5 Essential Steps to Plan a Wedding in Vienna

A wedding is one of the biggest events in our lives and we want it to be memorable and beautiful. Below you will find detailed information with all the steps to plan a wedding in Vienna. Every city and country has its specific locations, venues, and processes required to arrange everything smoothly.

Why plan a wedding in Vienna

Vienna is a beautiful and romantic city with a rich cultural heritage and if you plan to travel here for your wedding, you made a good choice! It’s a unique experience that would be hard to replicate and not many cities may offer you a greater variety of options to choose from when planning a wedding. There is a lot of beautiful imperial architecture along with scenic landscaped and well maintained parks. From rustic to elegant and vintage-style weddings, you can find the right venue and photoshoot locations. If you plan an elopement, there are hills covered with grapes plantations and mountains just a little further to the west.

Step 1: Legal requirements to plan a wedding in Vienna

The first thing you want to do is to get ready legally. Then what people usually do, is contact venues first to check when they are available. Then you just need to book a ceremony appointment on one of the available days and book the wedding venue right after.

It’s fairly easy to get your marriage registered in Vienna. You just need to get a bit of paperwork and a book an appointment at a local registry office. Though the first part is easy, the appointments are often booked months in advance and you may have to first book it on the closest available date and only then search for a venue. Here are some things to note:

• Birth Certificates: Legally you need to provide your birth certificates in order to get married in Vienna, Austria.

• Proof of Identity: A valid passport or Driver’s license with your name and address (Just to have it on the checklist we mention it here).

• A wedding Application is required to be submitted to a registry office.

• Witnesses: There should be 2 witnesses, over 18 years old and they should also have proof of identity with them.

• Marriage Registration in Vienna: Standesamt issues a wedding certificate for you, right after your wedding is completed, legally confirming your marriage in Vienna.
• If your German skills are not the best, you may need a translator as the ceremony should be done in German.

If you live in Vienna you can contact your Standesamt directly or go to https://www.wien.gv.at/amtshelfer/dokumente/lebensgemeinschaft/ehe/eheschliessung.html and click on the button to book your appointment online.

Once these formalities are done, most couples feel a huge sense of relief — and that’s often when they start thinking seriously about how they want their story to be photographed. Many of my couples begin with a relaxed couple or engagement session, like this romantic engagement photoshoot at Belvedere and Hofburg, before moving on to the next step of planning their engagement photos.

How to reserve a date

2024 Legal fees: 70-170€ to get married at the register office or 500-600€ for holding the ceremony at a different venue.

In Vienna, you can get married at one of the 5 register offices (german: Standesamt), or one of the many approved external venues – the so-called Dream Wedding venues (german: Traumhochzeitslocations). The marriage date reservation process is different, depending on where you want to marry. Let’s start with the marriages at the register office.

Getting married at the Register office

Getting married at the register office and then going for reception to a venue is a straightforward choice that many couples make. Have a look at this Vienna city centre wedding gallery for an example of how such a wedding could look like. If at least one of the partners has a residence in Austria, then you can simply book your wedding date at the register office online via the official web page of the city of Vienna. 

The online booking window is open for dates that are 1-6 months in the future. So on July 15th one can book starting from August 15th and until January 15th. One may be able to book a date within less than one month, but only in person. Note that the register offices are only open on weekdays. The dates usually fill up quickly, even in low season, so the best approach is to settle on a day more than 6 months in advance and make your reservation early in the morning, as soon as it becomes available exactly 6 months in advance.

It’s also possible to book your wedding day in person at the register office of your choice, between 8:00 and 12:00 on weekdays. Make sure to arrange your appointment by sending them an email. You can find the contacts of Vienna’s register offices at the bottom of this page.

After the initial date reservation, you will have 14 days to submit all the required documents and fix your date. The required documents depend on your citizenship and living situation and can be checked via this online form (in German only).

Getting married at a “dream wedding venue”

Organising your wedding at a different venue involves a bit more steps, but the process is still fairly straightforward. Make sure to start planning in advance.

First, you should arrange your date with the “Dream Weddings” division. They only hold ceremonies at certain times. Contact them by phone or via email to check if your date is available (contacts and wedding times can be found here).

Next, you’ll need to book your ideal venue (see step 4 for more help with this), but if you want to have your ceremony there, it has to be one of Vienna’s officially approved “dream wedding venues”. Here is the PDF of all approved venues, with their respective addresses and contacts, organised by area (Bezirk). Now, of course going through all the venues on the list like this doesn’t make sense. Instead, we suggest you look through the venue aggregator websites listed in section 2, select your favourites and check back with this list to see which ones are suitable for holding the ceremony.

When your venue and date are reserved, you can present the documents to apply for a marriage. You can check which documents are needed in your situation via this online form (in German only).

Can foreigners get married in Vienna?

Don’t forget: if you are a foreigner who comes to Vienna for a destination wedding, you might also have to translate some of your documents into German and have these certified copies with you.

Aside from that, all foreigners planning a destination wedding in Vienna can contact the department responsible for that at  touristenhochzeit@ma63.wien.gv.at  (Please also mention your Full name, preferred date, your civil status, home address, nationality and country of birth).

Many international couples choose Vienna for their destination weddings or elopements. If you’re planning something similar, you may enjoy this romantic elopement photoshoot in Vienna as an example of how simple and beautiful these weddings can be.

Step 2: Plan Engagement Photos

Many couples choose to celebrate their engagement by doing a pre-wedding photoshoot. This is a good chance to get to know your photographer, take more intimate portraits without the stress of the wedding day on your shoulders, and get a bit used to being in front of the camera. Some couples even use one of the photos for their wedding invitations.

TopThere are many ways to approach your engagement photoshoot, and good photographers will be happy to offer guidance and ideas as to how to make yours reflect your love story. You can start with a theme and ask your photographer to pick locations for you, like we did in this love story photoshoot bridging the distance, where we captured the couple’s long-distance relationship story through a series of photographs that grow warmer as they move closer to each other.

Not every shoot has to be this conceptual, and another popular approach is to choose some locations that you like to simply make beautiful portraits there. For example, if you like architecture and classical art, the historical centre of Vienna is a great choice, like in this pre-wedding Vienna photoshoot shot next to the State Opera, the Hofburg Palace, and Volksgarten Park.

For the active types and romantics in love with nature, Vienna also has many fantastic places to offer. Wienerberg is a huge park that has some stunning landscapes and even a lake, as you can see in this golden-hour couple photoshoot gallery. For more inspiration and location ideas, check out these guides: Top List of Quiet Engagement Spots in the Vienna City Centre and 5 Beautiful Nature Locations for Wedding Photos in Vienna.

Your pre-wedding or engagement photoshoot might be the first step to set the mood and theme for your wedding. Next, let’s explore what themes there are and how to choose one.

Step 3: Choose a Theme for your Wedding

Some people simply want to celebrate their day without any specific theme, others plan to have a certain style of wedding. Every wedding is unique and you have all the creative freedom to decorate as you wish, but you can also use some theme guidance to start with. Having a general theme in mind will help you make decisions quicker and feel less overwhelmed in the planning process.

It doesn’t have to be too complicated, as the choice of outfits, postcards and locations mostly determine the overall style. Some venues have a very distinct style, which can make things easier, as additional decorations are not really needed to set the mood. On the other hand, you’ll have less freedom to pick things out according to your taste, as you’ll have to stick to the pre-selected theme. Take a look at this gallery from an alternative Austrian wedding shoot at a vintage-style venue, where the scene is set by the bold interior.

Popular wedding themes

Things to consider when choosing style and decorations for your wedding

• Choose a colour palette with up to 5 colours in which the venue and other locations will be decorated. One great tool for generating color palettes is Coolors.
• One good way to select your dream wedding theme and style is by making moodboards. Start by making a Pinterest board for wedding inspiration, where you’ll be pinning all the images that speak to you. Don’t do it all in one go, but let things sit and sink in for a couple of weeks. Some images will spark ideas for more detailed searches. After some time, you’ll start to notice patterns in what you like and don’t like, and the platform will help you see what your favourite styles are called.
• A pre-wedding or engagement photoshoot can help you explore a style before committing to it for your whole wedding. For example, the couple from this elegant lovers photoshoot in Vienna’s city centre chose a classic style that matched the city’s historic architecture and was further shaped by the warm light of a summer day. Seeing photos of yourself like this can help you imagine what a wedding with a similar style could look and feel like.
• Of course, your wedding outfits are one of the main highlights of the chosen style. However, don’t forget to pay attention to the small details as well: even the fonts of your menus and invitations will play a role.
• In addition to google search, we suggest you to also search for specific vendors on social media. Both instagram and facebook are very active, and you can find a lot of different vendors of any type there. There’s a lot to choose from and you’ll have to spend the time looking through many options for the businesses that align with your taste.
• On used decorations: the dark side of the wedding industry is in the enormous waste it creates with single-use decorations. While it may be easy to order a bunch of new stuff online in bulk, a more conscious choice is buying used. You can look through flea markets or online marketplaces like Willhaben. There are also several groups specifically for selling wedding decorations in the German-speaking part of Europe. They are usually called Hochzeitsflohmarkt, here is one and another one.

What is the Best time to get married in Vienna?

As everywhere, most people get married during the months between April and October, but each season is different and has a different charm to it. Currently, Vienna is quite hot during the summer and does not have much snow during the winter. Let’s quickly look at the pros and cons of each choice. For a more detailed discussion, have a look at our guide to the best times and seasons for wedding photos in Vienna.

Winter

Some years ago, the climate was different, and people considered winter a wonderful, snowy, and festive time when it was cold outside but very cosy and quiet. Last winter, unfortunately, we had only two weeks of snow in total. So, as you are planning a winter wedding, consider an indoor location, as it might be 0 degrees Celsius outside. Though Vienna mostly has nice weather, its winters aren’t snowy enough for a fairytale atmosphere.

Luckily Vienna has many nice locations that are suitable for the weddings during the winter time.

Spring

Spring in Vienna will greet you warmly with plenty of blossoms. In our opinion, it’s one of the best times to get married in Vienna as nature awakens after winter, it’s not the busiest period, and it’s not too hot. It’s rare for the temperature to go above 25 degrees during spring, making it the most comfortable time here.

Summer

Summer is also a nice time to get married. Although in our region the temperature gets up to +37 making it very hot, but especially if you plan to celebrate your wedding next to a water basin it will most probably be not too hot and sunny.

For a wedding in the summer, you may have to plan a little more ahead as many venues and registry offices are booked 2 months in advance.

Autumn

Again as the heat goes down and nature paints itself in orange, we have one of the nicest times to get married in Vienna. Vienna’s autumn is usually quite sunny and mild, at the same time all the colours of the fallen leaves add to the atmosphere. Especially if you are planning on some specific wedding theme which includes the hues of orange in your colour palette, it may play its role.

Step 4: Book your Wedding Venue

Viennese wedding venues are largely historical/vintage, but there are also some very modern options and ones that combine both styles. You can also find many locations in or close parks or on rooftop terraces, and many of these make for a great location for your wedding couple portraits. For inspiration, check out the 6 best garden locations for wedding photoshoots in Vienna. Overall, there is a range of venues to suit every couple, and the nature around the city is also stunning for those searching for rustic-style or boho wedding locations.

Once you have received confirmation of your wedding appointment, it’s time to book your wedding venue. There are plenty of options in and around Vienna, so to make the choice easier, we’ve put together a guide to the best wedding venues in Vienna, with practical notes on services, logistics and features, as well as notes on mood/atmosphere.

Make sure that your chosen venue fits the requirements of the registry office (as explained in Step 1: Legal requirements), especially if you’re planning to hold the ceremony outside a traditional Standesamt.

Making a big celebration in a privately booked venue is not for everyone. Some couples choose to celebrate away from the big city alone or in a small circle of closest friends and family. If your ideal dates in Vienna are already booked, going to a register office somewhere else in Austria could be a good chance to create a unique intimate celebration. This elopement in an Austrian Alpine city of Klagenfurt shows how such a day could look like: a private ceremony at the register office and a walk by the lake.

Step 5: Hire your wedding professionals

How much does a wedding cost in Vienna?

The budgets for weddings in Vienna vary a lot depending on the size and style of the wedding. But the biggest prices you usually pay are for restaurants and venues and the price is usually calculated per person. You may most likely expect the price of 200€ per guest.

• Small weddings may cost about €5000-7000 where half of it will be for the restaurant and the rest for the wedding dress, decoration, transport and other expenses.
• Mid-size weddings with 60-80 guests will cost €15000-20000
• Big weddings with more than 100 guests and luxury venues can have budgets of up to €35000-45000.

Choosing a wedding photographer

Choosing the right wedding photographer is crucial, as the photos from your special day will be cherished for a lifetime. Each photographer has their unique style, with many focusing on a classic approach that captures your wedding clearly and documents all the important moments.

It’s essential to connect with your photographer to ensure you get pictures that you will truly treasure. To find the perfect match, look for a photographer who works in a style you love. A well-defined style often indicates a high level of professionalism. During your initial call with a photographer, you’ll have the opportunity to determine if their approach and personality aligns with your vision.

For more detailed guidance, see our guide on how to choose a wedding photographer.

At Comet Photography, we approach each wedding like a small art project, capturing its key moments from different angles and paying attention to all the little details that make your day. When editing, we begin with our signature style and then subtly adjust the colours to reflect the atmosphere of the day. The final gallery is then arranged to tell the story of the wedding as if it were composed from film stills. If you’re curious about this approach, see our article about cinematic wedding photography.

Conclusion

When everything is in place, it’s time to invite everyone and get ready for you wedding day. Get your wedding bouquet, a dress and a costume and wait for the day to arrive.

Hope we listed all the steps to plan a wedding in Vienna and it will help you to get the whole process go smoothly. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help you!

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Steps To Plan A Wedding in Vienna By Comet Photography