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The sun setting behind Chania’s old town and Venetian harbour, the lighthouse in the foreground

Wedding photographers in Crete

Greece’s largest island: a Venetian harbour in Chania, turquoise lagoons, gorges and mountain villages, and warm days into late October.

See the photographerWhen to marry here

Crete runs long and mountainous between the Aegean and the Libyan Sea. In the west, Chania’s Venetian harbour curves round to its old lighthouse, and the far coast has the turquoise lagoon of Balos and the pink-tinged sand of Elafonisi; gorges cut through the White Mountains to the south coast. Heraklion, the capital, lies by the Minoan palace of Knossos, listed by UNESCO with the island’s other Minoan palaces, and to the east Elounda looks out over the Gulf of Mirabello.

Weddings range from resorts with their own beach around Elounda to stone villas among the olive groves near Chania, a whitewashed chapel by the sea, or a long dinner in a mountain village, with Cretan lyra and raki.

Wedding in Crete, photographed by Denys F.Wedding in Crete, photographed by Denys F.Wedding in Crete, photographed by Denys F.
Photo: Denys F.

Photographers

1 photographer shoots here

They shoot here and know the light. Their whole weddings are on their pages.

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Through the year

When to marry in Crete

May, June, September and October are warm and bright, and the sea stays warm into October. July and August are the hottest and busiest months; the meltemi, the dry north wind of the Aegean summer, cools the north coast but can blow hard in the afternoon. The first autumn rain comes in October, more in the west, and from November many seaside hotels close.

  1. January: Quieter
  2. February: Quieter
  3. March: Quieter
  4. April: Good with planning
  5. May: Best
  6. June: Best
  7. July: Good with planning
  8. August: Good with planning
  9. September: Best
  10. October: Best
  11. November: Quieter
  12. December: Quieter
  • SpringWild flowers and herbs on green hillsides, snow on the high peaks and Easter, the great feast of the Greek year, in the villages; the sea stays cool until June.
  • SummerLong, hot, cloudless days and warm nights for dinner outside, with village festivals around 15 August. Shade and an evening ceremony matter most.
  • AutumnThe sea still warm from summer, fewer visitors and a softer, golden light; by late October the first rains begin to turn the hills green again.

In numbers

Hottest month, average high
July · 31.4°C
HNMS
Average high in the best months
May 24.7°C · Jun 29.2°C · Sep 28.0°C · Oct 24.0°C
HNMS
Days with 0.1 mm of rain or more, best months
May 3.9 · Jun 1.4 · Sep 2.6 · Oct 9.8
HNMS (Wikipedia)
Sunset on 21 June
20:42 (Chania)
NOAA
UNESCO World Heritage

Temperatures: Souda, normals 1991–2020 · Rain: Souda, normals 1971–2000 · Checked 15 October 2026

Places

Where couples marry here

The kinds of places — ask your photographer which ones they know well.

  1. Resorts on the Gulf of Mirabello

    Hotels around Elounda with their own coves, lawns and terraces over the water: the ceremony, the dinner and the guests’ rooms in one place.

  2. Villas among the olive groves

    Stone houses with a pool and a view in the hills behind Chania and Rethymno — a weekend for everyone, with a long table under the trees.

  3. Chania’s old harbour

    The Venetian quays, the lighthouse and the lanes of the old town behind them — for portraits at golden hour and dinner by the water.

  4. Lagoons, gorges and the south coast

    Balos and Elafonisi in the far west, best early or late in the day, without the crowds; on the south coast, where the gorges meet the sea, white villages in quiet coves.

Towns

Towns and places in Crete

Each with a page of its own: where couples marry there, where to take portraits, the practical side.

Light

How the light falls

Crete’s light is clear and strong, hard at midday on white walls and turquoise water. The west coast faces the sunset — at Balos and Elafonisi the sun goes down into the sea — while Elounda’s bay looks east, towards the morning sun. At midsummer the sun sets at about twenty to nine; the hour before belongs to portraits.

Travel

Getting there

Fly into Chania for the west or Heraklion for the centre and east: direct flights from much of Europe in season, and flights and overnight ferries from Athens all year. Elounda is about an hour’s drive from Heraklion. The island is long, so choose one end for the wedding and arrange transport for the guests.

Real weddings

Weddings in Crete

All real weddings

Plan

Read before you plan

Greece

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