STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Wedding Ceremony on an Amsterdam Canal Boat

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 26 October 2026

Bride and groom kissing at the front of a canal boat after their wedding ceremony, guests seated along the windows

Some couples want their wedding to feel like a day out with the people they love most. For Jan, a Dutch groom, and Sofia, his Spanish bride, that meant a wedding ceremony on a canal boat. There were sunflowers on the tables and their small dog among the guests. Meanwhile, Amsterdam slid past the windows all day long.

Days like this are what my wedding photography in Amsterdam is about. I tell the whole story as it happens, from getting ready to the last light on the water.

Getting Ready for a Boat Wedding

The day began in two rooms. First, the groom spent the morning with his friends in a living room full of laughter. There was wine on the table and a piano in the corner, and the couple’s small dog was never far away. Meanwhile, the bride got ready in a hotel room with the women closest to her: make-up, clothes on the bed and a lot of talking.

Her look was entirely her own. She wore a white blouse with a soft bow and an olive skirt, and she carried sunflowers.

Groom laughing with three friends in a living room on the wedding morning, one in a floral shirt and red trousers

Groom and two friends laughing together beside a piano, one friend in an olive blouse with her arm around him

Friends relaxing on sofas in a sunny living room before the wedding, wine bottles and glasses on the low table

Hotel room full of women getting ready for the wedding, make-up spread across a desk and clothes on the bed

Two women laughing in a hotel room beside a bed covered in clothes and bags on the wedding morning

Women chatting in a bright hotel room while one of them has her make-up done at the desk by the window

Make-up being applied to a woman with copper hair, her head tilted back and her eyes closed near the window

Several women having their make-up and hair done at once in a hotel room, laughing and talking together

Close-up of the couple's small long-haired dog with large ears, resting on a lap in a gray suit

Groom in a gray suit sitting by a window with the small dog on his lap and a blue glass in his hand

Red-brick apartment building on a quiet street corner under a clear blue sky on the morning of the wedding

Tall blue glass tower with the Blue Tower sign above its entrance, rising into a pale sky on the wedding morning

Down to the Water

Outside, the wedding party walked to the jetty together, stopping for hugs on the way. Then family had their moment with the couple on the quay. After that, everyone stepped on board. On deck I made a few quiet portraits of the two of them with the city across the water. There was no posing, just the two of them, close, holding the sunflowers.

Wedding party walking together along a city street, the bride carrying sunflowers and the groom beside her

Groom laughing with an older woman in a white jacket on a tree-lined quay, just before the boat trip

Bride in a cream coat hugging a guest on the quay, another guest with a red scarf smiling beside them

Bride and groom smiling with an older woman between them by the water, a moored boat behind them

Groom laughing with an older man and woman outside, all three in coats and scarves before the ceremony

Glass-roofed canal boat moored at a jetty, waiting for the wedding guests, with Amsterdam houses across the water

Bride and groom with four family members on the jetty, the bride holding sunflowers before boarding the canal boat

Bride in a white blouse and olive skirt with the groom in a gray suit on the deck of a canal boat, sunflowers in hand

Bride leaning her head on the groom's shoulder on deck, her bouquet of sunflowers and eucalyptus at her side

Bride and groom close together on the deck of the canal boat, the river and city behind them on their wedding day

Couple seen from behind on the deck of a canal boat, looking out at a row of gabled houses across the water

Bride and groom on the jetty beside a street lamp, seen through the window frame of the wedding boat

The Wedding Ceremony on the Canal Boat

Inside, the boat became a small wedding hall. Rows of chairs stood between the windows, next to a table with the official register. Soon a registrar in a pink suit had everyone laughing. Friends gave speeches, a little boy watched the canals from the window, and the dog wandered between the guests. Then came the rings, a first kiss and two signatures next to a vase of sunflowers.

A wedding ceremony on a canal boat is intimate by nature. So in a space this small I move quietly along the sides and the back. That way nothing stands between the couple and their guests, and every reaction still ends up in the photos.

Bride and groom walking down the aisle between seated guests inside the canal boat at the start of the wedding ceremony

Gavel, pens and the official register with three Amsterdam crosses on a white table for the wedding ceremony — The official register on board, with Amsterdam’s three crosses

Registrar in a pink suit speaking to the couple and their guests inside the boat, everyone seated along the windows

Registrar reading from a sheet while the bride and groom sit smiling in front of her during the wedding ceremony

Bride and groom seated side by side listening, guests and the small dog right next to them in the boat cabin

Guests laughing in their seats during the ceremony on the canal boat, one in red trousers leaning forward

Two smiling guests in black with wine glasses, more guests seated in a row behind them along the boat windows

Young guests in suits smiling during the wedding ceremony, sitting shoulder to shoulder on a bench in the boat

White and pink roses in a small vase on the window sill of the boat, a bridge blurred beyond the glass

Yellow flowers by a cabin window and canal houses with a passing boat outside, seen from the wedding boat

Little boy in a checked shirt kneeling at the window to watch the canal go by, roses beside him on the sill

Guest in a suit giving a speech to the seated wedding party inside the canal boat, the couple listening at the front

Woman in a dark dress reading a speech at the front of the cabin, guests holding printed sheets during the ceremony

Guests laughing out loud in the rows of the wedding boat, one man standing at the back near the windows

View through the boat window of grand canal houses and bare trees along the wide river on the wedding day

Bride and groom standing face to face at the front of the cabin, guests seated on both sides during the ceremony

Wide view of the wedding ceremony inside a glass-roofed canal boat, the couple standing at the far end with the registrar

First kiss of the newlyweds at the front of the canal boat while seated guests look on and smile

Bride placing a ring on the groom's finger in front of the registrar in pink, sunflowers on the table beside them

Groom sliding a ring onto the bride's finger, the small dog standing at their feet in the boat cabin

Bride and groom crouching to greet their small dog among the guests, the registrar smiling behind them

Bouquet of sunflowers, eucalyptus and dried flowers tied with an olive ribbon on a white table

Bride signing the marriage register with the groom beside her at a window table on the canal boat

Newlyweds sitting at a table with sunflowers, smiling at each other after the wedding ceremony on the boat

Registrar in pink raising her hand as she speaks, the bride and groom seated at a table set with sunflowers

Bride and groom seated at their table while a guest in the foreground holds the small dog up for a cuddle

Cruising Into the Evening

After the ceremony the boat set off. Guests hugged Jan and Sofia, raised their glasses and found a seat by the windows. Meanwhile, the boat followed Amsterdam’s canals out to the wide Amstel. The light changed with every turn. First came gray daylight, then the lamps inside, and finally the warm glow of the city outside.

Children played between the tables, and friends took selfies. Sofia, in the meantime, went from one embrace straight into the next.

Canal houses and a church tower seen through the boat's front window, the wooden steering wheel in the foreground

Smiling captain in a navy uniform at the brass steering wheel of the wedding boat, one hand raised as he talks

Guests congratulating the bride with hugs and smiles inside the canal boat after the wedding ceremony

Two guests hugging in the crowded boat cabin, canal water and a bridge visible through the windows

Gabled canal houses and a small boat on the gray water, seen from the deck of the wedding boat

Three guests laughing on a sofa with drinks in hand, the river and houses passing by the windows

Bride smiling as she looks through a guest book on a table, friends leaning in around her on the boat

Guests laughing together on a bench, an older woman in coral with an open guest book on her lap

Lamps glowing inside the cabin at dusk while canal houses slide past the windows of the boat

Guests silhouetted at a standing table as dusk falls over the river, the canal boat lit warmly inside

Groom with his arms around two friends on a bench in the boat, all three laughing with glasses in hand

Guest in a red suit drinking a toast while a man and a small girl laugh beside her in the cabin

Groom hugging an older woman in a red jacket, her head on his shoulder, as the wedding boat cruises on

Guests chatting in the warm light of the boat cabin, glasses on the tables and the canal dark outside

Guest laughing as two men talk with her at a window table during the reception on the canal boat

Two small children in party clothes sitting on a bench by the boat window, one girl in red tights

Smiling guest at a table with sunflowers and eucalyptus, a dark drink in front of her and city lights behind

Groom and a friend in a floral shirt clowning for the camera inside the boat, fingers pointing and big grins

Guests talking at dusk inside the cabin, the groom laughing in the background among his friends

Guests taking a selfie at a white table, the river glowing blue through the boat windows at dusk

Arched bridge and canal houses at dusk seen from the canal boat, a warm lamp lit inside the cabin

Bride and groom with two family members posing together inside the canal boat at the evening reception

Bride hugging two guests at once while the groom smiles behind them in the warmly lit cabin

Guests celebrating around the bride in the boat, a little girl in a plaid dress jumping with joy

Bride posing with four friends in the boat cabin at night, all of them smiling arm in arm under the warm lights

Lit canal houses reflected in the boat window at night, empty tables after the wedding celebration

Blue Hour

We finished outside as the sky turned deep blue. One by one, the canal houses lit up, and their reflections trembled in the water. In the end, a wedding on the water finishes the way it began: with Amsterdam as part of the story.

Row of gabled canal houses lit at night, their warm windows reflected in the still water of the canal

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