A Belvedere Palace Wedding in Vienna

Even as late-September flurries danced through Vienna’s autumn air, nothing could dim Hitomi and Katsuya’s fairy-tale wedding at the Belvedere Palace.

The day began at the neoclassical Palais Coburg, where Hitomi — transformed by a Parisian makeup artist flown in especially for her — glowed while the city shivered outside. In the ceremonial hall beneath gold-adorned ceilings, family and friends from Japan watched as they exchanged vows — a rainbow arching unexpectedly beyond the grand windows over the Lower Belvedere garden.

Braving the snow, they stepped into the imperial gardens for portraits — Katsuya sweeping his bride into his arms amid swirling veils and sun flares, the Baroque façade framing them as a second rainbow appeared above.

A horse-drawn fiacre carried them through cobblestone streets to the near-deserted Volksgarten, where they watched the sunset alone, wrapped in each other’s warmth. As night fell, candlelit champagne and a first dance at Clementine restaurant closed a day that even Vienna’s winter couldn’t touch.