Wedding photographer in Beausoleil

A stairway descending towards Monaco that you never see the end of. The Principality set out below, whole, at the hour the lights come on. A bride catching her breath for two seconds before going on.

I am a documentary photographer, and I make wedding reportages. From the terraces of Beausoleil, the reportage carries the whole Principality in the frame, set out below at the hour the lights come on.

Beausoleil occupies a singular position. It is a French town that begins where Monaco stops, and its streets climb in terraces above the Principality. A border runs down the middle of a pavement, and that creates possibilities neither territory offers on its own.

What Beausoleil solves for a Monaco wedding

Many couples marry in Monaco and run into two constraints: parking, and access to the Rock, restricted to vehicles registered in Monaco and the Alpes-Maritimes.

Beausoleil is the simplest answer. Guests stay there, park there, and walk down. Suppliers find room. And the town offers something Monaco does not: distance.

The view, and how to use it

From the heights of Beausoleil, the Principality is visible in full, with the harbour, the Rock and the sea behind. It is an image you cannot make from within Monaco, and it is worth the ten-minute detour.

The aspect is due south, which means the view is head-on all day and the light decides everything. At midday the Principality flattens and loses its relief. Late in the afternoon, the sun passes behind the Tête de Chien and the façades gain a depth they have not had all day. That is the only moment this view deserves your time.

Dusk offers something else again, when the lighting comes on and the harbour becomes a carpet of points. It means leaving dinner for twenty minutes, which I often suggest and few couples regret.

The stairways, a setting of their own

Beausoleil is a vertical town, made of flights of steps linking its levels. They constitute a setting in themselves: stone, receding perspectives, a bride descending and a dress following.

They ask for care and a little planning. Bring suitable shoes, and choose the route in advance rather than improvising on the spot.

The upper streets deserve a mention too. Several belle époque façades survive there from the era when Beausoleil housed the staff of the Monte-Carlo palaces, and they give a register of ornament and wrought iron that the Principality itself, rebuilt in glass and concrete, has largely lost.

Where do receptions happen?

Rarely in Beausoleil itself, which has few large venues. The town serves instead as a base: accommodation, preparations, couple session, then down into Monaco or across to Èze, Cap-d'Ail or La Turbie.

It works well, provided it is decided early: transfers between Beausoleil and the Principality are short in distance and unpredictable in duration.

What happens if it rains?

The view disappears, and that is the only real loss. The reception moves into the indoor spaces of your chosen venue, in Monaco or nearby, all well equipped for it.

For the couple session I would rather reschedule it for another day, later that week or beyond. In Beausoleil more than anywhere, the whole value of the place lies in what you see from the heights.

Frequently asked questions

Can we have a civil ceremony in Beausoleil? The civil ceremony takes place at the town hall, as anywhere in France. Many couples marry there and celebrate afterwards in Monaco or along the corniche.

How long to get down to Monaco? Five to ten minutes by car depending on the starting point, longer at busy hours. On foot, the stairways go down quickly and back up less well.

Where should the couple portraits be made? On the heights for the view, in the stairways for the setting, and towards La Turbie and the Trophée d'Auguste if you have thirty minutes more.

Do you travel to Monaco, Cap-d'Ail and La Turbie? Regularly. These towns form a group a few kilometres across, and most weddings combine two or three of them.

When should we settle the date? Roughly eighteen months ahead if the wedding falls in summer. Beausoleil serves most often as the base for a Monaco wedding, so the date tends to follow the Principality's own calendar rather than the commune's.

The whole point of Beausoleil is Monaco below it, where the Rock decides the morning; Cap-d'Ail offers the coastal path at the water's edge on the far side, and Èze its pedestrian village four hundred metres up, twenty minutes away.

Tell me about your day, and we will work out together how it is photographed.