Why Couples Choose New Year, and What They Should Know First

The week between Christmas and New Year is the most atmospheric of the Lapland winter. The snow is reliable, the nights are long, December is prime aurora season, and for guests who are travelling anyway the dates fall in a natural holiday. Couples tell us they want a wedding that feels like the end of one chapter and the start of the next, and a midnight toast as a married couple is an easy way to do that.

The things to know first are practical. This is the busiest week of the year for Rovaniemi: flights, cabins and igloos fill early, and the most popular venues have only a handful of dates. December temperatures are typically between −5 and −15 °C, and the daylight is short, a long blue twilight rather than a full day. Everything in your plan, from the ceremony hour to the photographs, is shaped by those two facts.

Full disclosure: Rovaniemi Weddings is our own company. Alla founded it after planning her own wedding in 2024, and we plan weddings from two guests to 200 and more, across Lapland, Finland, Sweden and Norway. We are biased, but we are also the people who will be setting up your candles at −15 °C, so we try to be straight about what works.

Choosing the Date: 29 and 30 December, 31 December or 1 to 2 January

Not all days in the New Year week are equal. This is how we think about them:

Our honest suggestion is 29 or 30 December for a ceremony and wedding dinner, with the midnight celebration afterwards as part of the same trip. You get the New Year feeling, a calmer day and better light for the photographs. If your heart is set on 31 December, tell us as early as possible, because few venues can host that evening.

Earlier in December is also worth considering: early December (1 to 15) is typically less crowded and more affordable, with the same snow and aurora. Our Christmas wedding guide covers that choice.

Where to Marry: Our Five Favourite Winter Settings

• Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos and its Ice Chapel. About 30 minutes from Rovaniemi on the shore of Lake Lehtojärvi, with an Ice Chapel carved from snow and crystal-clear ice, candlelight through the walls and reindeer hides on the benches. It seats around 30 to 50 guests, is open for ceremonies from 15 December to 31 March, and the interior is cold, around −5 °C, so ceremonies are short, about 20 to 30 minutes, with a heated space afterwards. See also our Ice Chapel wedding guide.
• Glass igloos. Heated to room temperature, with a 360° view of the sky, for intimate groups of 2 to 30. See Igloo Wedding in Lapland.
• Invisible Forest Lodge. Mirror-clad suites in a pine forest, a restaurant for up to 44 guests, and a ceremony among the pines or at the end of a candle-lit path in the snow. Between 1 November and 15 March the lodge is for guests aged 14 and over.
• Aurora Hill Resort. Cabins on Rovaniemi’s highest hill, with a restaurant for up to 60 guests, and styled suites for the wedding night.
• Silver Birch Resort. A small private lakeside resort with five cabins and space for up to 36 guests seated; in December to March a minimum stay of two nights applies.

For a wedding between Christmas and New Year, availability is the deciding factor more than preference, so give us two or three choices of venue and a flexible date range.

Planning the Day Around the Daylight

In late December the sun barely clears the horizon, so the light is the one thing you must plan around. A timeline we often use:

1. Late morning. Hair, make-up, getting ready. The rooms are warm and the light is still blue and soft.
2. Early afternoon. The ceremony. This is the brightest part of a December day, and it gives the photographs soft pink and blue light on the snow. Outdoor ceremonies are kept brief, about 15 to 20 minutes, with fire pits, blankets and warm drinks close by.
3. Late afternoon. Couple photographs in the blue hour, in 10 to 15 minute bursts between warm-ups.
4. Early evening. A reception and dinner in a heated space, with candles and fires.
5. Night. A midnight toast on the 31st, or an aurora walk if the sky is clear.

Photographers for winter sessions use cold-rated gear and spare batteries, and they monitor the aurora forecast. For more on timing, see our guide on planning a ceremony around the aurora.

The Legal Side, in Short

Finland allows foreign nationals to marry here, there is no residency requirement or waiting period, and both of you can be foreigners. The one piece of bureaucracy is the examination of impediments to marriage, through the Digital and Population Data Services Agency: typically about seven working days, though it can stretch to several weeks for international applicants, at a fee of around €60. You will need valid passports and a certificate of no impediment from your home country, with certified translations into Finnish, Swedish or English and, for some countries, an apostille. Start gathering documents at least three to four months before the date.

The civil ceremony is performed by a district court judge or other authorised official at almost any location, in English. Many couples complete the legal formalities at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Lapland. Our guide to getting married in Finland as a foreigner goes through each step, and our Getting Married in Finland page has the checklist.

What a New Year Wedding Costs

Published cost ranges for a Lapland wedding run from around €5,000 for an intimate elopement to €30,000 and more for a larger celebration, with €10,000 to €20,000 typical for a beautifully styled event of 20 to 50 guests. Within that: a cabin or glass igloo for an intimate day €500 to €1,500, a hotel or resort event space €2,000 to €8,000, a full styling package €1,500 to €5,000 (elopement styling from around €800), photography €1,500 to €4,000 for full-day coverage, and catering €50 to €150 per person for a sit-down dinner for 20 to 50 guests. Flights from European cities are typically €150 to €500 per person return.

For the New Year week, expect the higher end of venue and accommodation costs, because demand is highest. Our Lapland Wedding Cost page has the full ranges, and we recommend a contingency fund of around 10%.

Guests, Clothing and Comfort

For guests, the main message is warmth. Winter boots, thermal base layers and a proper winter coat are essential for outdoor moments, and a blanket and a warm drink should be in reach at every step. The bridal party can wear lightweight dresses and suits underneath real winter wear, with the formal layer coming off indoors. Reindeer hides, fur throws and heated tents are all part of how we style a winter ceremony, and we use high-quality artificial flowers and curated décor, because fresh petals freeze at −30 °C. For a smaller wedding, the Intimate Wedding in Lapland page shows what 2 to 30 guests looks like. Some couples add a reindeer sleigh arrival or a husky ride; see Reindeer Wedding in Lapland and Husky Wedding in Lapland.

How to Plan It With Us

1. Tell us about your day. Share your date range, guest count and wishes through the Contact Rovaniemi Weddings page.
2. Consultation and estimate. A meeting in person or online, with a price estimate during the call or shortly after.
3. Agreement and deposit. A simple agreement and a deposit that secures your date.
4. Planning together. We source and book the suppliers, present options, and you choose.
5. Your wedding day. Our team installs every detail, runs the timeline and quietly solves the small things.

We reply within one business day. For the Christmas to New Year week we recommend starting 8 to 12 months ahead; see our timeline for how far ahead to book.

FAQ

Our Honest Final Word

A New Year wedding in Lapland is one of the most beautiful things we plan, and the one that rewards early decisions the most. Choose your date range first, your venue second and your guest list third, and be ready to move by a day or two to find the right combination. We are biased, because this is our own business, but we would rather say no to a date that does not work than promise a New Year’s Eve that disappoints.

Start with Christmas Wedding in Lapland or Winter Wedding in Lapland, or tell us your dates on the Contact Rovaniemi Weddings page and we will tell you what is realistic.

Rovaniemi Weddings · by Joona & Alla

Winter weddings we plan in Lapland

Every option is planned, set up and quietly packed down by our own team, and nearly every proposal includes a photographer. Tell us your story and we reply within one business day.

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Rovaniemi Weddings is our own wedding planning and proposal design company — Joona & Alla, based in Rovaniemi. We plan, style and coordinate proposals and weddings across Lapland, Finland, Sweden and Norway.