You've decided to celebrate your love by eloping (first yay!) to Europe (another yay!) and have taken Germany into your top 10 possible locations to elope to (big yay!)? Let's dive deep into the hows and whats about planning your elopement in Germany.
If you want some more help with the general topic of How to plan an Elopement, head over to my Elopement planning Guide here.
CONTENTS
- Seasons & the best time to elope to Germany
- The legal stuff
- Top 6 Locations to Elope to in Germany
- Costs for an Elopement in Germany
- Travel information for Germany
Germans love to plan things in advance. So whenever it comes to booking anything (especially for a weekend), rather do it sooner than later. You'll make your planning a lot easier by aiming for a weekday elopement, which applies to elopements in general.
First things first: where do you imagine to get married? In the nature or a buzzing city? By the sea (Germany has the North Sea and the Baltic Sea connected to it), in the beautiful woods of the Black Forest for instance or on a mountain?
In Germany you'll find lots of different types of nature and also cities or villages, either vibrant or romantic and magical.
Seasons & the best time to elope to Germany
For city elopements I'd recommend to come during the warmer months from May-October. Depending on the part of Germany, you don't always have snow during winter if you'd like to have a winter wonderland and all of the other colder months are simply not as pleasant.
Comparing for instance the winter and summer in Berlin: I'd never recommend visiting Berlin during the winter as people seem to be less cheerful and the weather usually is wet and cold. But Berlin summers are a joy, the city seems to be alive, everyone is enjoying themselves and it feels like parties will never end.
For elopements in the nature it really comes down to what your weather preferences are. January and November are usually one of the darkest months in Germany, so I might skip these. December is an option if you'd love to include the Christmas celebrations here.
I'd recommend choosing a time from April-October, days are longer again and the temperatures enable you to stay outside for longer periods of time. For more detailed help, feel free to drop me a message and let's discuss your elopement ideas to find the perfect season for you.
The legal stuff
Germany loves its rules (big surprise), so the only way to get legally married in Germany is by having a civil wedding at a city hall. Unlike countries like the UK, it's not possible to hire a celebrant to marry you wherever you want to.
As the civil weddings in Germany are most of the times not really personal, most couples decided to have the legal wedding in their home country and have a symbolic wedding in Germany.
There are a lot of symbolic celebrants here in Germany that you can hire for your elopement.
Please check your governments regulations for getting married in Germany beforehand, if you're still planning to also have the legal wedding in Germany.
Top 6 Locations to Elope to in Germany
Saxon Switzerland
A little mountainy area in the East of Germany close to Dresden, with its unusual rock formations is an amazing place to elope to if you want to include some hiking, but aren't the "I-can-hike-for-10-hours-straight" kind of person. The probably easiest way to get there is to fly to Berlin and hire a car from there, unless you can grab a flight directly to Dresden.
Bavaria
Oh Bavaria! Starting with little hills turning into beautiful mountains, that county in the South of Germany is THE elopement hotspot! This is also a great place for couples who'd love to have a proper hiking elopement in Germany.
Harz
In the middle of Germany there's a little mountainy area. With cute little villages and forest that seem magical it's a wonderful spot for an elopement in Germany.
Berlin
The capital of Germany is the best place, to be whoever you want to be. It's super open-minded and buzzing and if you're looking for a cool and hip place to get married to the love of your life, this is the best choice. Super easily accessible as a lot of flights go in and out each day.
Black Forest
The dreamy area of the Black Forest in the South West of Germany is an ideal place for nature lovers. In winter, this area becomes a proper winter wonderland, in autumn you can't get enough of the numerous trees in red, yellow and orange.
Baltic Sea
The North of Germany is connected to the sea. To be precise, the North and the Baltic Sea. About 3 hours from Berlin you'll get to the coast of the Baltic Sea. With its sand dunes and lots and lots of beaches you get a perfect maritime feeling.
Costs for an Elopement in Germany
Wether it's a big wedding of an elopement, it really depends on what extras you'd like to have on your wedding day.
This is to give you a rough idea about the average costs:
Accomodations: 100-200 € per night
Floral design: 80-300 € (for a bouquet)
Wedding cake: 100-400 €
Live musician: 800+ €
Celebrant: 1500+ €
Photographer: 2800-5000 € (full day coverage)
Travel information for Germany
Via plane
Fortunately it's rather easy to get to Germany as it has a lot of big airports, the biggest ones being Munich (MUC), Frankfurt am Main (FRA), Düsseldorf (DUS) and Berlin (BER). Here's an article on the airports in Germany.
Via car
Driving in Germany is easy, lots of bigger routes are connected by highways and streets are usually in a good condition. Also lots of towns have car rentals.
Via bus and train
The bus and train infrastructure also is a good alternative to hiring a car, although in the very rural parts, you might still depend on someone driving you around.
You'd love to get chat about your ideas and plans for your Elopement in Germany? Let's hop on a video call and chat about your visions! Just get in touch here and you'll hear back from me within 48 hours.
Share this story
