Getting married in Czechia: Trends, tips, and advice from a wedding planner to the stars

Old World charm, historical cities, beautiful villas by the mountains, and even castles, no matter what your dream wedding looks like, the Czech Republic’s got it – and summer through September is prime time for getting married in Czechia.

Andrea Hanušová Hamanová, owner of Exclusive Weddings in Prague (EWiP) has organized weddings for around 700 clients from all around the world. She says Prague is still a top destination for weddings and that 2022 has been a particularly busy year for tying the knot.

“After Covid, there are really many weddings, so these days it's important to start working on the wedding planning at least six months in advance so that all goes smoothly with the venue and vendors,” she explains. 

Having planned the 2014 Prague wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kayne West’s stylist (the famous reality TV stars were invited to the event) as well as weddings for the son of Sir Nicholas Winton, people close to U.S. presidents, couples from the International Monetary Fund, hockey players, and football players, she knows what she's talking about.

She says a wedding planner can be a huge help, especially if you're living in another country and overseeing the festivities remotely. Wedding planners can also help you navigate the paperwork and legalities while ensuring that everything about your special day goes according to plan.

According to Andrea, wedding trends in 2022 are divided. “On the one hand, people want gardens, natural weddings; on the other, it's opulence with luxury venues and really big weddings,” she explains. “People could not see each other for many months because of Covid and now they just want to enjoy it.” She says couples are also very focused on the small details.

While these general trends prevail, she adds that sometimes there's a wedding client who wants a completely unique (and sometimes not very realistic) experience.

“One couple asked me to close the whole riverbank in Prague so they could use it for a festive arrival on elephants, while another couple wanted our president to declare the groom a lord,” Andrea says. “A few couples wanted to close and hire the entire Prague Castle for their nuptials.” 

Hiring a wedding planner gives you the advantage of creating a wholly unique experience. Recently, Andrea organized a massive wedding that lasted three days and had 450 guests. The couple, both from India, wanted a traditional Indian wedding with a European twist. 

“Traditionally the first night is the welcoming, the second night is sangeet – a dancing party – and the last night is the actual ceremony and farewell dinner, which consists of a buffet, not a traditional dinner,” Andrea explains. “We brought a florist from India and hired local people to help her; we also organized a different venue for each of the three nights and a different venue for the actual ceremony.” 

Andrea also organized the recent wedding party of a couple with a budget of CZK 20 million and a request of “nothing traditional, nothing white, just do something unique.”

The end result? National Theater Ballet soloists choreographed special dances for the couple, cognac and vintage champagne were served, and rings were delivered via a box airdropped from the sky. The main event was a unicorn, a special wish from the bride. 

While you may not be looking for a unicorn or elephant to appear at the festivities, a wedding planner can still help you do everything from planning and organizing the event itself to streamlining a lot of the bureaucracy and planning while relieving the stress of having to negotiate everything on your own. Here are several ways wedding planner can help:  

Although the paperwork needed for a wedding isn’t necessarily difficult to get, it can take time – and if you’re dealing with it on your own, there’s always the issue of the language barrier when visiting government offices. 

Whether you are a non-EU citizen marrying a Czech national, an EU citizen marrying a Czech national, or two non-Czech persons marrying one another, you will need to fill out the “Questionnaire for Entering into Marriage” and the “Protocol on Contracting the Marriage” forms.

These two documents are essential to guarantee that a marriage performed in the Czech Republic will be later recognized in your own country. The forms can be obtained from and filed at the obecní úřad/matrika offices in the district where the couple plans to marry. For church ceremonies, go directly to the officiating church authority.

Additional documents needed

In some cases, the paperwork can take up to six months to process, but the usual time involved is approximately one to two months. It’s also worth noting that some of the documents necessary for filing the marriage application have limited validity.

Because you may need to do a little leg work to obtain certain documents from your home country, you should build in plenty of time before the wedding to accommodate any unexpected surprises. A wedding planner can help work out a timeline and keep on top of the various deadlines that are an essential part of the process.

The Czech Republic might just be the perfect dream destination for a wedding, so why not start planning yours soon?