Cyprus is one of the easiest places in Europe for a British couple to get married. The flight is under five hours, the sun is reliable for seven months of the year, everyone speaks English, and you drive on the left. What follows is what we have learned photographing weddings here, written for couples planning one from the UK.
When to come
The wedding season here runs from April to the end of October. Within that, the months couples tend to be happiest with are May, June, September and October. The sea is warm, the evenings are long, and the light in the last hour before sunset is the reason so many photographs from Cyprus look the way they do.
July and August are the hottest months, and they are hot in a way that changes how the day runs rather than simply being uncomfortable. Afternoon temperatures sit in the mid-thirties and can climb higher inland. It is entirely possible to have a beautiful August wedding, but the timeline has to be built around the heat rather than in spite of it: ceremony late, portraits at the very end of the day, and shade wherever people are standing still.
November through March is quieter and much greener than people expect. Cyprus in February is not a beach, but the hills are genuinely lush, the light is soft all day rather than only at the edges, and venues are far easier to secure.
Getting here and getting around
There are two international airports. Larnaca (LCA) is the larger and serves the east and centre of the island. Paphos (PFO) serves the west. Flights from most UK airports run around four and a half to five hours, and both airports are served by budget and full-service carriers through the season.
Which airport your guests should book depends on where the wedding is:
- Paphos and the west — Paphos airport, roughly fifteen minutes from the town.
- Limassol — either works; Larnaca is around forty-five minutes, Paphos around an hour.
- Larnaca — Larnaca airport, about ten minutes. The shortest transfer of any wedding town on the island.
- Ayia Napa and Protaras — Larnaca airport, around forty-five minutes.
Cyprus drives on the left, road signs are in Greek and English, and hire cars are straightforward to arrange. Distances are small — you can cross the whole island in about three hours — but village roads in the hills are narrow and slower than the map suggests. If your ceremony is in a mountain village, add a buffer to every transfer time you have been quoted.
The practical differences from home
- Time zone — Cyprus is two hours ahead of the UK, all year. Worth remembering when you book calls with suppliers.
- Currency — the euro.
- Language — Greek, but English is spoken almost everywhere and by essentially every wedding supplier. Cyprus was British until 1960 and the connection never really went away.
- Plugs — the same three-pin sockets as the UK. Your chargers work.
- Driving — on the left, as at home.
The legal side
Getting legally married in Cyprus is genuinely simple by the standards of destination weddings, which is a large part of why so many British couples do it. Civil marriages are carried out by marriage officers at the municipalities, and a marriage properly celebrated in Cyprus is recognised in the United Kingdom without you having to do anything further once you are home.
In broad terms you give notice to the municipality where you intend to marry, and there is a standard waiting period before the ceremony can take place. An expedited option exists for couples who cannot arrive that far ahead. You will normally be asked for passports, birth certificates, and — if either of you has been married before — a decree absolute or a death certificate. Documents not in English or Greek usually need certified translation.
Confirm the current requirements directly with the municipality you are marrying in, or through your planner. Notice periods, fees and paperwork change, and the municipality is the only authority worth relying on. This page is written by photographers, not lawyers.
A religious ceremony is a separate question with its own requirements depending on the denomination, and is worth raising early rather than late.
Choosing where on the island
The four areas most British couples choose feel genuinely different from one another, and it is worth understanding how before you commit.
Paphos
The west coast, and the only one of the four where the sun sets into the sea in front of you. Quieter than the east, with hill villages fifteen minutes inland and the Akamas wilderness to the north. More on photographing weddings in Paphos.
Limassol
The most urban option — a marina, a working old town, and a strip of large seafront hotels. Also the gateway to the wine villages in the hills above, which are a different world half an hour up the road. More on Limassol.
Larnaca
The easiest logistically by a distance, with the airport ten minutes away, and the most understated of the four. The salt lake, the palm promenade and the old town all sit within a small area. More on Larnaca.
Ayia Napa and Protaras
The clearest water on the island and the most dramatic coastline, at Cape Greco and the bays around it. Livelier in high season than the other three, and quiet in the mornings when it matters. More on Ayia Napa and Protaras.
Building a timeline that works here
The single most common mistake we see on destination weddings is a timeline written in a British climate. A four o’clock outdoor ceremony in June is a very different proposition in Limassol than it is in Surrey.
What works, broadly: preparations in the cool of the morning, ceremony in the later afternoon, and the couple portraits pushed as close to sunset as the schedule allows. That last hour is worth protecting in the plan itself rather than hoping it survives contact with the day. If you are having a first look, early morning is better here than it is at home, because the light is low and the venue is empty.
If you are also having film coverage, agree the timeline once with both photography and film in the room. Two suppliers who have never worked together will each optimise for themselves, and the compromise gets made at your expense on the day.
A note on booking from a distance
You are choosing a photographer you will probably not meet until the week of the wedding, which is uncomfortable and entirely normal. Ask to see complete weddings rather than highlights, ask who will actually be photographing your day, and ask what happens if something goes wrong. Our guide to what to ask a wedding photographer before you book goes through this properly, and our FAQ answers most of what couples ask us next.
If you have a date in mind, tell us where and when and we will let you know whether we are free.