Paphos is where I photograph more weddings than anywhere else on the island, and it is the region I would recommend to a couple who care about their photographs above everything else. The reason is simple geography: this is the west coast, so the sun sets into the sea rather than behind a hillside. Nowhere else in Cyprus gives you that.
Paphos venues I have photographed
Along the coast I have worked at Coral Beach Hotel & Resort in Coral Bay, Azia Resort & Spa, Cap St. Georges at Pegeia, Alexander the Great Beach Hotel, Louis Phaethon Beach, Olympic Lagoon Resort and the Elysium Hotel. Further north, past Polis, Anassa at Latchi sits on its own stretch of coast and is the quietest of the large resorts.
Inland the character changes completely. Minthis at Tsada sits high above the coast with long views and a very different quality of evening light. Vasilias Nikoklis Inn at Nikoklia is a restored stone inn in the hills, and photographs nothing like a beach resort. Aphrodite Hills Resort at Kouklia occupies the middle ground, elevated but still within sight of the sea, and the neighbouring Sanctuary of Aphrodite gives you genuine archaeology as a backdrop. Also at Kouklia, Liopetro is a sixteenth century farm building restored in stone and wood, with its own chapel and gardens — one of the few venues in the region that is neither a hotel nor a church.
The light on the west coast
A west-facing coast changes how a wedding day should be timed. The sun drops to the horizon over open water, so the last half hour of light is long, level and unobstructed — you get warm directional light straight down the beach rather than shadow creeping up from a ridge. In practice this means the golden hour in Paphos lasts noticeably longer than it does on the south coast, and it is the single strongest argument for stepping away from your guests for fifteen minutes after dinner has been served.
The trade-off is the middle of the day. Paphos summer sun is high and hard, and an early-afternoon ceremony on an unshaded terrace is the most difficult light I deal with anywhere. It is entirely workable — shade, backlight and black and white all help — but if you have any flexibility in your ceremony time, later is better. Between late May and early August the sun does not set until around eight in the evening, which gives you far more room to move the ceremony back than couples usually expect.
Inland at Tsada or Nikoklia the calculation is different again. Elevation means the light goes softer earlier as the sun drops toward the ridgeline, so portraits there tend to happen sooner in the evening than they would on the coast.
Logistics worth knowing
Paphos is the furthest region from Larnaca airport, which is where most guests land — allow around ninety minutes for that transfer when you are writing your timeline, and longer on a Friday. Paphos has its own airport with a smaller range of routes, and for a largely UK guest list it is often worth checking.
If you are considering photographs in the Akamas peninsula or at the Blue Lagoon, that is a genuine expedition rather than a short drive, and the track in is rough. It can produce spectacular images but it needs to be planned as its own block of time, not squeezed between the ceremony and dinner.
Greek Orthodox ceremonies in the villages around Paphos are usually shorter than couples expect and the light inside the churches is low and warm. I shoot these without flash wherever the priest allows it — the atmosphere of a village church is most of the photograph, and flash removes it.
Photography and film in Paphos
You can see a broader selection of my work on the photography page, and my wedding films if you are considering both. If you have not settled on a venue yet, my guide to wedding venues across Cyprus covers every region. I also photograph weddings in Limassol.
I also photograph weddings in Larnaca and Ayia Napa and Protaras.Tell me about your day. Send me your date and venue and I will let you know if I am free — get in touch here.