A wedding at Lake Haidensee means getting married at a lake of your own. Das Haidensee sits in the woods east of the hamlet of Haidach in the municipality of Glanegg, about a 20-minute drive from Klagenfurt in southern Austria. From Friday to Sunday the entire grounds belong to the couple: the house, the terrace, the chapel, the jetty and the small swimming lake, which warms up to 29 °C in summer.
Lake Haidensee is a kettle lake in the upper Glan Valley, left behind at the end of the last ice age and now part of a protected landscape area. It was once home to an inn with a public beach, later to a private retirement home. Pia and Philipp Grünbacher renovated the house and reopened it in June 2023 as a resort for weddings and events. They opened it with their own wedding.
A wedding venue in Carinthia: Das Haidensee at a glance
Das Haidensee is small enough that everything happens on one property and large enough for a celebration with a dance floor. According to the venue’s wedding page, it offers:
- weddings for up to 80 people, more on request
- two combinable banquet halls of 85 and 45 m², with a bar in the smaller one
- a 400 m² terrace, reached from the hall through large sliding doors
- several ceremony spots: the lakeside meadow, the jetty, the chapel and the barn
- apartments in the main house, a chalet and an Airstream for you and your closest guests
- exclusive use from Friday to Sunday, no curfew, no noise restriction
- parking for up to 50 cars
Civil and celebrant-led ceremonies at Lake Haidensee
R&M chose a celebrant-led ceremony on the lakeside meadow next to the small wooden chapel. A floral arch with white drapes, clear chairs decorated with roses and a row of large parasols were all it took. The water lies right behind the couple, the forest is reflected in it, and since the lake is private, nobody walks through the frame during the ceremony.
For a civil ceremony, you don’t have to go to the registry office. The Glanegg registry office also marries couples off-site and lists Das Haidensee itself as an outdoor wedding location. On Saturdays, however, it only schedules ceremonies until 2:00 p.m. If you want to marry in the afternoon, put the civil ceremony on Friday and the celebrant-led ceremony on Saturday; the weekend is yours anyway.
Getting ready in the apartment
An advantage city venues rarely offer: getting ready happens at the same place as the wedding. The bride got ready in one of the apartments on site, with her dress and bouquet waiting just a few steps away.
Hair and makeup were done by die Aufmaschlerei, whose studio is in Besendorf, in the same municipality as the venue. That cuts travel time and buffers down to a few minutes. The wedding dress came from Romeo & Juliette Hochzeitsmode, the groom’s light blue suit from Rotknopf, the bespoke tailor in Vienna’s Neubau district.
What makes a good makeup artist only shows up close: powder in thin layers, setting spray so the makeup lasts until the last dance, and hairspray for the waves. There was a lot of laughter in between, and this second film shows that too.
For you, that means: allow enough time for hair and makeup and get ready where you celebrate anyway. At Lake Haidensee there is no drive to the ceremony afterwards.
Reception, dinner and party in the main house
After the ceremony, a short walk uphill leads to the terrace. From there you look across the meadow down to the lake, the guests stand in the shade of the parasols, and the banquet halls are right behind them. For dinner, the large hall was set with long white tables and flowers from Blumen Germ in Klagenfurt in small glass vases.
The wedding cake, three tiers with roses and baby’s breath, came from Café Konditorei Fahrnberger in Klagenfurt. After that, the hall belonged to the DJ: JET Events started with the first dance and kept the dance floor full until late at night. There is no curfew at Lake Haidensee.
The best photo spots at Lake Haidensee
You don’t need to leave the grounds for your couple session. An hour around the lake gives you very different pictures:
- The wooden jetty. A clear view across the lake to the forest, and the slightest breeze carries the veil out over the water.
- The chapel. White walls, a wooden door, a shingle roof: a simple backdrop that works with any dress.
- The big tree on the meadow. In the late afternoon the light falls through the crown at an angle, and veil and train glow in the backlight.
- The wooden bench at the edge of the forest. A place to catch your breath, with a glass of sparkling wine and no guests behind you.
- The tree at night. With a colored light from behind, its crown becomes a stage for one last picture after dinner.
On September 19, golden hour began around 6:10 p.m. and the sun set at 7:08 p.m. Plan your couple session for this window between dinner courses and cake, later in midsummer.
After dinner we went outside one more time. A turquoise flash from behind turns the tree on the meadow a completely different color, with the couple standing in silhouette in front of it. Because the grounds are private, pictures like this are possible without an audience and without time pressure. The ring shots on ice and in mist were taken during dinner, a few quiet minutes in the middle of the evening.
How much does a wedding at Das Haidensee cost?
Unlike many venues, Das Haidensee publishes its price. According to the 2025 and 2026 price list, the whole weekend from Friday to Sunday costs:
- Summer, May to September: 6,488 € including VAT
- Winter, October to April: 3,494 € including VAT
This covers exclusive use of the entire grounds. Cleaning is billed by the actual hours, and your guests can book overnight stays on top. Catering, drinks, music and decoration are separate items; the venue can take care of them on request. How to split your overall budget is covered in the guide 10 wedding planning mistakes.
Getting there and where to stay
Glanegg lies in central Carinthia between Feldkirchen and St. Veit an der Glan. From Klagenfurt it takes about 20 minutes, from Vienna a little over three hours. The access road is signposted from the edge of the village, and the last mile runs through the forest. In fog or after dark, a shuttle for your guests is worth it.
On site, the couple and closest family sleep in the apartments, the chalet or the Airstream. Everyone else needs a room nearby. R&M reserved a block at Hotel Dermuth on the edge of Klagenfurt. If you plan an outing during the weekend, the ruins of Glanegg Castle, one of the largest fortifications in Carinthia, are close by.
Das Haidensee in the press
For a venue that has only hosted weddings since 2023, Das Haidensee drew attention quickly. At the Austrian Wedding Award 2026 it won gold in the outdoor venue category, as reported by MeinBezirk, KLiCK Kärnten, Madonna and the trade paper AHGZ. In 2024 it had already taken bronze in the newcomer category, as Brautmagazin reported. The Carinthian daily Kleine Zeitung covered its reopening as a private resort in the summer of 2023.
The vendors of this wedding
- Venue: Das Haidensee, Glanegg
- Hair & makeup: die Aufmaschlerei, Glanegg
- Wedding dress: Romeo & Juliette Hochzeitsmode, Perg and Vienna
- Suit: Rotknopf, Vienna
- Flowers: Blumen Germ, Klagenfurt
- Wedding cake: Café Konditorei Fahrnberger, Klagenfurt
- DJ: JET Events
- Guest rooms: Hotel Dermuth, Klagenfurt
- Photography and behind the scenes: Michael Kobler
More vendors I enjoy working with are on my partners page.
Contacting the venue
Haidach 12, 9556 Glanegg, Austria
Inquiries via the venue’s contact form
Everything for couples: dashaidensee.at/en/wedding-2
Your wedding photographer at Lake Haidensee
I’ve photographed weddings since 2014, based in Vienna and working all over Austria, and since September 2026 I know Lake Haidensee from the morning espresso to the last dance. I know when the light under the big tree is at its best, how long it takes to walk from the jetty to the chapel and where to find ten quiet minutes for a night shot after dinner. You enjoy your day. I take care of the photos.
If you want a fully staged wedding straight out of a glossy magazine, I’m probably not the right photographer for you. If you want to recognize yourselves in your photos, I am. What photo coverage costs and what drives the price is explained in the guide How much does a wedding photographer cost?
