Reference list - Hotel Hochfilzer

COLIN & Wendy CHEYNE"
The whole wedding was orginised by email
from the UK with Claudia as the contact,
everything on the day went as planned.
The whole Hochfilzer team did everything on
the day to make it such a special time for us.
Ellmau was a special place for us and such a
lovely valley to get married, made all the
more special with the help of every one at
the Hochfilzer hotel.
After the ceremony in Soll, we had a champagne reception on the Hochfilzer terrace followed by a
lovely meal and a great party in the evening. The Scots like to celebrate!
Even after five years we still talk about the great time we and our guests had.
Karin & Stefan Seewald (Krautblatter)
Wir haben uns so richtig rund rum wohl gefühlt haben, in der
Vorbereitung zur Hochzeit, am Tag der Hochzeit selber und
natürlich danach im Urlaub. Alles war bestens organisiert und
hat wirklich toll geklappt
Susanne P. K. & Erroin Martin"
Ich haette mir keine schoenere Hochzeit vorstellen koennen.
So professionell und gleichzeitig persoenlich.
Wir wuerden euer Hotel und die Trauung auf der Alm immer
weiterempfehlen. Die Lage und Aussicht sind einfach
unuebertrefflich. Das Essen war fantastisch und wann sieht man
es, dass die Chefin spaet abends auch zu der Band tanzt!
Alleine schon wegen dieser Hochzeit moechte ich nie wieder
heiraten wolle
Sarah & Nigel Upton
We had the most wonderful wedding in Ellmau at the
Hotel Hochfilzer in March 2008. The village was
the perfect setting for the wedding, and Claudia and
the family did everything to make our day very
special. We had 70 guests fly out to celebrate with
us which could have been very difficult to organise,
but Claudia took care of everything and made the
whole planning process easy, advising on what we
could do then organising it for us.
Katerina & Tin Tsang
+ Baby William
Martin & Melanie Jäger
Wir erlebten eine herzlich geplante
Hochzeit, welche keine Wünsche offen lies.
Von Planung, Vorbereitung und Ablauf war
alles perfekt.
Wir träumen heute noch von den
wunderschönen Tagen in Ellmau.
Helen Morecroft & Michael Poulter
3Getting married at the Hotel
Hochfilzer5
Review 24 August 2011
Choosing the venue for your
Wedding is one of the biggest
decisions to make and if you are
thinking of getting married
abroad it might seem even more
challenging.
When we decided to get married
we wanted to choose somewhere
in the Austrian Tyrol because it is
a part of the world where we
have spent lots of happy holidays.
One of these holidays was in the very pretty village of Ellmau where we stayed at the Hotel Hochfilzer. When we
found out that the hotel did weddings it made the choice a lot easier. So if you are considering holding your
wedding here this is what you need to know:The Hotel - This is situated in the centre of Ellmau and run and owned by Ingrid Hochfilzer. She is ably supported
by a very efficient and friendly team. The magnificent Wilder Kaiser Mountains can be viewed from some of the
bedrooms and from the fantastic sun terrace where you can relax in the outdoors hot tub. The hotel has a popular
spa and pool area and at certain times of the day it is reserved for adults only. Treatments can be booked as part
of the wedding package or once there although unfortunately we never had the time to try any. The hotel also
offers various Gala dinner nights and entertainments and they also have their own in-house guide. Didi, runs
various walking tours and can also arrange sightseeing trips if you can get a small group together. He is also full
of advice if you prefer to explore on your own and can usually be found around the hotel at breakfast. Your guests
therefore can either have a wonderfully relaxing time or get out and about exploring. Either way they will never
run out of things to do.
Bedrooms > The bedrooms are all comfortably furnished with en-suites. Some of our guests who stayed on the
first floor overlooking the main road or central square found their rooms a little noisy but the hotel did offer
alternate rooms. Our room on the second floor overlooked a quieter side street and we had a nice view of the
spectacular Wilder Kaiser Mountains. I@d therefore recommend asking for a room on one of the higher floors. On
arrival I was a little disappointed not to find ourselves in a special wedding suit although I do believe they have
one in the hotel. This may have something to do with the holiday company we booked through though. Generally
our room was very comfortable with plenty of space (important when storing a wedding dress!) and it included a
sofa area. We also had a great balcony and a comfortable en-suite bathroom.
Pension Claudia > The hotel also has a smaller hotel a short walk away. We stayed there on a previous visit and it
provides a cheaper option for your guests. Meals are still held in the main hotel so you can all eat together if you
wish and anyone staying here can also use all the hotel facilities. It has a nice garden and the views are even
better than the main hotel (if you stay on the top floor).
Planning the wedding - When I first started planning the wedding I did so via a holiday company but it soon
became apparent that it was much easier and quicker to deal directly with the hotel. Throughout the entire
process therefore I had one contact, the fantastic Claudia Haid, and between us we were able to arrange
everything long distance. The hotel staff are obviously experienced in hosting weddings and were very competent
and patient in answering my many questions. All the different elements of the wedding were discussed and prices
agreed individually and in advance (very good for planning your budget). For example for the flowers I was
asked to send a photo of the sort of bouquet I wanted and we were able to agree precisely what flowers/colours
etc would go into this. The same applied to the buttonholes, bouquets for the bridesmaids and for decorating the
venue and reception.
When the bouquets arrived they were exactly as I wanted and the flowers for the venue far exceeded what I
expected. A quick tip: if on a budget they can create one large floral display that can be used at the wedding
ceremony and the reception.
The Wedding Venue > Unless you are a Catholic, in which case the town church or Maria chapel are possibilities,
you will need to get married at the Registry Office in Sol which is a short car ride away. The Registrar carries out
the ceremony in English and so long as you have done all the relevant paperwork back in England it is all very
straightforward. I would recommend you choose your own music for the ceremony although they can provide
some for you if you wish. The room itself is rather plain although they do decorate if with some flowers and
candles. You may wish though to have a second ceremony elsewhere.
We originally chose to hold our second ceremony at the open air chapel up in the mountains at the
Wochenbrunner Alm. Although set in beautiful surroundings it is exposed to the weather so in summer can be very
hot. We unfortunately had the opposite problem in that we had several days of rain before the big day making the
ground somewhat muddy. The hotel staff instead suggested that we hold our wedding in a nearby converted barn.
I would thoroughly recommend this as an option. Ingrid and her team went to great lengths to decorate it and in
the corner there is a lovely open log fire. This together with lots of candles created a magical atmosphere which
impressed all our guests. It is a bit dark though so be warned if you are planning to get the ceremony filmed. The
barn is located just next to the restaurant at the Alm so you will still be surrounded by the mountains which make
a great backdrop in the wedding photos. Ingrid@s father, Mr Fiegl carried out the ceremony itself and was just
wonderful. A really friendly man he made all the guests welcome and coped very well with the English ceremony.
I was asked to provide him with some details for the ceremony but in the end I wrote the entire thing myself. This
might sound daunting but Claudia provided me with some examples from previous weddings and there are also
some good websites to help inspire you. The Alm restaurant near the barn and the chapel can provide coffee and
cake pre or post the wedding and all our guests thoroughly enjoyed this commenting on the huge slices of cake!
The Reception > This can be held in one of two rooms at the hotel. When we arrived we were able to view both
rooms before making our choice. The rooms are decorated in a tradition Tyrolean style with lots of pine and in
our opinion very pretty. On our return to the hotel we were first offered a drinks reception (bubbly with homemade fruit cordials > delicious!) before going in to eat. The number of courses and the food itself is all agreed in
advance. The hotel run a very good kitchen and were able to offer us lots of choice. In the end we agreed a
number of different starters and mains which our guests were then able to select from the day before the wedding.
All the food was excellent both on the day and throughout our stay. Our wedding cake was chocolate with white
icing and a jam centre (a traditional Austrian cake) and you can agree in advance what you want and how many
tiers you need. The food is definitely one of the things that helped us decide on this hotel in the first place. It is
superb!
Extras > Our wedding package included a horse drawn buggy ride which we took on the last day of our
honeymoon. The hotel gave us another bottle of bubbly to enjoy whilst we were driven around the area and it was
a very nice way to finish the holiday. Transport for the wedding is arranged by the hotel. You can choose a special
car but we decided on a simple number of mini buses which worked very well. Photographers, hairdressers and a
number of other things can be arranged but we made our own arrangements for these. Finally there are a couple
of music options but we chose to have a harpist at the second ceremony who played some wonderful classical
harp music which together with all the candlelight, flowers and the log fire really made the second ceremony at
the barn special. Choosing to hire her was one of our best decisions!
In conclusion I would thoroughly recommend the Hotel Hochfilzer. It might seem daunting arranging a wedding
abroad but the staff at this hotel will work extremely hard to help make your day as special as you would wish.
The backdrop of the Wilder Kaiser Mountains together with the fantastic welcoming Austrian attitude to visitors
will ensure your day is a memorable one.
Steffi & Dominic Tanski
In Österreich zu heiraten, mitten in den
Bergen war unser Traum und den
konnten wir mit Hilfe des Hotel
Hochfilzers in die Wirklichkeit umsetzen.
Man fragt sich, wie das wohl alles
funktioniert, eine Hochzeit zu planen
wenn man gar nicht vor Ort ist, doch mit
den richtigen Ansprechpartner ist es
wohl das beste was man machen kann.
Absolut Stressfrei!!!!!
Man äussert seine Wünsche und es wird
in die Tat umgesetzt. Man selbst hat
absolut keinen Stress. Es wurde alles organisiert. Sämtliche Termine, wie z.b. auf dem Standesamt aber
auch die Vermittlung der Musiker, dem kirchlichen Trauort und dem dazugehörigen Pfarrer.
Selbst die „ Kleinigkeiten3 wie der Brautstrauss/ Anstecknadel wird von Hotel organisiert. Natürlich kann
man auch hier den Wunsch äussern wie dies gestaltet werden soll.
Bei der Deko hat man widerrum die Wahl ob man das Material selbst mitbringt, oder sich das Hotel
darum kümmert. Wir hatten die Variante das wir das Material mitgebracht haben. Aber somit war die
Sache für uns erledigt. Bei der Anreise hatten wir die Kartons mit der Deko abgegeben und das Hotelteam
hat sich um den Rest gekümmert. So das weder das Brautpaar noch die Familienangehörigen sich um das
schmücken des Saales kümmern mussten. Was wirklich sehr angenehm war.
Auch alle andere Sachen, wie z.b. das Kirchenbüchlein oder die Traukerze wurde einfach abgegeben und
das Hotelteam hat es an den Ort der Trauung gebracht. So musste KEINER von der Hochzeitsgesellschaft
an irgendetwas denken, sondern konnte voll und ganz den Tag genießen.
Bei der Hochzeitstorte hatten wir auch ein paar Sonderwünsche, die aber vom Küchenchef wunderbar
umgesetzt wurden.
Auch das Menü war sehr lecker, hier gleich mal ein Lob an die Küche.
Der Trauort für die kirchliche Trauung kann man selbst wählen, was einem die freie Auswahl lässt ob man
direkt vor der wundervollen Kulisse des Wilden Kaisers heiratet oder doch lieber in einer der Kirchen.
Praktisch ist auch dass Hochzeitspaket, welches das Hotel anbietet. Es wird ein Grund-Arrangement
geboten, zu einem Festpreis, was einem die kosten sehr gut im Blick halten lässt. Auf Wunsch kann aber
dann auch zusätzliche Arrangements dazugebucht werden.
Unsere Gäste waren teilweise im Hotel untergebracht aber auch in der dazugehörigen Pension. Wir
hatten uns Gedanken gemacht wie wir es am nächsten Tag mit dem Frühstück machen sollten, da man ja
nicht gleichzeitig an beiden Orten sein kann. Das Team machte es möglich das unsere Gäste der Pension
ins Hotel kommen durften um dort mit zu frühstücken. So hatten wir auch am Tag nach der Feier einen
wunderschönes Abschluss mit der kompletten Hochzeitsgesellschaft.
Man fühlt sich rund um wohl bei dem kompletten Team, es war alles perfekt durchdacht und organisiert,
so das man den Hochzeitstag einfach nur genießen kann. Heiraten in Ellmau am Wilden Kaiser im Hotel
Hochfilzer....... jederzeit wieder.