Gurten Park

Gurten Park, which signs its site "Gurten – Park im Grünen", is an event venue, restaurant and leisure park on the Gurten, Bern's local mountain, reached by the Gurtenbahn funicular. Its wedding page, which exists in English as well as German and French, calls it an award-winning event location "with views of the capital, the Alps, and the entire Swiss plateau". It offers five indoor spaces for weddings from 40 to 350 seated guests, a ceremony outdoors in the park on request, in-house catering with a free trial meal, and two hotel rooms for the couple's wedding night.

The wedding offer

The English page promises that "whether it's a small family gathering or a large party, our wedding planners will organize a dream celebration tailored to your needs and wishes." The team puts together an offer to fit, prepares a menu to the couple's wishes, and offers "the option of a free trial meal for the bride and groom." The house pastry chef makes the wedding cake to the couple's taste. A personal appointment on site includes a tour of all the rooms.

Three documents are linked for download: a wedding documentation, the culinary offer, and a venue and price list, plus the general terms (GTC). They are separate files, so menu prices and room rates are not on the wedding page itself.

The five spaces

The wedding page lists these capacities for a seated dinner, noting that the maximum varies with the type of event and whether it is seated, standing or a mix:

• Pavillon, up to 350: a large glass facade and a terrace right beside it, with a panoramic view.
• Schüür, up to 140: a two-story former barn that the caption calls ideal for the complete program of apéro, dinner and party.
• Restaurant Gurtners, up to 110: can be booked exclusively, including its garden terrace.
• Ussicht & Wytsicht, up to 100: the former ballrooms of the Hotel Gurten Kulm, suited to mid-sized weddings.
• Gewölbekeller, up to 40: a vaulted cellar whose sheltered arcades allow a celebration indoors and outdoors, which the caption recommends for the party after dinner.

The Schüür has its own page with more detail. It describes the barn as suited to weddings, company events, parties, seminars and concerts, for up to 450 people over two floors. The upper floor has a stage with modern technology and good acoustics; the ground floor has the bar, and events can spill onto the adjoining terrace. Its per-floor figures are 150 for an apéro on each floor, 80 at long tables on the first floor, and on the second floor 80 at round tables or 140 at long rows of tables. Room rental for the Schüür is CHF 2'800, with an off-season discount on certain weekdays; a discount list, a factsheet and a 3D tour are linked. The page shows a rating of 4.5 from 80 reviews.

A ceremony in the park

"On request, the wedding ceremony can also be held outdoors in the countryside," the English page says, and the team offers to show couples the possibilities in the park. This is a ceremony in the green rather than a civil wedding; the site does not mention a registry office, so the legal marriage is arranged separately. The page also suggests the mountain as a backdrop for the wedding photo shoot, and offers to put couples in touch with experienced photographer partners.

Wedding night and guest rooms

The Gurten has two hotel rooms for the couple, in what the page calls the former spa hotel (Kurhotel). The English page says the couple "will feel like royalty" and can enjoy a well-stocked minibar and a basket of regional specialties. For guests, the page recommends the Hotel Ambassador Bern, "only two tram stops away from the Gurtenbahn valley station." Two rooms will never house a wedding party, so guests will stay in Bern and ride the funicular up.

Getting there

The venue is on the mountain, so everyone arrives by the Gurtenbahn funicular from the valley station, which the Hotel Ambassador recommendation places on Bern's tram network. The site has a "Getting here" page and sells funicular tickets online; the wedding page itself does not give timetables, last departures or whether guests' tickets can be included, all important for an evening party. For couples from abroad, the good news is that the whole trip from a Bern hotel to the party can be made on public transport.

Things to do on the Gurten

The site's menu shows why the Gurten works for a wedding weekend with families. It lists a fun park, the Gurten garden with a seasonal garden tour, a toboggan run, a miniature railway, a Ferris wheel, a bike trail and mountain biking, an observatory visit and an artwork by Saype, as well as brunch and the Restaurant Gurtners. Guests with a free afternoon, or children at the wedding, have plenty to do. The same site runs seminars and workshops, corporate events, team programs and offers for schools, so the events team is used to handling large groups of every kind, and the footer links pages on sustainability and gift vouchers.

Language and contact

The full site is in German, English and French, and the wedding page reads naturally in English, which makes planning from abroad straightforward. Inquiries go through the "Inquire" button and the contact page; the wedding page shows no phone number.

What the site does not settle

Room rental prices other than the Schüür's, menu prices and minimum spends sit in the downloadable price list and culinary offer. The pages do not give end times, last funicular times, rain arrangements for the park ceremony, or whether the rest of the park stays open to the public during a wedding.

Who it suits

Gurten Park suits couples who want Bern at their feet and the Alps on the horizon, with a choice of room size from an intimate cellar party to a 350-guest dinner. It is especially practical for international guests: an English site, in-house food and cake, and a funicular ride from city hotels. The caveats are the dependence on the funicular for every arrival and departure, only two rooms on site, and prices kept in separate documents.