🇦🇹 Wedding traditions of Austria
6 traditions from Austria, best known first, across 1 city and town.
A wedding in Austria, stage by stage
The customs written up so far, in the order a wedding unfolds.
| Engagement and betrothal | Engagement ring |
|---|---|
| The eve | Polterabend |
| The ceremony | Dirndl, Bridal crown |
| Reception, dance and gifts | Viennese waltz, Csárdás |
Cities, towns and villages of Austria
🇦🇹 Vienna, Austria and 2 moreViennese waltzWiener Walzer
The fast rotary ballroom dance that originated in Austria and defines the traditional waltz.Performance · Reception, dance and gifts
🇭🇺 Hungary and 5 moreCsárdás
A Hungarian folk dance that begins slowly and ends with a fast spin.Performance · Reception, dance and gifts
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreDirndl
The bodice, skirt and apron dress worn by brides in the German-speaking Alps.Attire · The ceremony
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 morePolterabend
The evening before the wedding when guests break porcelain to bring luck and test the couple's teamwork.Blessing · The eve
🇩🇪 Hanover, Germany and 5 moreBridal crownBrautkrone
A headdress worn by brides in Central and Northern Europe to symbolize purity and status.Attire · The ceremony
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreEngagement ring
A ring given to signify a formal agreement to future marriage.Adornment · Engagement and betrothal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Polterabend: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bridal crown: Daderot, CC0, source
- Viennese waltz: Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Csárdás: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Dirndl: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Engagement ring: Photo by Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source