Wedding photographer in the Var
The Var is two départements in one, and nobody tells couples marrying there for the first time.
There is the coast, from the Estérel to the gulf of Saint-Tropez, with its red rock, its coves and its beaches. And there is the hinterland, an hour inland, a country of vines and country houses where the air is drier, the evenings cooler and the silence complete.
These two Vars do not photograph the same way, and choosing between them governs the whole day.
Trained as a press photographer, I make wedding reportages. I live in Saint- Raphaël, and the Var is the territory I know best, its coast and its hinterland an hour apart.
The coast
From Saint-Raphaël and Fréjus, backed against the Estérel massif, out to Sainte-Maxime and Grimaud at the head of the gulf, then Saint-Tropez and Ramatuelle on the peninsula.
What defines it: the red porphyry rock, which gives the end of the day a colour no other French coastline has. The coves, accessible and often empty at the right hour. And a summer crowd that means counting every journey twice.
See the Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Sainte-Maxime, Grimaud and Saint-Tropez pages.
The hinterland
Lorgues, Draguignan, Les Arcs, Taradeau, Flassans, Le Muy. This is the country of the great wine estates, where you find what the coast has lost: space, long perspectives, and properties large enough to house everyone.
It is also where weddings run over several days. When guests travel from abroad, an inland estate gives them a stay where the seafront gives them a day.
See the Lorgues and Draguignan pages.
Toulon and the western coast
The roadstead of Toulon, the largest in the Mediterranean, with Mont Faron above it at five hundred and eighty metres, and the estates of La Garde and Le Pradet in the hills. A more urban, less touristic Var that few couples consider.
See the Toulon page.
The mistral, everywhere
This is the parameter common to both Vars, and the one couples from elsewhere underestimate most.
It often rises during the afternoon and gives no warning. It undoes hair, lifts veils, and makes some terraces unusable for a seated cocktail hour.
It also produces the best images of the day. A veil taking off, a dress catching the wind, a sky scrubbed of every trace of haze. What is needed is shelter for the guests, and the willingness to hold the couple session in it anyway.
How long between the coast and the hinterland?
Allow an hour outside high season between Saint-Raphaël and Lorgues, and more from June to September. The departmental roads of the central Var do not widen, and any hold-up runs through the whole day.
That is the main decision to take early: a wedding combining a coastal ceremony with an inland reception costs your guests two hours of travelling. It can be done, and it should be decided knowingly.
When is the best season in the Var?
May, June and September. The days are long, the light is beautiful without being punishing, and guests last the whole day in formal clothes.
July and August are beautiful but demanding: the midday heat inland is real, the coastal roads are saturated, and the beach clubs book far ahead.
October offers something else, a lower light and vines that turn, with a far more open calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Do you travel across the whole département? From the coast to the central Var, and from Toulon to Draguignan. I live in Saint-Raphaël, and most of the weddings I photograph are in the Var.
Do we have to choose between the sea and the hinterland? Usually you choose one. Combining them is possible and costs transfers. We discuss it early, because it governs the town hall hour as much as the dinner hour.
Can we do a session the following day? Often the best option when you are staying at an inland estate. You set off as a couple, with no schedule, and we go where the landscape deserves it.
How far ahead should we book? Summer Saturdays go very early on the coast and around the gulf, often more than a year ahead. The hinterland stays a little more open.
Do you work with wedding planners in the département? Regularly. They build the day, I photograph it, and that division serves everyone.
Tell me about your day, and we will work out together how it is photographed.
The towns in this area
One page per town, with what sets it apart for a reportage.
- Saint-Raphaël, the town where Lawrence Banahan lives and works, and the Estérel turning orange at dusk
- Fréjus, a Roman naval base and a cloister that still works at two in the afternoon
- Sainte-Maxime, the far side of the gulf, where the sun sets on the water
- Grimaud, four kilometres and seven centuries between the hilltop village and Port-Grimaud
- Saint-Tropez, Pampelonne bay faces east, so the sun sets behind the vines
- Ramatuelle, from the village to the vines, then Pampelonne, where the horizon simplifies everything
- Hyères, three kinds of ground in one day, from the town to the Almanarre and Giens
- Toulon, the largest natural harbour in the Mediterranean, seen from Mont Faron
- Draguignan, the old town and the vines minutes apart, joined by winding roads
- Lorgues, the ceremony in the village, the reception in the vines, and the drive between
- Flayosc, the light crosses the hills before it reaches the stone of the village
From recent reportage
