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Andalusia · Documentary, Editorial
Wedding photographers in Marbella
A small white old town, about 28 km of beaches and the peak of La Concha behind them — a seaside wedding with a mountain in the frame.
Marbella has two sides, and a wedding can use both. The old town is small and white, gathered around the Plaza de los Naranjos, laid out after 1485, and the baroque church of the Encarnación, begun in 1618. The coast is beaches, promenades and the marina at Puerto Banús, with La Concha (1,215 m) rising behind.
Most weddings here face the sea or look down on it from the hills: a symbolic ceremony on a terrace or at a beach club, dinner outside, dancing late. Summer is far gentler than inland — Málaga airport averages 30.5 °C in July, Seville 36.0 °C — though July and August are also the coast’s busiest weeks.
Photographers
2 photographers in Andalusia
They shoot everywhere in Andalusia — in Marbella too. Their whole weddings are on their pages.
See all 2 photographers
Ceremonies
Where couples marry in Marbella
Civil weddings at the Cortijo Miraflores
The town marries couples on set Fridays at the Cortijo Miraflores, a country house of 1706 that once held a sugar mill and an oil press, now a cultural centre with old palms in its gardens — and in council offices in Las Chapas, Nueva Andalucía and San Pedro Alcántara. The date is fixed only once your marriage file is approved.
The church of the Encarnación
The old town’s church, on the Plaza de la Iglesia, for a Catholic wedding. If you live abroad, your file is prepared in your home parish, approved by your bishop and handed to the Diocese of Málaga, which authorises the wedding.
Beach clubs and seafront hotels
The usual setting for a symbolic ceremony with the sea behind you: a club or hotel with its own terrace or lawn by the sand, and dinner in the same place. Ask where the ceremony moves if the wind rises, and when the music must stop.
Villas and fincas in the hills
Villas and estates on the slopes above the coast, with views to the sea and room for a whole weekend. Ask how guests get up the hill at night, and whether the house is licensed for events.
Portraits
Where to take your portraits
The old town, early
The Plaza de los Naranjos, the church square and the white lanes between them, with what is left of the Moorish walls close by. Go in the morning: by lunchtime the terraces fill the squares.
Avenida del Mar down to the beach
From the Alameda park to the promenade, past fountains, pergolas and ten bronze sculptures designed by Salvador Dalí — then onto the sand. The coast faces south, so early and late in the day the sun comes in low and from the side.
The Artola dunes at Cabopino
On the east of the municipality, a natural monument since 2001: dunes, juniper and the old Torre Ladrones watchtower. Walking on the dunes is forbidden — keep to the wooden boardwalks that cross them.
Puerto Banús at dusk
The 1970 marina, for an evening frame of boats and lights between dinner and dancing. Busy on summer nights, so keep it short.
Through the year
When to marry in Marbella
May–June and September–October are the sweet spot. AEMET’s 1981–2010 normals for Málaga airport, the nearest long-run station, give average highs of 24.3 °C in May, 28.1 °C in June, 30.5 °C in July, 30.8 °C in August, 28.2 °C in September and 24.1 °C in October, with August nights near 21 °C. July is dry; rain peaks in November and December. On the morning of Monday 2 August 2027 a total solar eclipse crosses this coast: in Marbella, a little over three minutes of totality from about 10:47.
Andalusia, month by month
- January: Quieter
- February: Quieter
- March: Good with planning
- April: Best
- May: Best
- June: Good with planning
- July: Quieter
- August: Quieter
- September: Best
- October: Best
- November: Good with planning
- December: Quieter
Practical
Good to know before the day
Getting there
Málaga airport is about 45 km away, Gibraltar’s about 75 km. Marbella has no railway station — the nearest trains stop at Fuengirola and Málaga — so plan airport transfers, and a coach for the evening.
Beaches and permits
Walking and photographs on a public beach are free; chairs, an arch or any set-up on the sand are an installation under Spain’s Coastal Law and need authorisation. Ask the town hall early, or choose a venue with its own space by the beach.
Drones
Beaches with facilities count as urban areas under Spain’s drone rules: a registered operator notifies the Ministry of the Interior at least five calendar days ahead and flies no higher than 120 m.
The legal route
Civil weddings here need a marriage file approved where one of you lives, so one of you must live in Spain; otherwise, a Catholic wedding through your parish, or marry at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here.
Questions
Questions about marrying in Marbella
Can we get married on the beach in Marbella?
In a symbolic ceremony, yes — usually at a beach club or hotel with its own space by the sand; a set-up on the public beach needs authorisation. A beach ceremony has no legal effect, so couples marry legally at home or in a civil ceremony first.
Can we have a civil wedding with Marbella town council?
Yes, if one of you lives in Spain: open the marriage file with the civil registry or a notary where you live, saying the wedding will be in Marbella. Once it is approved, the council’s Protocol department sets the date — on a set Friday at the Cortijo Miraflores, or in a district office.
Is summer too hot for a wedding in Marbella?
Hot but manageable: Málaga airport averages 30.5 °C in July and 30.8 °C in August, well below Seville’s 36 °C. Hold the ceremony in the early evening — the sun sets at about 21:39 in mid-June and 21:11 in mid-August — and have dinner outside after dark.
What happens in Marbella on 2 August 2027?
A total solar eclipse: the sun is fully covered for a little over three minutes from about 10:47, on a Monday morning. If your wedding is that weekend, book rooms early — and keep your guests for a morning on the beach.
Sources (18)
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Andalusia
Other places in Andalusia
AndalusiaThe whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there.
SevillePalace courtyards, orange trees and late evenings — in a city where the summer heat decides the shape of the day.
GranadaThe Alhambra on its hill, the white Albaicín facing it, the Sierra Nevada behind — a city where the best pictures depend on a permit and on the hour.
Plan
Read before you plan
- What a wedding photographer costs in Spain, and what changes the pricePublished prices for a wedding day in Spain run from under €1,000 to €8,000 and more. The ranges with their sources and dates, region by region, what goes into a price, the Spanish extras (preboda, postboda, IVA) and how paying works on Lens & Vows.
- Getting married in Spain: civil, Catholic or symbolic, and who can do whichSpain’s three routes for couples from abroad — what the law asks (Ley 20/2011), why a civil wedding needs one of you to live there, how a Catholic wedding works without residence, the documents, the timings and where the photographer fits in.
- A symbolic wedding in Spain: marry legally at home, celebrate in SpainWhy most couples from abroad sign the papers at home and hold the ceremony in Spain, what makes it symbolic, who can lead it and what it costs, where you may hold it — beaches under the Ley de Costas, parks, squares — and what it frees up for the light and the photographs.
- The best time to get married in Spain: month by month, region by regionAEMET’s climate normals for six places couples marry, how many couples marry in each month (INE), the best months for each region, and sunrise, sunset and golden hour for 2027 in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Palma and Las Palmas.
- 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 Spain: fincas, castles, haciendas and wine countryTwenty places that say on their own sites that they host weddings — Mallorcan fincas and a sea fortress, Andalusian haciendas and city palaces, Catalan castles and a cava winery, Basque belle-époque hotels and Gehry’s winery hotel — with where they are, what they look like, capacity from their own pages, and what each means for your photos.
Not sure yet?
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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.