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Attending Austrian Wedding

We will be attending an Austrian wedding in Graz. Any suggestions on what to wear or give as a gift? Should my husband plan on wearing a suit and tie? Or a sport coat and tie? Or something else? For a gift, do you think we can just give them cash? Maybe 100euros? Are there any other customs or traditions that we should be aware of? It looks like they are having a civil ceremony in a park, then a religious ceremony in a Catholic church, then a dinner reception in a small castle.

Posted by
1589 posts

Shall we assume that you have asked these questions to the couple involved ( or a member of their family ) ?

Posted by
2779 posts

Austrians tend to be more formal than Germans. Other than that it will be a typical catholic German wedding. If you cannot ask about the dressing code your husband should be weaing a black suit, white shirt, black or silver tie, black leather shoes (with leather soles). You should be wearing a dress and shoes that go with your husband's style. In many parts of Austria it's customary that the "hand-over" of the bride from the father to the groom takes place at midnight (before the wedding). Also what I've seen twice was that at the reception the dance is opened with - of course - the Blue Danube Waltz by the bride and the groom but that then after a couple of minutes other male friends get to dance with the bride as well - for money (to get their new life funded). A child or two with a basket would be standing along side and your husband would drop in a 20 or a 50 for a short dance with the bride. If you haven't been told otherwise your gift should be money. €100 is a nice idea. And it's appreciated if it comes with something personal of you. For example you could take a picture of the two of you on the lawn of Alamo Square with the nice houses and the skyline in the back (as ALL Europeans love this picture) and you find a natural place where a rolled-up 100 euro bill could later on be put on that picture... like you pretend to be leaning against a giant money bill or something like this... Of course your friends could be completely different but generally speaking Graz is a city of culture and upper class life style...