Italy is an incredibly special and romantic place I keep going back to.
I’ve photographed weddings and elopements across Italy and it’s still the country I’d choose if someone handed me a plane ticket and no instructions. Part of that is obvious: the light, the food, the fact that a seven-hundred-year-old building is just sitting there holding seven-hundred years of love, relationships, and human history. The rest is that Italy rewards couples who are willing to do things slightly differently, which is usually the kind of couple I end up working with.
Here’s what I actually know about shooting there.
Florence
We had a wake-up call set for 4am and we were on the street by five. Not a single person was there. We had the whole place to ourselves, which felt surreal because the Duomo is over seven hundred years old and sees thousands of tourists every single day, and here we were, able to take it in with nobody around. You could hear a pin drop. We wandered, found a spot they wanted to say their vows in, and never once had to wait for someone else to finish taking a photo.
That wedding wasn’t even supposed to be that day. The forecast turned the night before and we moved it, which is the advantage of an elopement. You can change your mind, and nobody has to approve a thing!
If you want Florence without the crowds, you have to be okay with being an early-riser – or get ready to share your moment with a hundred of your closest fellow travelers.
The Amalfi Coast
Positano is vertical – there are two directions, up and down. That sounds okay until you’re the one in the dress working out how to get from the hotel down to the waterfront. Everything takes longer than the map says, and the walk down is the part people remember, so it’s worth building time into the day for it rather than treating it as transit.
Ceremonies here are best to be planned for early in the day. I’ve felt what afternoon vows do to people who planned around the view and got the heat instead. Who doesn’t love a wedding with a post-nuptial siesta before the evening party gets going?
The Dolomites
There’s something about the Dolomites that I’ll never be able to put into words. The mountains, the little Italian villages, the way the light hits the peaks first thing in the morning. It’s easily one of the most incredible places I’ve ever had the opportunity to photograph.
Shooting here feels different. Every location looks like it belongs in a movie, and somehow, it’s even more beautiful in person. From quiet mornings at Lago di Braies to standing beneath mountains that genuinely don’t look real, I find myself falling in love with this place every single time.
Getting to document love stories in a place like this is something I’ll never take for granted. Italy has such a special place in my heart, and I already know I’ll be finding excuses to come back for years to come.
Where I’ve photographed in Italy
I’ve documented love stories in Florence, Tuscany, Lucca, Pisa, Venice, and along the Amalfi Coast, Dolomites
Places I’m ready to pack my bags for: Sicily, Capri, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Rome, Puglia, the Italian Riviera, and Milan.
My Italy-specific advice for engaged couples
- Want Florence to yourselves? Be on the street by 5am.
- On the Amalfi Coast, plan your ceremony for the morning, not the afternoon heat.
- Positano is all stairs. Build the walk into your timeline and pick shoes you can climb in.
- An elopement lets you move the date when the forecast turns. Use that freedom.
I think the Dolomites are one of the few places where the scenery is so incredible that you actually have to be careful not to let it overshadow the people you’re photographing.
Best time of year to get married in Italy
My favourite months to shoot in Italy would be April, May, September and October. The summer months are far too hot, packed with tourists, overcrowded and incredibly expensive.
Booking an Italy wedding photographer: what to know
Travel is included in your package price, so you aren’t booking flights or working out where I’m staying. Most Italian weddings I shoot are booked twelve to twenty-four months out. Your ceremony will probably start earlier than you were expecting, and I’ll explain why when we build your timeline. Ask me where I’ll already be that year. Sometimes the dates line up and it saves you a significant amount. See wedding packages for what’s included.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Travel is included in your package price, so you never book flights or accommodation for me.
Most couples book me twelve to twenty-four months before an Italian wedding.
Morning light is softer, the famous spots are empty, and on the Amalfi Coast you avoid the afternoon heat.
Both. Some of my favourite Italy work is a two-person elopement in Florence at sunrise.
