When arranging a wedding in one of the world's most iconic destinations - the European Alps - there is a lot of options and budget categories available. With careful and considerate planning, you can enjoy a breathtaking experience even without ruining your budget
Many couples dream of saying "I do" surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks, historic castles or elegant alpine chalets. Yet one of the first questions almost every couple asks is not: Oh darling, what dress should I wear, but….
We all need to admit that: Independent of how romantic a wedding in this beautiful destination might be, our lives are also framed by some kind of economic limits, and overstretching them might cause some feelings of distress.
For sure, couples and their families are often prepared to throw in some extra spending for what should be one of the most significant days in their lives – but that should not end in your house, as a future homebase of your family, will need to get sold because you completely overdid it by inviting U2…, no but wait – we don’t need to be overly dramatic, we just want to make sure that an alpine destination wedding leaves everyone fully satisfied. Ideally, you should know you have spent enough to get all the thrills, beauty, comfort you were looking for, but on the other hand, you can also sleep peacefully before and after as you came up with a budget you can well accommodate to, and which is not a financial Russian roulette.
There is a lot of ways to inflate or save on your budget. But the interesting thing about the Alps is that ‘luxury ‘ not always and automatically means ‘empty pockets’. You should have a rough idea in mind on
- Where
- When
- How many elements/services
- What quality level of these elements/services?
You should see these four points as a kind of configurator. You can shift some in the direction ‘more expensive’, but reduce others to equalize that. But, as I indicated above, there is a fifth element in the Alps, and that is the question of
- What defines luxury for you?
With careful considerations and planning, the Alps offer exceptional value compared to many luxury wedding destinations worldwide
Lets start at the beginning: What of course matters is the ‘where’. This is not only the country, but also the specific region, and within the region, even the precise location.
In general terms, for the countries where Mont-e-Val offers its services, Switzerland is the most expensive (by a good 20% on average), whereas the other regions, i.e. South Tyrol /Northern Italy, Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Bavaria are in general at a similar price level.
But then there are differences within the country. As anywhere else in the World, prices roughly grow with attractiveness of the region. Within Switzerland, the Zermatt area is probably the most expensive. But you get to see the Matterhorn, one of the most iconic mountains in the World. On the other hand, other beautiful mountains and peaks can be gazed at in other valleys for maybe half the price, so it is a question of personal wants. And there are beautiful valleys in the Alps which just happen to be less touristic than other, often nearby valleys, offering the same or better quality, less crowds, and for less money.
So, personal preference is quite important. In case you want to necessarily marry with the Matterhorn standing guard in the background, and you have a budget X, you may afford maybe only 3 days in a 3 or 4 star hotel, while the same money X could buy you five nights in a five-star hotel somewhere else in the Alps. So one should start by putting some thoughts to the question if you have some ‘no-negotiable’ things you want to see, or whether you are a bot more flexible, or just more open.
Seaons do influence prices in other regions as well, but the Alps are probably one of the fewer areas where you have two distinct peak seasons, one on winter, and the other in summer. Winter season is specifically expensive in and around ski resorts such as St. Moritz, Zermatt, Gstaad (all in Switzerland), Lech/Zuers/Arlberg or Kitzbuehel in Austria, the Dolomites region in Italy or Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria.
Skiing is hugely popular in Europe, and in many of the well known resorts rooms are hard to get of you start looking just a few weeks before your trip between Christmas and at least end of March. The most expensive time is between Christmas and New Year, and into the first week of January, where average prices might be twice as high as the annual average.
Then again, if you love winter but don’t want to ski, you find beautiful calm valleys and villages for winter walks, cross- country skiing and other calm activities for much less cost than in the bigger ski resorts.
Summer tends to be the second most expensive season across most areas in the Alps, but then of course summer comes with lost of amenities, like the possibility to swim in beautiful alpine lakes, and enjoy your breakfast and dinner outside, which in other seasons is most likely too chilly to do. And of course you have the long nights, festivities, celebrations and the overall joy for life that the Alpine folks also love to display during this season.
With the above in mind, it leaves spring and fall as the money-saving options, while both boast with beautiful impressions. In the Alps, these intermediate-seasons often mean you get two in one, with winter still (in spring) or already present in higher elevations, while the lower valleys are already covered in flowers and fresh green (in spring), or clad in beautiful red, orange and yellow in fall.
Both seasons for me also carry an added level of mystery, as spring shows the power and energy of new life winning over winter in an ever-increasing area, while in fall, one can witness how life slowly turns to the interior, and how people and nature prepare for what’s ahead. One also gets empty spaces, specifically in October and November, when tourism is lowest. The air also tends to be super-clean and crisp, which is a fantastic source of energy.
This is a big question, money- and otherwise. But to start with calming good news: fewer services doesn’t mean more boredom. On the opposite end, there is basically no limit. Lets start from and with the basics. You probably want and need an accommodation for your and your guests.
Next comes a location for your (symbolic) ceremony. If you are of Christian face, you may want to have a church service. Then you probably need to have some drinks, coffee and your wedding cake, and you most likely also want to have a location for the evening celebrations. In terms of size and scope, this of course depends on the number of guests you involve in.
Most couples would consider the above as a good base. So we do have 1-2 different locations, catering, and some decoration. We talk about the ‘luxury level’ below. Here its only about ‘ingredients’ and choices. Because of course you can add: You may start with a VIP airport pick-up, and VIP shuttle to your destination. You may actually go by helicopter, or with a pretty vintage convertible.
You can add a wedding band for the afternoon, and a piano player for the evening, followed by a party-band for the night. Or have a DJ instead, for much lower fares. How about fireworks? Hair dresser and make-up professional? A horse carriage to take you from the church to your photosession site. And so on. This list is near-endless. So two things to say: If your budget allows, you can add whatever you want, basically. The Alpine regions are high-quality destinations as far as these services are concerned, and you will find world-class service deliveries for almost anything. But…you don’t need to.
You can enjoy your dream weddings in an alpine drea resort without much fuzz, and just enjoy what you really love: A good site for your ceremony, and either the same or a different one for your evening celebration. Beautiful decoration must not be a budget killer, as is the case for fantastic food. If you do the logistics smart enough, you also don’t need to overspend on shuttle services etc. Now we are ripe to talk about luxury:
This is a bit more of a philosophical question, but still a very pragmatic one: What defines (alpine) luxury for you? Do you want the 5-star hotel, with the five star catering service? Rest assured, this is available in many regions of the Alps. But maybe…luxury for you is about having time, peace, and the comfort of hearing…nothing except some birds and insects. And maybe one way of feeling this best is in a much simpler accommodation, and you may just deeply enjoy some alpine food specialities, which tend to come relatively cheap.
So it could well be that you get a super-luxury alpine wedding that comes at relative little cost. At Mont-e-Val we work with locations that can accommodate both fields: The highly sophisticated 5star+ locations and catering, while I also love working with hotels that are of a somewhat lower ‘luxury rating’, but that still offer charming, personalized services – and are located in areas that will leave you breathless.
So…if you read until here, you will realize that my heading ‘typical wedding budget’ is bogus, as there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ budget. Nevertheless, I’d like you to give some parameters for you to have some idea what costs are involved:
Item
Typical Cost
Wedding planner €4,000–10,000
Venue €5,000–20,000
Catering €150–350 per guest
Photography €1,500–7,000
Flowers €2,000–8,000
Music €1,500–5,000
Hair & Make-up €500–1,500
Transportation Very variable: taxi, shuttle…or helicopter?
Now, lets talk about the number of guests
5-10 people
€10,000–40,000
40 guests
€35,000–70,000
100+ guests
€80,000+
One also needs to take into account additional costs that are not directly related to the wedding budget per se - but may appear in some way.
Yes, you most certainly can. In line with what was described above, there is a number of parameters or regulators you can play with - and alter costs. There is no reason really to 'go cheap', in the sense of ordering this badly looking cake, or ugly flowers. Instead one may choose to go for
A wedding planner can provide you with a wide set of option, based on what you really want. In addition, a destination wedding planner from the Alps can guide you to the right spots, give you recommendations not only about locations, but also how they, in interrelationship with seasons etc. influence the price. Getting to the budget that you want with all the elements in mind is normally something where a collaboration with an Alpine Destination Wedding Planner makes a lot of sense. For your budget and a piece of mind.
As I have described, an Alpine wedding is possible across various budget ranges—from a stylish elopement ceremony to an exclusive multi-day celebration; from a smaller, cozy, calm hotel during off-season to a fancy top location during New Year. You have a lot of leverage on what you seek, and on what and how you sepnd your anticipated budget.
This is precisely where Mont-e-Val can help you: not by organizing the most expensive wedding, but by creating one that perfectly aligns with your wishes.
Mont-e-Val Private Escapes
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany
info@mont-e-val.com
www.mont-e-val.com
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