Say 'I do' in the grand hotel across from Vienna's Opera: Hotel Sacher Vienna

Red is the house color: red damask on the walls, red velvet in Café Sacher, red silk cushions on cream sofas. Crystal chandeliers hang in nearly every room, and oil portraits from Anna Sacher's own collection line the corridors. The Marmorsaal is clad in red-veined marble with white statues in its niches. The Grüne Bar goes deep emerald under a dark coffered ceiling. Suites were redesigned with Pierre-Yves Rochon and pair parquet floors and marble bathrooms with quiet modern comfort.

It all began with a cake. In 1832 a 16-year-old apprentice named Franz Sacher baked a chocolate torte for Prince Metternich's guests. His son Eduard opened this hotel in 1876 on the site of the old Kärntnertor theater, and the torte became the house signature. Eduard's widow Anna, rarely seen without a cigar or a French bulldog, turned it into the meeting place of imperial Vienna. The Gürtler family took over in 1934 and still owns it. Emperor Franz Joseph, Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy and John Lennon have all passed through the lobby.

You're on Philharmonikerstraße in the Innere Stadt, Vienna's first district, with the Opera's stage door across the road. The Albertina is a two-minute walk, the Hofburg palace six minutes and St. Stephen's Cathedral about ten. Kärntner Straße, the main shopping street, starts at the corner. The U1 and U4 lines stop at Karlsplatz a few steps away. Vienna's airport is 24 km out, roughly half an hour by car, and the main train station is 3 km. Our wedding planner for Austria books your transfer, so you step out of the terminal and into a car.

Vienna is a walking city, so most of it happens on foot. Schönbrunn Palace is 6 km away, and the wine village of Grinzing with its heuriger taverns is 6.5 km, still inside the city limits. The concierge arranges horse-drawn carriage rides through the old town, Danube cruises and private tours. On a hot day the Alte Donau lido is 8 km off for a swim, and the Donau-Auen national park starts 13 km east. Bratislava makes an easy day trip at 80 km. That reach is part of the appeal of getting married in Austria from Vienna.

The hotel describes itself as fully accessible, with a ground-level entrance and elevators throughout the building. A barrier-free Junior Suite can be reserved for guests with limited mobility. The restaurants and Café Sacher are step-free and air-conditioned. Tell us early who needs what, and we'll match the ceremony salon and the seating plan to them.

There are 152 rooms and suites, 86 rooms and 66 suites, each decorated individually. Deluxe Rooms start at 27 m² and the Junior Suites at 40 m². At the top sit the Presidential Suites. The 155 m² Wiener Philharmoniker Suite keeps its restored 1878 parquet. The 180 m² Madame Butterfly Suite has a near-360° view over the city. The Opera Penthouse Suite adds two bedrooms and a rooftop terrace. Check-in is from 3pm and check-out at noon. Children up to 16 stay free in their parents' room, and connecting rooms can be arranged.

The hotel suggests using one of its suites as the backdrop for your wedding morning, and we agree. Tall windows, damask walls and a chandelier overhead make the getting-ready photos before anyone has said a word. The Sacher Boutique Spa does bridal makeup, manicures, pedicures and massages, and it opens for treatments at 11am. A fitness room runs around the clock if you'd rather burn off the nerves.

Vienna lets couples marry legally outside the registry office. Hotel Sacher is one of the places where the registrar comes to you. The Salon Metternich, monochrome and gold, seats up to 50 guests in rows for a civil or symbolic ceremony. For a bigger crowd the Marmorsaal holds up to 110 in rows, with the Schönbrunner Loge next door for welcome drinks. Everything is indoors, so the date holds whatever the weather. We handle the paperwork with the Standesamt and the timing with the hotel.

Step out of the front door and the Vienna State Opera fills the frame, with a fiaker or two waiting in the street. Inside, the grand staircase and the gilt-framed mirror in the Marmorsaal are made for the two of you. The penthouse terrace looks straight at the spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral, lit up at dusk. The Albertina and the Hofburg are a few hundred meters away. A portrait walk fits between the ceremony and the first glass.

The Marmorsaal is the ballroom: up to 80 seated at round tables or 150 for a standing reception. It splits in two behind a mirrored wall when you want it more intimate. For a smaller party the Salon Metternich takes 32 at dinner or 60 for cocktails. The Salon Mayerling, with its tiled floor and enormous mirror, seats 24. You can also book the Rote Bar, whose winter garden faces the Opera, or the emerald Grüne Bar for a private dinner. Have a look at our other wedding locations across Austria if you'd like to compare.

All food comes from the hotel's own kitchens, led by Executive Chef Anton Pozeg, who holds two Gault Millau toques. Expect refined Viennese classics: Wiener Schnitzel, also in a plant-based version, beef roulade and seasonal fish. Menus are written for your wedding, whether a seated dinner, a buffet or a flying dinner. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free plates come as standard. The wedding cake is an Original Sacher-Torte or a creation from the pâtisserie, and you may bring your own for a fee. The wine list leans Austrian.

Dancing is allowed in every event room, so you don't need to hire a floor. Loud music plays until 10pm, after which the party carries on at room volume. The night can run as late as 4am, for an hourly late fee after midnight. Before the first dance, the Blaue Bar mixes an Anna Sacher Cocktail with apricot and chocolate notes. The Rote Bar has a pianist from 7pm every evening. The Blaue Bar stays open until 1am from Thursday to Saturday for the last round.

Dogs are welcome guests here, in the tradition of Anna Sacher and her French bulldogs. The room comes with a dog basket, blankets, towels and bowls, and reception hands out leashes and a special do-not-disturb sign. A dog sitter can be arranged for the ceremony, and Café Sacher lets your dog sit with you afterwards. There's a daily charge per dog, so tell us if yours is coming.

Book the Opera Penthouse Suite and dinner is laid for two on your own terrace. St. Stephen's spire glows beyond the rooftops. Room service runs all night, the concierge finds opera tickets at short notice, and the spa's sauna and steam bath open from 3pm. In summer the Sacher Summer Garden pours cocktails outside on Maysedergasse, facing the Albertina. Stay a second night, and Vienna is yours without a schedule.