Planning a wedding at Lake Bled
5 min read
A church on an island, a castle on a cliff, and mountains in green water. Lake Bled in Slovenia is one of the few places that looks like its photographs, and it is small enough for a wedding your guests can walk around.
The island church
The Church of the Assumption stands on Bled Island, reached by pletna, the wooden boats rowed across by hand. Tradition has the groom carry the bride up the ninety-nine steps from the landing, and the bride ring the wishing bell inside.
Guests follow in boats of their own, each taking around twenty, so plan the timing of the crossings as you would a shuttle.
The castle, and the rest of the lake
Bled Castle, on the cliff above the water, hosts civil ceremonies and receptions with the whole lake below. Villas and hotels along the shore make the evening easy: most of your guests can stay within walking distance.
What you need to marry legally depends on your nationalities, so start the paperwork early, or hold a symbolic ceremony at Bled and marry at home.
When to go
May to September. Summer is warm, but the Alps bring afternoon storms, so keep a covered plan. September is often the best of it: clear days, cool nights and the first colour in the trees.
Getting your guests there
Ljubljana airport is around half an hour from Bled by road, and plenty of guests fly into Venice, Zagreb or Klagenfurt and drive. Say which is easiest on the invitation's travel page.
Send the save the date eight to twelve months ahead, the invitation about three months before, and close the RSVP six to eight weeks before the day.
An invitation drawn for Lake Bled
Collect the answers while you are at it
MyEventOS turns the invitation, the RSVP and the guest list into one link, and counts the replies as they land. Free to design, free to send, and the first ten replies are included.
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