Getting married and honeymooning in Vietnam

Below: the legal reality, ceremony formats with prices, the best spots for a wedding and a honeymoon, plus a bonus — what a real Vietnamese wedding actually looks like (spoiler: the guest list runs to several hundred).

Can you get married in Vietnam?

Straight to the point: registering a marriage between two foreigners in Vietnam is possible, but not a practical option for a trip. Since July 2025 even commune-level offices can handle it, yet it's aimed at residents — registration happens where you live in Vietnam, and you'll need a certificate of no impediment plus other documents, all translated and legalised. The local People's Committee sets the timeline and fee. A symbolic ceremony, on the other hand, carries no legal force at all. So the standard move is simple — sign the papers back home (or at your consulate), and celebrate in Vietnam.

A symbolic wedding is a full celebration without the stamp in your passport. An arch on the beach, an officiant, vows, an exchange of rings, a photo shoot, sparkling wine and a romantic dinner. Visually it is no different from the "real" thing — the only difference is the paperwork.

What you need to organise one:

• Contact an agency one to two months ahead (five to ten days at the very least)
• Pick a package and a location
• Bring your outfits or rent them locally — bridal salons exist in the bigger resort towns. Many couples have a tailored áo dài made for the photo shoot; see the áo dài guide
• Documents: none — a symbolic ceremony requires no paperwork

English-speaking wedding planners work everywhere, most easily in beach hubs like Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Nha Trang, and in atmospheric towns such as Hoi An and Da Lat. Booking through an international agency or a resort's in-house events team is the smoothest route if you do not speak Vietnamese.

Formats and cost of the ceremony

Four tiers — from a minimalist ceremony to a full-blown resort celebration.

The beach ceremony is the most popular format. A fresh-flower arch on the shore, an officiant reading the vows, the couple exchanging rings to the sound of the waves. It runs 20 to 40 minutes, usually followed by a sunset photo shoot and dinner at a beachfront restaurant.

At a resort. InterContinental Phu Quoc, Salinda Resort, Vinpearl — the big chains have ready-made wedding programmes. It is convenient, since you organise nothing separately, but it costs more.

At a temple. A symbolic Buddhist ceremony — a monks' blessing, offerings, incense. Available in Nha Trang and Hoi An. An unusual format, and not for everyone.

Package prices are a market guide as of April 2026 and vary between organisers. Get a quote from your agency. Rough conversion: ~26,000 VND is about $1.

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Map & the best places to get married in Vietnam

Eight destinations on one map. Green pins work for both halves of the trip — the ceremony and the honeymoon. Blue pins are wedding towns: planners, venues, photographers. Amber pins are honeymoon-only; almost nobody weds there. Tap a pin for the upsides, the catches and the budget.

• Phu Quoc (Phú Quốc): Wedding: white Bãi Sao sand, luxury resorts — Honeymoon: beach luxury, $3,000–5,000 for two over 10 days — Best time: December–April
• Hoi An (Hội An): Wedding: lanterns, the river, the old town — Honeymoon: culture + beach, $2,000–3,500 — Best time: February–May
• Nha Trang (Nha Trang): Wedding: many planners, affordable prices — Downside: crowded beaches — Best for comfort and easy logistics
• Da Nang (Đà Nẵng): Wedding: fine beaches, modern hotels — Downside: unstable weather in winter — A balance of beach and city
• Phan Thiet (Phan Thiết): Wedding: quiet, intimate, low prices — Downside: windy, few planners — Best for small, private ceremonies
• Da Lat (Đà Lạt): Honeymoon: mountain romance — $1,500–2,500 for two over 10 days — Good year-round
• Ha Long (Hạ Long): Honeymoon: a cruise among the karsts — $2,500–4,000 for two over 10 days — Best time: March–May
• Sapa (Sa Pa): Honeymoon: mountains and rice terraces — $1,500–2,500 for two over 10 days — Best time: March–May

Nha Trang has the deepest bench of wedding agencies. Photographer, makeup artist, coordinator, florist — all easy to line up, and many work with international couples. Ceremonies are held on the city beach, on the islands (Vinpearl, Hòn Tằm) and inside resort grounds. More on the city in the Nha Trang guide.

Phu Quoc is for couples willing to pay more for seclusion. Bãi Sao beach is postcard-white sand. The InterContinental and Salinda resorts, with ready-made wedding packages, sit on the other, west coast of the island, along Bãi Trường (Long Beach). Full overview in the Phu Quoc guide.

Hoi An is for you if the wedding is about more than the beach. A ceremony on the Thu Bồn river, with hundreds of paper lanterns set adrift on the water, is a sight you will never forget. A tailored áo dài can be made in 24 hours. Everything about the town is in the Hoi An guide.

Where to honeymoon in Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the most underrated honeymoon destinations going. Tropical islands, mountain resorts, cruises among the karsts and cities with a thousand years of history.

Phu Quoc. Private pool villas, spa for two, a beachside seafood dinner. InterContinental, JW Marriott, Mövenpick — the choice of resorts is huge. Sunset over Bãi Trường (Long Beach) is one of the finest in Vietnam. Where to stay is covered in the Phu Quoc guide.

Da Lat. A town in the mountains at 1,500 m. Cool (18–25 °C), pine forests, lakes, waterfalls. Thung Lũng Tình Yêu — the Valley of Love — is a park built for couples. French architecture, cosy cafés, a market piled with strawberries. Da Lat looks nothing like the typical Vietnam. More in the Da Lat guide.

Ha Long. A night on a junk among some 1,600 limestone islands. A cabin with a panoramic window, dinner on the upper deck, kayaking at dawn. An overnight two-day cruise runs $108–200 per person on a budget boat and $300–675 for luxury; three-day trips out to Lan Ha Bay are $200–800+. The Ha Long guide has the details.

Hoi An. An ancient trading town on the UNESCO list. At night the lanterns reflect in the river, and boatmen row you along the Thu Bồn — agree the price per boat before you board; paper lanterns to float on the water are sold right on the embankment. An Bàng beach — 4 km from the centre — is clean and calm. A tailored áo dài is made in a day and makes a fine souvenir to take home.

Sapa. For couples drawn to the off-beat: rice terraces, ethnic Hmong and Dao villages, mountain trails. Topas Ecolodge has bungalows overlooking the valley and an infinity pool. It is not a beach holiday, but it photographs beautifully.

Resorts for total seclusion

If your idea of a honeymoon is "just the two of us and no one else", Vietnam does that too. Two addresses people fly in for precisely because they're hard to reach:

Six Senses Con Dao. The Con Dao archipelago — once a prison colony, now one of the quietest corners of the country: most people fly in on small planes from Ho Chi Minh City, and there are no crowds. Six Senses has villas, each with its own pool, right on the shore — at night it's just the stars and the sound of the water. It isn't cheap (villas run into the hundreds of dollars a night), but the seclusion is near-total.

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay. An hour from Nha Trang, yet reachable only by water — a boat ferries you to a bay walled off from the world by mountains. Villas on stilts over the sea and tucked into the rocks, a private beach, a treetop spa. One of the most romantic resorts in Asia, and one of the priciest; check nightly rates on the chain's site.

What a Vietnamese wedding is like

If you get invited to a real Vietnamese wedding, brace for scale. Guest lists usually run from a hundred to a thousand or more. The celebration often stretches over several days: first the bride's side, then the groom's.

The stages

1. The engagement (lễ ăn hỏi). The groom's family ceremonially carries gifts to the bride's house: fruit, tea, betel nuts, rice wine — all in red lacquered boxes. The number of boxes is odd (usually 5, 7 or 9). The couple exchanges rings.

2. The home ceremony. On the wedding morning, a ritual at the bride's house. Family only. The groom collects the bride after first asking permission at the ancestors' altar.

3. The banquet. The couple greets guests at the entrance to the hall. Gifts are cash in envelopes (usually 200,000–500,000 VND, ~$8–20). Over the evening the bride changes three to five dresses: a white Western gown, a red traditional one, an áo dài and a couple more.

Guests should consider their relationship with the couple and their own financial situation when deciding whether to attend and how much to giveanthropologist Nguyen Anh Hong, VnExpress International, 2024

The obligatory ritual: a pyramid of champagne glasses. The couple pours sparkling wine over the top and it cascades down to fill the glasses. It looks beautiful, but no one drinks it — it is a symbol.

The groom works every table with rice wine. The toast: "1-2-3 dzô!" (Vietnamese for "bottoms up"). By the end of the night the groom is usually tipsy — that is normal, and even an honour.

What to do if you're invited

• Put cash in an envelope (200,000–500,000 VND)
• Wear something smart — but not white, the bride's colour
• Be ready for noise, karaoke and mountains of food
• Don't turn down toasts — it'll cause offence
• Pose for photos with the couple — it matters to Vietnamese hosts

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