Église_Sainte-Dévote_de_Monaco
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardins_Saint-Martin
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_japonais_de_Monaco
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnie_des_Carabiniers_du_Prince
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Hercule
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_de_Monaco-Monte-Carlo
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_automobile_de_Monaco
- espn.com/story/_/id/49955561
- gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html
French Riviera
Other places on the French Riviera
French RivieraThe whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there.
NiceA Belle Époque winter resort turned year-round city: the curve of the Baie des Anges, ochre lanes in the old town and a wooded hill above both.
CannesAn old hill town above a yacht harbour, a bay of sand and palms, and two wooded islands a short boat ride away.
Saint-TropezA fishing port turned legend at the end of its own peninsula: pastel houses on the quay, an ochre bell tower, a citadel on the hill and sand around the cape.
Saint-Raphaël & the EstérelRed volcanic rock dropping into a blue sea: a seaside town with a Byzantine-style basilica and, east of it, the wild coast of the Estérel.
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.
- Wedding venues in France: châteaux, bastides, vineyards and Alpine chaletsTwenty-two places that say on their own sites that they host weddings — palace hotels in Paris and an abbey outside it, Provençal bastides and wine estates, a Riviera villa and a castle on the sea, Loire châteaux, Bordeaux and Dordogne hideaways, Norman and Breton manors, a lakeside abbey and Alpine chalets, Burgundy and Champagne châteaux — with where they are, what they look like, capacity from their own pages, and what each means for your photos.
Not sure yet?
Tell us about your wedding — we’ll find who is free
The place, the date, the guests, the photos you like. Our concierge checks who is free and fits, and comes back with photographers to choose from.