Destination Wedding Switzerland

Destination Wedding in Switzerland | Getting Married in Switzerland

Hi, and welcome to the Destination Wedding Guide to Switzerland!

This website is a contribution to inform you about the possibilities of getting married in Switzerland. Whether you're contemplating a civil ceremony, a church ceremony, a ceremony out of the ordinary, your honeymoon, a pre-wedding photo shoot, a post-wedding chillout - you've reached the right place top be informed first hand.

Well, here goes! First, Switzerland is a great choice to get married, because it has literally hunderds of beautiful locations suitable for weddings!

You can get married on a mountain top, on or at a lake, in an igloo, in a forest, in a castle, in an old and historic building, in a gorgeous chapel or church, on a beautiful meadow and more.

In Switzerland, there is a diffentiation between

a civil marriage, which is legally binding, and is carried out by the numerous civil registries around the country in the official marriage locales only. You'll find more information on the unofficial Swiss Civil Marriage website; All sorts of marriage locales all over the contry are available and I will not duplicate any of them here.
a wedding ritual, which can be held anywhere (a mountain, church, castle or backyard), can have any religious base, and has no legal implication. However, any ritualistic marriage ceremony must take place after the official civil ceremony. Since civil ceremonies are short (20-30 minutes tops) and sometimes dry affairs, or due to religious reasons, couples opt to have a ritual which normally takes about an hour.

So the options available to you are:

Only have a civil marriage in Switzerland
Have both a civil marriage and a wedding ritual in Switzerland
Have a civil marriage in your country and a wedding ritual and celebrations in Switzerland
Have a civil marriage in Switzerland and a wedding ritual and celebrations in your country
Have both a civil marriage and a wedding ritual in Switzerland and celebrations in your country.

Let me know if you any questions not answered here or suggestions for further additions. Please use the contact details on the footer of this page.

Disclaimer: Use any and all information on this website at your own risk. I assume no responsibility for anything.

Schloss Lenzburg

September 7th, 2010

Castles are usually nice locations for weddings. Of those castles open to the public and allowing weddings, I define three categories:

very attractive
so-so
blah.

I’d put Schloss Lenzburg (Schloss means castle) in category 2.

It lies on a small hill just above the town of Lenzburg near Zurich. You can have your marriage ceremony both outdoors and indoors, even with an option for both: outdoors, and should the weather turn unfavourable, the option to move inside.

Schloss Lenzburg is quite popular for weddings, so be prepared that your wedding party might not be the only one around. The outdoor ceremony takes place on the Bastion, which is just above the Rose Garden. The indoor ceremonies can take place in one of the large halls.

Schloss Lenzburg from the road below

The path leading up and the entrance gate

The inner courtyard. receptions can be held here

The bastion, prepared for an outdoor wedding

Another view of the bastion

Kategorie Castle, Ceremony Location, Indoor, Outdoor | Kommentieren »

Restaurant Heuwiese, Weite

September 7th, 2010

Near Sargans, just on the border across the Rhein river from Liechtenstein’s Vaduz lies Weite, in the middle of nowhere. Restaurant Heuwiese is there, and the meadow just outside the Restaurant makes for a nice and peaceful ceremony location. A reception, lunch or dinner can be had in the restaurant, of course.

There are literally hundreds of restaurant locations in Switzerland which would be suitable for a wedding, so this is just one example. You don’t really need that much to pull it off: a romantic location, a ceremony officiant, some chairs or benches – perhaps with white coverings, some decoration like flowers and perhaps a band, a musician or a DJ for a bit of emotional music.

A wedding setting on the meadow just outside the restaurant

A dinner setting in the restaurant

Theres also a pergola ouside which is sheltered against rain

The decorated fountain in the pergola

Kategorie Outdoor, Restaurant | Kommentieren »

Igloo Wedding, Trübsee

August 25th, 2010

High up the mountain on the way up to famous Mt. Titlis is the cable-car station of Trübsee. A short walk will take you to small “village” of 3 igloos, built at the start of Winter and melting at the onset of Spring, when the temperatures rise.

One of the Igloos is used for wedding ceremonies; it has a intimate atmosphere and you will find a number of ice sculptures and roses-in-ice adorning the interior. Other areas include a bar, a dining area, several rooms (yes, you can spend the night in the igloos) and there is even a hot whirlpool.

Outside, you have opportunities to ski, hike and take the next rotating cablecar up to Titlis.

You start the trip from Engelberg, where you park at the Titlisbahn base-station.

More information here.

The 3 igloos from the outside, lower left

The ice altar of the church igloo, where ceremonies take place

The entrance of the church igloo. Note the ice seats and the fur for warmth

The dining area

Part of the bar

Entrance of one of the rooms where you can stay overnight

View of one of the sleeping quarters

Kategorie Ceremony Location, Indoor | Kommentieren »

Paxmal, Walenstadt

February 13th, 2009

Swiss artist Karl Bickel constructed the Paxmal high up over the Walensee lake at Schrina-Hochrugg from 1924 to 1949 using his own labor and funds. It is reminiscent of a house of worship, with a walled courtyard with no roof containing a water pool and a covered “altar” area with a neo-Greek entrance, although it was not designed nor is used as a house of worship.

All the inside walls are adorned by large mosaics celebrating the family, work and old age.

Note that the covered area is very small, it ends right at the wall behind the columns, so you’re out of luck should there be rain. Ceremonies take place in the uncovered courtyard by the water pool.

The Paxmal, with the uncovered courtyard and covered facade

The site has a unique atmosphere to it, being rather quiet and peaceful, with the Walensee visible down the steep mountainside as well the mountains on the opposite side of the narrow valley. Looking up are the craggy tops of the Churfirsten range.

Directions: I couldn’t locate a map to the site nor find driving directions from my navigator (Schrina-Hochrugg is a geographic spot, not a town), so I had to ask locally. You start from Walenstadt and head for the restaurant Krone there. Take the small road uphill, it’s called Bergstrasse. The road will get narrower and narrower and at some point cars cannot pass each other, so always make a mental note of the last passing point in case you have to back up. The road is steep as well, so it isn’t something for the faint of heart. You won’t any signs to the Paxmal until you’re fairly near. There is a fork at one point, take the road heading towards the Sanatorium (Ruggstrasse). The last couple of hundred meters is not tarred. There is a small parking lot at the end, although if it’s full you will need to head back to park lower down and hike up.

At the top, where the road ends at the car-park, follow the sign indicating Paxmal and you’ll reach after a 5 minute walk. A spot just next to the top parking lot is used by para-gliders to jump off making the road up busier than what would be caused by the tourists to the Paxmal alone.

Looking in the other direction, the Walensee below and mountains beyond