A Romantic, Regal Wedding at Hetzendorf Castle in Vienna, Austria

You could say that fate brought Evora Lomba (30 and a controller) and Jakob Leinsmer (31 and a lawyer) together. A chance meeting at a student bar in the heart of Vienna, Austria, when Evora was visiting the city with a friend led to a whirlwind romance and a seven-year long-distance relationship that spanned continents. Eventually they got engaged on New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When it came to planning their wedding, the pair could think of no place more appropriate than Vienna, the city that brought them together. “We love tradition and we wanted to celebrate our wedding in the most traditional way,” Evora says. “We decided right at the start that we wanted to celebrate in a castle or a palace.” With its elegant architecture, breathtaking murals and refined finishes, Hetzendorf Castle was dubbed the perfect backdrop for the affair. 

The day unfolded with a traditional ceremony in the castle’s chapel. The couple exchanged vows surrounded by striking oil paintings and an awe-inspiring domed ceiling boasting impressive hand-painted murals. The newlyweds and their guests kicked off the evening’s festivities with a cocktail hour in the castle’s elaborate gardens, then headed indoors to the ballroom for dinner and dancing. A palette of gold, cream and white, as well as lush arrangements of orchids, roses and hydrangeas, set a regal tone for the reception and matched the ballroom’s ornate architecture. Evora and Jakob used the menu to blend their two cultures, serving Austrian specialties like Carinthian beef tenderloin and gingerbread souffle, and treating guests to a caipirinha bar during cocktail hour. After dinner guests hit the dance floor, where they grooved to the beat all night and striking a pose at the couple’s selfie-stick photo booth. —Libby MacCarthy