# Wedding photographers in Chania

> Crete’s old Venetian port, where the town marries couples on the harbour quays on summer evenings, with the White Mountains rising behind.

- URL: https://lensandvows.com/greece/crete/chania
- Crete: https://lensandvows.com/greece/crete
- Greece: https://lensandvows.com/greece
- Lens & Vows: https://lensandvows.com/

Chania was Venetian from the 13th century to 1645, when the Ottomans took it after a two-month siege, and its harbour still shows it: the vaulted shipyards, the Neoria — the first two finished in 1526, seven still standing in a row — the Grand Arsenal begun in 1585, the Firkas fortress at the harbour mouth, where the Greek flag was raised on 1 December 1913, and the stone lighthouse at the end of the breakwater, Venetian in origin and rebuilt by the Egyptians in the 19th century. On the waterfront, the domed Yali mosque was the first mosque the Ottomans built on the island.

The town marries couples in the middle of all this. Besides its town hall, the Municipality of Chania has set aside three spots on the harbour quays, two parks and an old city gate for civil weddings, with evening slots on summer weekends; then the guests stroll along the waterfront to dinner as the light goes. The Lefka Ori, the White Mountains, close the view to the south, and the sun goes down over the open sea beyond the lighthouse.

## Wedding photographers in Chania

They shoot everywhere in Crete — in Chania too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.

https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=crete
https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=crete&sort=rating (Highest rated)
https://lensandvows.com/greece/crete.md

## Where couples marry in Chania

- **On the Venetian harbour:** The mayor’s decision of May 2018 lists three places on the Akti Tompazi quay: the pier opposite the Grand Arsenal, now the Center of Mediterranean Architecture; the pier opposite the Yali mosque; and the site of the old port-police kiosk at Sourmeli street. Weddings there were set for Saturday and Sunday evenings, 18:00 to 20:00, from June to October. Since 2024 the town also offers weddings outside the town hall at other times, any day of the year, for a higher fee — the civil weddings office sets the schedule.
- **The town hall:** At 29 Kydonias Street: the council chamber, or the courtyard in front of it. A civil wedding there is free on weekdays during office hours; the town charges a fee for weekend slots and for every place outside the building.
- **Two parks and the Sabbionara gate:** The other places on the list: the park of Villa Koundourou, the park at Nea Chora near the municipal pool, and the Sabbionara — the “gate of the sand”, the only gate of the Venetian walls still standing, with the lion of St Mark above it, on the eastern seafront at Koum Kapi.
- **The old town’s churches:** The cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin, the Trimartyri, already on a map of 1625, was a soap works under Ottoman rule and was rebuilt between 1856 and 1864; its feast, 21 November, is the town’s. In Splantzia, Agios Nikolaos was a Dominican church rebuilt in 1320, a mosque from 1645 and an Orthodox parish since 1918 — a church with both a minaret and a bell tower. The Church of Crete is semi-autonomous under the Ecumenical Patriarchate: ask the parish for its rules. The Catholic cathedral of the Assumption, on Halidon Street, dates from 1879.

## Where to take your portraits

- **Along the breakwater, early:** The Venetian breakwater runs out to the lighthouse, 21 m tall, and from it the whole curve of the old harbour lies in front of you, the mountains behind. Come early in the morning, before the quays fill with tables and walkers. The town lends this stretch, “from the sailing club to the lighthouse”, to film crews by council decision.
- **Sunset from the Grand Arsenal quay:** Seen from the quay in front of the Grand Arsenal, the lighthouse stands to the west-north-west, where the sun goes down in mid-May and again in late July; in June it sets just to its right. On 15 June 2027 the sun sets in Chania at about 20:41 and golden hour runs from 20:04 to 21:00; on 15 September, from 18:59 to 19:48.
- **Splantzia and Agios Nikolaos:** The old Turkish quarter behind the eastern harbour, around the church with its minaret and belfry: lanes of old houses, much quieter than the waterfront a few streets away.
- **Topanas and the Jewish quarter:** The lanes behind the western harbour, where Christians and Jews lived after 1645, around the Etz Hayyim synagogue, set in a 14th- or 15th-century building that began as the Venetian church of St Katherine. The synagogue is closed at weekends; the lanes are best before the shops open.

## When to marry in Chania

May, June, September and October are the months to aim for. At Chania airport, in the Greek weather service’s 1971–2000 normals, average highs are 24.5 °C in May, 29.0 °C in June, 30.5 °C in July, 30.0 °C in August, 27.5 °C in September and 23.4 °C in October; July and August are nearly rainless (1.4 mm each), while October has rain on about ten days. The meltemi blows from the north-west here, strongest in the afternoon. The crowds follow the flights: Chania airport handled 4.15 million passengers in 2025, with July (749,000) and August (730,000) the busiest months and January the quietest (64,000). In late May the town marks the anniversary of the Battle of Crete with ceremonies and, some years, displays over the harbour.

Crete, month by month:
- **Best:** May, June, September, October
- **Good with planning:** April, July, August

## Good to know before the day

- **Getting there and around:** Chania airport lies 14 km away on the Akrotiri peninsula, with KTEL buses to town about every half hour from early morning to late evening. Ferries from Piraeus dock at Souda, about 7 km east of the town, after a crossing of some nine and a half hours. The old town and the harbour are for walking: give the guests a meeting point and comfortable shoes.
- **Papers for the town hall:** Couples who live abroad send their documents to politikoi-gamoi@chania.gr, or hand them in at the town hall; the office reckons four working days to check them, then agrees the date and time with you. Each of you needs a marriage licence from your own country that names the person you are marrying and Chania as the place — without them, the town says, it is not a licence — plus a recent birth certificate, a family-status certificate where your country issues one and a passport copy, all apostilled and officially translated into Greek, names also in Latin letters.
- **Photographs at the monuments:** We found no town rule for a couple’s portraits on the quays. Filming or photographing inside a monument — the Firkas, the Grand Arsenal — is another matter: the Ministry of Culture issues permits for monuments, and the town grants its own spaces to film crews by council decision. Ask before planning a session inside either.
- **Drones:** Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority bans drone flights near airports and over critical infrastructure such as ports and military installations — and Chania airport is also an air force base, while Souda Bay holds a Greek and NATO naval base. Check the official Drone Aware GR map before any flight; EU registration and training rules apply.
- **The legal route:** A civil wedding in Chania is legal for couples from anywhere, with no residence needed, and is registered in the town within 40 days; a church wedding is legal on its own too.
- [How to marry legally in Greece](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-greece)

## Questions about marrying in Chania

### Can we get married on Chania’s Venetian harbour?

Yes. The town lists three spots on the Akti Tompazi quay — opposite the Grand Arsenal, opposite the Yali mosque and at Sourmeli street — for civil weddings, set in 2018 for Saturday and Sunday evenings from 18:00 to 20:00, June to October. Since 2024 it also offers weddings outside the town hall at other times, for a higher fee; ask the civil weddings office.

### Is a civil wedding in Chania free?

At the town hall on a weekday, during office hours, yes. Weekend slots and every place outside the town hall carry a municipal fee, set by the council in 2024.

### What papers do we need?

For couples living abroad, a marriage licence from each of your countries that names your partner and Chania, recent birth certificates, family-status certificates where issued and passport copies — apostilled and officially translated into Greek. Send them by email to politikoi-gamoi@chania.gr in good time: checking takes about four working days.

### Where do we watch the sunset?

From the old harbour, looking out past the lighthouse to the open sea: from the quay by the Grand Arsenal, the sun sets right behind the lighthouse around mid-May and late July, and just to its right in June. In mid-June it goes down at about 20:41.

### Can our photographer fly a drone over the harbour?

Probably not without permission: the Civil Aviation Authority bans flights over ports and military installations and near airports, and Chania has all three close by. Your photographer checks the official Drone Aware GR map first.

## Marrying in Crete

- [Crete](https://lensandvows.com/greece/crete): The whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/greece/crete.md)

## Read before you plan

- [What a wedding photographer costs in Greece, from Athens to the islands](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-greece): Published prices for a wedding photographer in Greece run from €500 for two hours to €9,000 for a full day. The figures with sources and dates, by length of day and island by island, what moves the price — ferries, the meltemi, ΦΠΑ — and how paying works on Lens & Vows. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-greece.md)
- [Getting married in Greece as foreigners: civil, Orthodox or symbolic](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-greece): How couples who don’t live in Greece marry there legally: documents and licence, Santorini, Mykonos and Crete, Orthodox and same-sex weddings, symbolic ceremonies and the photographer. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-greece.md)
- [The best time to get married in Greece: month by month, region by region](https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-greece): Official climate normals, the meltemi, the dates Orthodox churches hold no weddings in 2027, the public holidays, and 2027’s sunset and golden hour from Corfu to Rhodes. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-greece.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 Greece: 13 places, from Santorini’s caldera to the Mani](https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-greece): Thirteen named places across the Cyclades, Athens, Crete, the Ionian, Rhodes and the Peloponnese — what each looks like, how you reach it, when the light is right, and which tickets, permits, protected-beach rules and winds to plan around. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-greece.md)
- [Wedding venues in Greece: caldera terraces, chapels, beach clubs and olive estates](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-venues-greece): What couples marry in across Greece — cliff-top terraces and wineries, whitewashed chapels, beach clubs, olive estates, island villas, resorts and old towns — with seventeen places that say on their own sites they host weddings, which of them can hold the legal ceremony, and the rules for chapels, beaches and ancient sites. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-venues-greece.md)

## Sources

- https://www.chania.gr/services/civil-marriage-chania-city/
- https://www.chania.gr/files/57/44617/civil_marriages_documents_for_foreigners_of_abroad_no5_(en).pdf
- https://diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/67ΥΖΩΗ5-0ΒΕ
- https://diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/6ΛΨΑΩΗ5-1ΝΕ
- https://diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Ψ4ΚΑΩΗ5-1ΧΙ
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/love/wedding-destination/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/the-egyptian-lighthouse/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/firka-fortress/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/center-of-mediterranean-architecture-grand-arsenal/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/venetian-neoria/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/giali-tzami/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/the-minaret-of-agios-nikolaos/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/monument/gate-and-rampart-sabbionara/
- https://www.chaniatourism.gr/neighborhood/jewish-quarter/
- https://imka.gr/g-nai/
- https://imka.gr/enories/
- https://gcatholic.org/churches/europe/3922.htm
- https://www.etz-hayyim-hania.org/visitor-information/
- https://mitos.gov.gr/index.php/ΔΔ:Χορήγηση_άδειας_κινηματογράφησης_/_φωτογράφισης_και_χρήσης_του_οπτικοακουστικού_υλικού_σε_νεώτερα_μνημεία_και_ιστορικούς_τόπους
- https://hcaa.gov.gr/el/newsroom/press-releases/deltio-asfaleias-ypeythyni-hrisi-smiea-kai-enimerosi-gia-ptiseis-konta-se
- https://www.chq-airport.gr/uploads/sys_nodelng/2/2873/Chania_12_Traffic_2025vs2024.pdf
- https://www.e-ktel.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AIRPORT_FROM_01-10-2026_TO_24-10-2026.pdf
- https://www.anek.gr/el-gr/proorismoi/chania
- https://www.chania.gr/enimerosi/nea/arxeia-dt/arxeiodt-2024/17052024maxitiskritis/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chania
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chania_International_Airport
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Crete