Founding photographer
Gabriele P.from €2,200
Loire Valley, Paris +25 · Documentary, EditorialBased in Austria · travels to weddings in France
Wedding photographers in Blois
A real town on a steep bank of the Loire: you marry in a bishop’s palace, and the royal château, a stone bridge and a giant staircase are a walk away.
Blois, about 47,000 people, climbs a limestone slope above the Loire.
Louis XII made it the political capital of the kingdom in 1498, and its royal château shows four façades of different periods around one courtyard, from the 13th century to the 17th. The cathedral of Saint-Louis stands at the top of the town, the double spires of Saint-Nicolas lower down, and the stone bridge of 1724 carries the view across the water. It has more than 60 protected monuments and has been a Ville d’art et d’histoire since 1986.
Weddings here are town weddings, which is unusual in the valley. The civil ceremony is in a Salle des Mariages that began as a reception room of the bishop’s palace; the guests can walk from there, sleep in the town’s hotels and be driven to dinner. Chambord is 20 km away, Cheverny 17, Chaumont-sur-Loire 20 and Chenonceau 44, so the châteaux people came for are within a morning’s reach.
Photographers
9 photographers in the Loire Valley
They shoot everywhere in the Loire Valley — in Blois too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.
See all 9 photographers
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Alexandre R.from €3,100
Loire Valley, Bordeaux & the South West +6 · Documentary
Andrés F.from €2,200
Loire Valley, Burgundy & Champagne · Documentary, Romantic
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Luigi O.from €1,500
Loire Valley, Paris +29 · Documentary, Fine artBased in Italy · travels to weddings in France
Founding photographerVerified — Identity verified by Lens & Vows
Natalia D.from €1,400
Loire Valley, Paris +6 · Romantic
Founding photographer
Alina L.from €2,000
Loire Valley, Paris +7 · Documentary, Fine artBooking through Lens & Vows
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Ceremonies
Where couples marry in Blois
The Salle des Mariages
The town hall has been in the former bishop’s palace on Place Saint-Louis since soon after the Second World War, when bombing had destroyed the old one in June 1940. Jacques Gabriel designed it, and it was finished in 1704; a large Italian-style reception room became the wedding hall. The town publishes neither its capacity nor its hours: ask the registry when you file.
How Blois sets a date
One of you must live in Blois or have lived there for over a month, or a parent of one of you must. The registry issues no file and gives no date until it has seen that proof. You download the file, book a “Mariage” appointment online on Rendezvousonline.fr, and bring it complete: incomplete files aren’t accepted. The office then checks it and sets the date and time by availability, and dates can’t be booked by phone.
Rooms in the royal château
The town rents the château’s rooms through Blois Congrès: on the ground floor two vaulted rooms, the largest 220 m², with up to 250 people for a dinner or cocktails; on the first floor three rooms of 95 to 220 m² for gala evenings, with a lift. Its brochure names seminars and gala evenings, not weddings, so ask directly whether it takes a wedding dinner and on what conditions.
The Maison de la Magie and the Halle aux Grains
The same office hires out two odder rooms: the museum of magic facing the château, with a rotunda for 150 people and the Foyer Méliès for 100, and the 19th-century Halle aux Grains, whose great hall of 800 m² takes large events. Again the brochure doesn’t say weddings, so it’s a question to ask, not a promise.
A religious ceremony
In France a church wedding may only follow the civil one. Blois has the cathedral of Saint-Louis, rebuilt several times and restored with Colbert’s help after a hurricane in 1678, and the church of Saint-Nicolas, begun in 1138. We found no published rules for couples from outside the parish: ask it well ahead.
Portraits
Where to take your portraits
The Pont Jacques-Gabriel
The stone bridge of 1724 is the town’s classic view: its arches on the water, the spires of Saint-Nicolas above them, the town rising behind. On 15 June 2027 the sun sets at 21:54, with golden light from 21:06 to 22:18 (NOAA’s solar equations); on 15 September at 20:08. The quay and the old boats of the Port de la Creusille are on the same stretch of river.
The Denis-Papin steps
About 120 stone steps and four landings, built in 1862–65 in line with the bridge, with the statue of Denis Papin at the top and a panorama of the bridge and the valley. Two or three times a year the town dresses the risers with an artwork, and its own brochure calls this the most photographed place in Blois, so you may share it, and you may want to know what’s on it that month.
The château’s façades
The entrance wing of Louis XII, in red brick and pale stone with the king on horseback over the door, faces the Place du Château; the other wings close the courtyard inside. Filming and photo shoots at the château need the director’s prior permission, so a photographer should ask its communications office well before the day. The square outside is open to everyone.
The Loire at sunset
Low water leaves sandbanks and ripples on a wide bed in summer, and at sunset the spires of Saint-Nicolas stand dark against the sky. From the river bank the town is all silhouette: work with it, and arrive before the sun goes behind the roofs.
Through the year
When to marry in Blois
Météo-France’s Blois station (1991–2020 normals) gives average highs of 23.6 °C in June and 22.0 °C in September, with rain on 8.0 and 7.2 days. July and August are warmer, at about 26 °C, with some six days of 30 °C or more in each, and August has the fewest rainy days, at 6.9. May has rain on nearly 10 days, and so does October. In the summer of 2026 the château’s son et lumière ran every evening in its courtyard, at 22:30 from May to August and at 22:00 in April and September, except on a few dates: ask for the coming year’s calendar if your portraits or your guests’ evening depend on it.
Loire Valley, 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
The town gives 1h30 by train from Paris and about 30 minutes from Tours and from Orléans, and the station, Blois-Chambord, is some 500 metres from the château. Vendôme’s high-speed station is about 30 minutes away. By road it’s about two hours from Paris, by the A10 (exit 17); Tours airport is 60 km off.
Parking and guests’ rooms
The town’s marriage page points to the Halle aux Grains underground car park, near the town hall, whose first hour is free. The town’s brochure counts more than 1,000 hotel rooms, in seven three-star hotels, two four-star and one five-star among others, so a guest list can stay in the town and walk to the ceremony.
Photo permission and drones
The château’s rule is the one above: its director’s prior permission. French open-category drone rules ban flights over any gathering of people, at night, and over public space in a built-up area, so the town centre is out for most wedding films; check the official Géoportail map before flying anywhere near it.
The legal route
Being born here isn’t enough: France asks for a lasting link to the commune, through your home, a month’s residence or a parent’s. The banns go up for ten days. Foreign partners may be asked for other papers: the list depends on your situation and comes with the file, and our guide to getting married in France sets out the steps.
Questions
Questions about marrying in Blois
How do we book a wedding date in Blois?
You don’t book first. The registry wants proof that one of you, or a parent, lives in Blois or has been there for over a month; then you download the file, book a “Mariage” appointment online and bring it complete. The office sets the date and time once it has checked the file, and no date is given by phone.
Can we have our wedding dinner at the Château de Blois?
Possibly, but ask first. The town rents the château’s vaulted rooms and first-floor halls through Blois Congrès, for up to 250 people at dinner, and its brochure describes gala evenings. It doesn’t mention weddings, and neither does the château’s page, so only Blois Congrès can answer.
Can our photographer shoot inside the château?
Only with permission: the château says filming and photo shoots need its director’s prior authorisation, sometimes with an agreement. Ask its communications office before you plan on it. Outside, the Place du Château and the Louis XII façade can be photographed from the square.
How far is Blois from Chambord and Chenonceau?
The town’s brochure gives 20 km to Chambord, 17 to Cheverny, 20 to Chaumont-sur-Loire and 44 to Chenonceau. It’s enough for a guests’ outing the day before or after, and it’s why you need a car or a coach for anything beyond the town.
When is the best time to marry in Blois?
June and September: average highs of 22–24 °C and rain on seven or eight days a month at the Blois station. July and August are warmer, about 26 °C, with some six days of 30 °C or more in each. May and October are the wetter edges of the season.
Sources (17)
- blois.fr/pratique/demarches/mariage
- blois.fr/annuaire/autres-institutions-et-structures/blois-congres
- chateaudeblois.fr/2160-tournage.htm
- chateaudeblois.fr/2032-groupes.htm
- chateaudeblois.fr/include/viewFile.php?idtf=32566&path=3f%2F32566_407_Brochure-Blois-Cong…
- chateaudeblois.fr/2052-son-et-lumiere.htm
- bloischambord.com/en/how-do-i-get-there
- bloischambord.com/en/tours-and-activities/our-heritage/visit-blois
- service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F930
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hôtel_de_Ville,_Blois
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blois
- fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalier_Denis-Papin
- assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/questions/QANR5L16QE3565
- object.files.data.gouv.fr/meteofrance/data/synchro_ftp/REF_STATION/FICHECLIM_41281001.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
Loire Valley
Other places in the Loire Valley
Loire ValleyThe whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there.
AmboiseA royal château on a spur above the Loire, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years — and which, by its own rule, hosts no weddings.
SaumurWhite tuffeau, a fairy-tale château over the river and a town hall that began as a fortified tower; the wine underneath is sparkling, in cellars cut from the same rock.
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.
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