STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Christmas Walk in Amsterdam Before the Wedding

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 8 November 2026

On their Christmas walk through Amsterdam, he smiles toward the camera as she laughs up at him, under a bare tree hung with lights

Zara and Kian grew up in South Africa and have lived in the Netherlands for a few years. They were planning their wedding back home, surrounded by family. First, though, they wanted a Christmas walk before the wedding, in the city that had become their second home.

They booked the Engagement Photoshoot, one of my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam. I planned a short route: lit canal bridges, a Christmas market and the shopping streets nearby. All they had to bring was a warm coat.

Lit Trees Along the Canal

We met on a canal bridge on a gray December afternoon. Strings of lights wound around the bare trees, and the wet street shone. Zara wore a cream knit hat with a pompom, a long gray tweed coat and a big checked scarf. Kian had a flat cap, a camel trench coat and a patterned scarf. So, without planning it, they matched the season.

Start of a Christmas walk on an Amsterdam canal bridge, she in a cream pompom hat and checked scarf, lit trees along the wet canal

By the bikes on the railing, they kissed under a tree full of lights. Then Kian leaned on the railing next to her, with the canal and a church spire behind them.

Kiss by the bikes on a canal railing under a big tree wrapped in Christmas lights, a white canal house across the street

Leaning on a bridge railing during their Christmas walk, he in a flat cap and trench coat, she in a pompom hat, a church spire behind

Mulled Wine by the Ice Rink

Next, we went to a Christmas market, where skaters circled an ice rink beside a tall tree. Zara and Kian bought mulled wine and sat on a wooden ledge by the rink. Afterward, they wandered under the big market tree, talking and laughing in the crowd.

Sitting together on a wooden ledge at the ice rink, she holds a paper cup as his gloved hands wrap around her, a small fir tree beside them

Laughing with cups of mulled wine under the tall tree of an Amsterdam Christmas market, strings of bulbs overhead

Back at the rink, Zara leaned into his arms with her cup, while the skaters kept circling behind them.

She leans back into his arms with a cup of mulled wine by the ice rink, skaters and a Christmas tree soft in the background — A Christmas market with an ice rink, in December

At a wooden stall hung with icicle lights, they stood close over their cups. I took a step back and let the warm glow of the stall frame them.

Close and laughing over two paper cups at a market stall, warm bulbs above them, her knit hat and his dark flat cap

Sharing a warm cup in front of a wooden mulled wine stall hung with icicle lights, a small fir tree at the edge of the frame

A Christmas Walk Before the Wedding

From the market, we walked into the shopping streets, where strings of lights crossed above our heads. Kian told me about the wedding: a big day in South Africa, with friends and family from both sides. This Christmas walk before the wedding was just for the two of them.

A Christmas walk hand in hand down an Amsterdam shopping street strung with lights, lit shop windows and bikes along the pavement

Holding hands on their Christmas walk along a wet canal street, looking back, bare trees with lights and an arched bridge ahead

For a moment, Zara rested her head on his shoulder and laughed at something he said. Quiet frames like this one often end up on wedding invitations, and theirs did too.

Her head on his shoulder as he kisses her hat, both smiling, Christmas lights strung across the street behind them

Sparklers at a Shop Door

Hug in an Amsterdam shop doorway framed by lit stars and small Christmas trees, a wrapped gift box on the red carpet beside them

Further on, a shop door glowed with lit stars, small Christmas trees and a wrapped present on a red carpet. They stopped there for a hug. Then Kian pulled a pack of sparklers from his coat pocket.

Two sparklers throwing bright sparks in the foreground, the couple soft and smiling behind them, her knit hat and his flat cap

Sparklers in hand under lit stars at a shop front, cheek to cheek and smiling, small Christmas trees glowing by the door

A sparkler burns for less than a minute, so we worked fast. First I focused on the sparks, then on their faces, and I let the lit stars melt into soft dots. The last sparkler ended in a kiss.

Kiss behind a sparkler, her pompom hat against his flat cap, golden stars made of lights glowing over the shop door

From behind, her hands with dark red nails and a ring wrapped around his neck, strings of lights blurred across the street

Between the stars and the brick wall, Zara held his face and laughed.

She holds his face and laughs against a brick wall, a lit star and a small Christmas tree glowing behind them

Up close, I also caught her ring, her dark red nails and their two watches side by side.

Her ring and two watches up close on their Christmas walk, his arms around her tweed coat and checked scarf

A Last Christmas Walk Into the Evening

By then it was dark, and the streets were full of people heading home. Arm in arm, they walked past a café and under the lights.

Arm in arm past a lit café in the dark, a Christmas walk under strings of lights, a cyclist passing in the street

At a quiet corner, Zara stepped ahead and reached back for his hand. That was the last frame of their Christmas walk before the wedding: the two of them, a lit street and a city they will always come back to.

Last frame of the walk: she reaches back for his hand at a dark street corner, Christmas lights strung between the houses — A shopping street after dark, lights strung across it

Planning winter photos of your own? My guide to a Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam covers the season, the lights and what to wear.

Engaged and planning the next step? Discover how my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam work.