We have not opened your country yet.
We could produce a timeline for anywhere. We will not — a confident plan for a country nobody local has checked is exactly what this product exists not to be. VELA opens one country at a time, and only after someone who grew up there has read every statement.
If you are marrying in Hungary, change the place above and the plan appears. Otherwise leave an address and we will tell you when your country opens — or tell us you could be the person who checks it.
Leave an address →What has to happen, and when
Ordered by how early it has to be done, which is also how easy it is to leave too late.
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Vőfély
expected hereabout 8 months before the wedding
Not a toastmaster and not a DJ. A distinct, bookable profession who runs the day: announces the courses, leads the customs, keeps the room moving. A Hungarian wedding without one reads as incomplete to guests, and the good ones are booked a year ahead.
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Wedding band
about 7 months before the wedding
A band that knows the repertoire a Hungarian wedding runs on, including what the menyasszonytánc needs. Book around seven months out.
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Menyecske ruha
about 4 months before the wedding
The second dress, worn from the kontyoló onwards. Usually simpler than the wedding dress and easier to dance in, which is the point.
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Declare your intent to the registrar
the legal oneabout a month before the wedding
The declaration starts a waiting period fixed in law. Later is not inconvenient — it is a ceremony that cannot legally take place on the day you chose.
What the registrar will want
- 01 Birth certificate for each of you
- 02 Valid photo ID or passport for each of you
- 03 Hungarian address card, if you have one
- 04 A certificate of no impediment to marriage, if either of you is not Hungarian — issued by your own country
- 05 Certified Hungarian translations, and an apostille, for documents issued abroad
And then the day itself
Six things that happen at a Hungarian wedding, in the order they happen. None of it is compulsory — it is here so that nothing arrives as a surprise on somebody else’s say-so.
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Before the day
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Kikérő
about 4 hours before the reception
The groom and his party come to fetch the bride from her family, and are made to earn her — riddles, tasks, a bit of theatre at the door. It is the first thing that happens and it sets the tone for the day.
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The reception
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The vőfély’s verses
as the reception opens
The vőfély announces the day in rhyme — the courses, the customs, who is about to be embarrassed. An older tradition that has receded: still alive at rural weddings, less common in Budapest.
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Hajnali tyúkleves
about 3 hours in
Chicken soup, served hot to people who have been dancing. The name says dawn, but in practice it often arrives as part of the evening rather than at the end of it.
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Late night
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The midnight cake
about 4.5 hours in
The cake comes out well after dinner, often with sparklers and the lights down. Not dessert — dessert was hours ago.
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Menyasszonytánc
most weddingsabout 5 hours in
The bride’s dance. Guests pay for a turn with her, a few bars each, and the money goes to the couple. It is loud, it takes a while, and it is the part most guests are waiting for.
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Kontyoló
about 5.5 hours in
Late in the night the bride changes out of her dress and into the menyecske ruha, and returns as a married woman rather than a bride. It usually follows the menyasszonytánc.
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Want this kept up to date?
VELA is not open yet. Leave an address and we will tell you when it is — and if you gave a date above, we will bring it with you so the plan is waiting rather than asked for twice.