# Wedding photographers on the Costa Smeralda

> A stretch of granite coast built up from the 1960s, where a wedding means a hotel or a villa above a cove, and the comune of Arzachena can marry you at a registered venue by the sea.

- URL: https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia/costa-smeralda
- Sardinia: https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia
- Italy: https://lensandvows.com/italy
- Italiano: https://lensandvows.com/it/italy/sardinia/costa-smeralda.md
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The Costa Smeralda was mostly empty land called Monti di Mola until 14 March 1962, when Prince Karim Aga Khan IV and his partners founded the Consorzio Costa Smeralda. The architects Jacques Couëlle, Luigi Vietti and Michele Busiri Vici drew its first buildings, and Porto Cervo, with its piazzetta of red brick and its old harbour, opened in 1964. It runs from Capo Ferro, just north of Porto Cervo, to the Gulf of Cugnana, inside the comune of Arzachena.

Weddings here are usually the whole weekend in one place: a hotel or a private villa on the granite, the portraits on a boat or a beach, dinner outside. Since December 2023 Arzachena has also been able to name private venues and stretches of beach within concessions for civil ceremonies, so a legal wedding need not start at the town hall inland.

## Wedding photographers on the Costa Smeralda

They shoot everywhere in Sardinia — on the Costa Smeralda too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.

- [Alessandro T.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/alessandro-tondo) — Based in: Agrigento · Shoots in: Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia, Tuscany, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Amalfi Coast & Capri, Umbria, Calabria · from €1,500 · Speaks: English, Italian · Style: Documentary, Fine art, Editorial, Romantic, Dark & moody (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/alessandro-tondo.md)
- [Alessia C.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/alessia-caputo) — Based in: Provincia di Pisa · Shoots in: Sardinia, Tuscany, Calabria, Umbria, Venice & the Veneto, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, The Dolomites, Liguria, Rome & Lazio, Amalfi Coast & Capri, Sicily, Puglia, Piedmont · from €2,500 · Speaks: English, Italian · Style: Documentary, Fine art, Romantic, Dark & moody · Verified (We’ve verified their identity) (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/alessia-caputo.md)
- [Andrea C.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/andrea-corridori) — Based in: Empoli · Shoots in: Sardinia, Tuscany, Umbria, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Amalfi Coast & Capri · from €3,400 · Speaks: English, Italian · Style: Documentary, Editorial · Verified (We’ve verified their identity) (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/andrea-corridori.md)
- [Andrea T.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/andrea-tran) — Based in: Verona · Shoots in: Sardinia, Tuscany, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Venice & the Veneto, Sicily, The Dolomites, Liguria, Puglia, Amalfi Coast & Capri, Piedmont, Calabria, Rome & Lazio, Umbria, Barcelona & Catalonia, Madrid, Andalusia, Mallorca & the Balearics, Valencia & the Costa Blanca · from €4,200 · Speaks: English, Italian · Style: Editorial, Film · Verified (We’ve verified their identity) (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/andrea-tran.md)
- [Antoine P.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/antoine-pihen) — Based in: Paris · Shoots in: Sardinia, Paris, Burgundy & Champagne, Provence, Normandy & Brittany, London, Tuscany, Umbria, Amalfi Coast & Capri, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Piedmont, Liguria, Rome & Lazio, Venice & the Veneto, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, The Dolomites, Barcelona & Catalonia, Madrid, Andalusia, Mallorca & the Balearics, Canary Islands, Valencia & the Costa Blanca, Basque Country & the North · from €2,500 · Speaks: English, French · Style: Documentary, Editorial, Film, Romantic · Verified (We’ve verified their identity) (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/antoine-pihen.md)
- [Gabriele P.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/gabriele-paar) — Based in: Wien · Shoots in: Sardinia, Vienna, The Wachau Valley, Hallstatt & the Salzkammergut, Carinthia & Lake Wörthersee, Salzburg, Tuscany, Umbria, Amalfi Coast & Capri, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Piedmont, Liguria, Rome & Lazio, Venice & the Veneto, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, The Dolomites, Paris, Provence, Occitanie & Languedoc, French Riviera, Loire Valley, Bordeaux & the South West, Normandy & Brittany, The French Alps, Burgundy & Champagne · from €2,200 · Speaks: English, German · Style: Documentary, Editorial (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/gabriele-paar.md)
- [Rosario C.](https://lensandvows.com/photographers/rosario-curia) — Based in: Roma · Shoots in: Sardinia, Rome & Lazio, Calabria, Tuscany, Lake Como & the Italian Lakes, Venice & the Veneto, Sicily, Umbria, Piedmont, Liguria, Puglia, The Dolomites, Amalfi Coast & Capri · from €2,600 · Speaks: English, Italian · Style: Documentary, Fine art, Editorial, Film (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/photographers/rosario-curia.md)

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

## Where couples marry on the Costa Smeralda

- **Arzachena’s own rooms:** The comune marries couples in the Sala consiliare on Piazza Segni and in Palazzo Ruzittu on Piazza Risorgimento, in the town of Arzachena, inland. It costs €200, or €400 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. If one of you lives in Arzachena it is free on weekdays in office hours, and €50 at other times (page of October 2024).
- **A registered private venue or beach:** Under the 2023 rules, hotels, private grounds and marked-off stretches of beach within concessions can become separate registry offices, for at least three years, once the Giunta approves them. It costs €400, or €800 at weekends and on holidays (€200 if one of you lives in Arzachena). The owner provides the standard set-up at its own cost: a table, five chairs and the Italian and European flags. Ask the comune for its official list.
- **Stella Maris, Porto Cervo:** The small church by Michele Busiri Vici and his son, inaugurated in 1968, above the Marina. We found no published rule from the parish or the diocese on weddings for couples from outside, so ask them directly and well ahead.
- **Hotels and villas on the coast:** The coast’s own architects designed three of its hotels: Couëlle’s Cala di Volpe, Busiri Vici’s Romazzino and Vietti’s Pitrizza. A symbolic ceremony in a hotel or a rented villa can follow a legal wedding at home. Ask each one directly what it hosts: we have not checked their terms.

## Where to take your portraits

- **Porto Cervo: the old harbour and the piazzetta:** The village sits above the harbour, a web of narrow lanes around the red-brick piazzetta, with the Marina and its 700 berths beyond. The coast is at its busiest around mid-August: for clear portraits, go in the early morning.
- **Grande Pevero:** A long white beach backed by granite and golf, a short way from the centre, with Piccolo Pevero beyond the headland. The rock turns pink and gold at the end of the day: on 15 June 2027 the sun sets at 20:56, with golden light from 20:15 to 21:17 (NOAA’s solar equations); on 15 September at 19:32.
- **Cala di Volpe and Capriccioli:** South of Pevero the coves come one after another: Liscia Ruja, Cala di Volpe and Capriccioli, named in Gallurese for its “little goats”, a pair of rounded boulders. This coast faces east, so the sea is at its best in the morning light; at sunset the sun goes down behind the land.
- **By boat:** Boats go out from the coast to the islands of La Maddalena. A morning or a late afternoon on the water gives pictures no road can reach, but keep a sheltered cove in mind: the mistral can change the plan.

## When to marry on the Costa Smeralda

At the Olbia station (Olbia Costa Smeralda, 1961–1990 normals) May averages highs of 22.7 °C with rain on about 4 days, June 27.6 °C with 3 and September 27.0 °C with 5; July and August reach about 30.5–30.8 °C, and October, at 22.2 °C, has about 5 rainy days. August is the coast’s peak, so book hotels and travel early. Many of the hotels close for the winter, so a wedding out of season needs asking first.

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

## Good to know before the day

- **Getting there:** Fly to Olbia, whose airport is about 3 km from the town; Porto Cervo is under an hour by road. We could not confirm a bus timetable to the coast, so plan on hire cars or a booked transfer for guests.
- **Deadlines and paperwork:** Apply to the Stato Civile office between 30 and 120 days ahead (book through the comune’s appointments site). After an 11-day check, call the Mayor’s staff office (+39 0789 849320) to fix the date and hear the fee; your date is final only when it has your payment receipt (staffsindaco@comunearzachena.it). Foreigners pay by international transfer. The registry’s weekly closing day moves to Tuesday from 3 November 2026.
- **Which comune?:** The coast ends where Olbia’s territory begins, at the Gulf of Cugnana, and only the comune where your venue stands can marry you there. Check which it is before you sign anything for a villa; the rules and fees above are Arzachena’s alone.
- **Drones:** Anywhere in Italy a drone may not fly over a gathering of people or above 120 metres, and the D-Flight map shows the zones around airports where it may not fly at all. Have your operator check before promising any shot.
- **The legal route:** Italians and foreigners alike need valid banns, two adult witnesses and ID. A foreign partner also needs a nulla osta, and an interpreter must be present if either of you doesn’t understand Italian. Our guide to getting married in Italy sets out the steps.
- [How to marry legally in Italy](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-italy)

## Questions about marrying on the Costa Smeralda

### Can we have a legal wedding on the beach on the Costa Smeralda?

Arzachena’s 2023 rules make it possible on a marked-off stretch of beach within a concession, once the Giunta has named it. Which ones are on the official list today we could not confirm, so ask the comune before you plan around one.

### How much does a civil wedding in Arzachena cost?

€200 in the comune’s own rooms and €400 in a registered private venue, doubling at weekends and on holidays. If one of you lives in Arzachena: free or €50 in its rooms, €200 outside them (page of October 2024).

### Is Porto Cervo a town of its own?

No: it is a hamlet of the comune of Arzachena, so the wedding paperwork goes through Arzachena’s Stato Civile office, on Piazza Risorgimento, some way inland.

### Can someone we know marry us?

The Mayor officiates, but can delegate to an Italian citizen you choose who meets the requirements to stand as a councillor. Name them when you fix the date with the Mayor’s staff office.

### When is the best time to marry on the Costa Smeralda?

June and September: average highs of about 27 °C and rain on three to five days a month at Olbia’s station. July and August reach about 30.5–30.8 °C, and August is the coast’s busiest time. Many hotels close for the winter.

## Other places in Sardinia

- [Sardinia](https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia): The whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia.md)
- [Cagliari](https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia/cagliari): Sardinia’s capital, where the comune will marry you on a bastion terrace, in a medieval castle or on a stretch of the Poetto beach. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia/cagliari.md)
- [Alghero](https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia/alghero): A walled Catalan town on the western sea, where the sun goes down over the water, with Capo Caccia on the horizon, and the portraits happen on the ramparts. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/italy/sardinia/alghero.md)

## Read before you plan

- [What a wedding photographer costs in Italy, region by region and by kind of day](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-italy): Italian couples pay about €1,850 on average; destination specialists publish €3,500–€8,000 for a full day, and the most sought-after €8,000–€15,000 and more. The figures with their sources, how they differ from Lake Como to Sicily, what goes into a price and how paying works on Lens & Vows. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-photographer-cost-italy.md)
- [Getting married in Italy as a foreign couple: civil, Catholic, civil union or symbolic](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-italy): How two people who don’t live in Italy marry there legally: the nulla osta, the declaration at the comune, translations and apostilles, witnesses and the interpreter, what a ceremony at a villa really requires — and the routes for Catholic and same-sex couples. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-italy.md)
- [A symbolic wedding in Italy: why couples choose it, who leads it, where it can be held](https://lensandvows.com/journal/symbolic-ceremony-italy): Italy lets foreigners marry legally, yet many couples hold a symbolic ceremony instead — or as well. What it is in law, why it is chosen, who can lead it and what it costs, where you may hold it — beaches, lakes, squares, parks — and what it frees up for the light and the photographs. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/symbolic-ceremony-italy.md)
- [The best time to get married in Italy, month by month and region by region](https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-italy): Official climate normals for Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, Bari, Palermo, Lake Como and the Dolomites, sunset and golden hour on the 15th of every month of 2027 in six cities, and what each month is like for a wedding — and for its photographs. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/best-time-to-marry-in-italy.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)

## Sources

- https://www.comune.arzachena.ss.it/servizi/anagrafe-e-stato-civile/matrimonio-civile
- https://www.comune.arzachena.ss.it/media/acfupload/DELIBERA_INDIRIZZI_INDIVIDUAZIONE_LOCATION.pdf
- https://www.comune.arzachena.ss.it/
- https://www.unionesarda.it/en/sardinia/arzachena-weddings-also-outside-institutional-venues-here-are-the-rates-xjgnd1qt
- https://www.sardegnaturismo.it/it/esplora/porto-cervo
- https://www.italia.it/en/sardinia/sassari/things-to-do/arzachena-and-costa-smeralda
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porto_Cervo
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Smeralda
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroporto_di_Olbia-Costa_Smeralda
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stazione_meteorologica_di_Olbia_Costa_Smeralda
- https://www.enac.gov.it/sicurezza-aerea/droni/categoria-aperta-open-category/limitazioni-in-categoria-aperta/
- https://www.enac.gov.it/sicurezza-aerea/droni/zone-geografiche-space/voli-con-droni-uas-limitazioni-riserve-dello/
- https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html