Lake Maggiore Wedding Photographer
The lake starts twenty minutes from my house.
The eastern shore is my own province.
I live in the province of Varese, and the Lombardy shore of Lake Maggiore is part of that same province. Angera, Ranco, Ispra and Sesto Calende are places I pass through, not places I consider a destination. On the opposite shore, between Stresa, Arona and Baveno, I have been working for years. At Villa Frua, I photographed Andrea and Chiara’s wedding.
It changes more than you might expect. On the lake, water and light decide the rhythm of the day. Boat transfers run to schedules that cannot be shortened, and in the late afternoon the sun drops behind the mountains. For about an hour you have the most beautiful light of the day, then it disappears all at once. Knowing how long a crossing to the islands really takes, and when that light will be gone, is what keeps you from chasing the day.
How I photograph a wedding
I photograph just one wedding a day. On that day, I have no other commitments waiting for me and I am there for you.
I work as a documentary photographer, which means something simple: I watch a lot and interrupt very little. I do not stop the day to build a scene, I do not ask you to repeat something that has just happened, and I do not take you away from your guests for an hour. On the lake this matters more than anywhere else, because the boat sets the timetable and whatever you lose you do not get back. Twenty or thirty minutes are enough for the portraits. The rest of the day stays yours.
The wedding comes before the photographs. Always.
Venues on the lake
Lake Maggiore is not one place. It changes a great deal depending on the shore and on how far north you go.
Villa Frua, in Stresa, I have photographed: a garden facing the water and a day spent almost entirely outdoors, with the lake always in view.
The islands, Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori, are the most recognisable setting on the lake and also the most demanding. You arrive by boat, the schedule depends on the crossings, and every move has to be planned rather than improvised.
The villas along the shore between Stresa and Baveno have gardens running down to the water and a more formal feel, with the advantage that your guests stay in one place all day.
The Lombardy shore, between Angera, Ranco and Ispra, is quieter and far less touristic, with the castle and small towns facing the water. It also has a practical advantage nobody mentions: it is half an hour from Malpensa airport, which makes a real difference for guests flying in.
If your venue is not on this list, tell me which it is. If I have never worked there, I go and see it before the wedding.
Weddings told from start to finish
No posts
Planning your wedding on Lake Maggiore
The eastern shore is twenty minutes from where I live and Stresa is not much further, so there are no travel costs in my quote.
If I have never photographed your venue, I go and see it first. On the lake this matters more than elsewhere: working out where the light falls on a garden facing the water is not something to improvise on a Saturday morning.
Dates here are booked earlier than elsewhere. Saturdays in June, July and September are reserved well in advance.
If you already have a date and venue, write to me and I will tell you straight away whether I am available. Asking does not commit you to anything.
If you are getting married on the lake
Tell me the date and the place. I will tell you straight away if I am free.
There is a real risk on the lake: spending the whole day chasing the view. The view, though, is not looking at you while your mother fixes your dress, and in ten years that is the photograph you will open most often. The place stays in the background, and it does that very well. You are the ones in front.
If we see a wedding the same way, we will probably both notice it long before we start talking about photography.
Not only the lake
I live in the province of Varese and often photograph weddings in Milan and across Monza and Brianza as well. If your date is in one of those areas, write to me all the same.
