Wedding at Åsgård Mariefred: a photographer’s guide

A wedding at Åsgård is held on Gripsholmsviken bay outside Mariefred, directly opposite Gripsholm Castle, with the whole property hired by one party from Friday to Sunday. The dining room seats up to 100 guests with an adjoining room for another 30, and there are ten hotel rooms on site. About an hour from Stockholm, and nobody else shares the house or the grounds with you for the entire weekend.

This guide covers what you need to know before booking: the rooms and capacity, ceremony options, how the weekend hire actually works, how guests get there, and the things that surprise couples once they arrive. If you are still comparing venues, the guide to wedding venues in Stockholm puts Åsgård next to the alternatives, and a wedding at Dalarö Skans covers the archipelago equivalent.

Where Åsgård is and what the house actually is

Åsgård sits in the eastern part of Strängnäs municipality, just east of Läggesta and south of Mariefred, on Gripsholmsviken with a clear view across the water to Gripsholm Castle. That view is the reason most couples book it, and it is genuinely the frame the whole day is built around.

One thing is worth knowing before the viewing. The main building looks seventeenth century but was built in the 1960s as a pastiche in that style, using cut stone elements and decorative details salvaged from demolished seventeenth century houses in Stockholm. Some couples find that mix charming, others react to the fact that the house is younger than it appears. Better to know it before you walk up the drive than to hear it afterwards.

What is not a pastiche is the setting. Lake Mälaren runs straight below the lawn, the castle sits across the bay, and the grounds slope down to the water. For photography that combination is unusually generous, because it gives you a formal building, open lawn and open water within a hundred metres of each other.

This guide is written by me, Karin Lundin, a wedding photographer based in Stockholm. Further down the page I share what it is like to photograph here. Planning a wedding and want to talk? Get in touch and we will talk.

Rooms and capacity for a wedding at Åsgård

Åsgård holds up to 130 guests indoors and more outdoors when the weather allows. The heart of the celebration is the dining room, laid for up to 100 seated guests, with an adjoining room seating another 30 for larger parties. The dining room has a stage with sound and lighting installed, which means speeches, music and a live band are covered without hiring in a rig.

For couples who want a smaller frame there is a baroque style salon suited to more intimate gatherings. It works for a smaller dinner, for the ceremony itself, or as a separate reception room before or after dinner. The rest of the house, and large parts of the grounds running down to the water, are included in the hire.

The detail most couples underestimate is what it means that the whole house is theirs for the weekend. No other group shares the building or the grounds. Guests move freely without navigating around other hotel guests, and the character of the place becomes genuinely yours rather than borrowed for an evening.

Prices and package content vary with season, guest numbers and menu, so ask Åsgård for a quote for your specific date. Request a preliminary total based on your approximate guest count at first contact and you will have a realistic figure to plan against.

Ceremony by the lake or in Mariefred church

An outdoor ceremony on Gripsholmsviken is one of the strongest reasons couples choose Åsgård. With the castle across the water you have a backdrop no set designer can improve on, and summer evenings with low sun are particularly good. Plan an indoor alternative, because Mälaren can turn windy and cooler than expected even in July.

For a church ceremony, Mariefred church is about five minutes away by car and the ceremony can be held there before dinner at Åsgård. Couples marrying in Sweden need a Certificate of No Impediment (hindersprövning) from the Swedish Tax Agency, Skatteverket, before any ceremony. It is normally processed within a few weeks and is valid for four months, so it cannot be applied for too far in advance. Other ceremony options are covered in the guide to a wedding at Stockholm City Hall.

If you want the arrival itself to be part of the day, the steamship S/S Mariefred, built in 1903, runs between Stockholm and Mariefred during the summer. The journey takes a few hours and is the experience rather than the transport, which suits guests who have time and want the trip to be part of the weekend.

The weekend hire and what it gives you

Åsgård is let by the weekend, from Friday to Sunday. That gives you room: a welcome reception on Friday evening for guests who have travelled, Saturday as the wedding day itself, and a slow brunch on Sunday before you pack up. The model is uncommon in Sweden and it is one of the things that separates Åsgård from other venues around Mälaren.

A concrete piece of advice: divide the weekend into parts before you book. Many couples plan only for Saturday and forget that Friday evening and Sunday morning are already included. A welcome reception, a brunch, or a quiet finish with coffee and the last of the cake on the lawn all fit inside the weekend hire at no extra venue cost. It lifts the whole experience without adding much planning.

Give your suppliers a written list of when you need them on Friday and Sunday as well as Saturday. Photographer, florist and DJ all work to a different rhythm around a weekend hire than around a single day, so raise it early rather than assuming it is understood. How the hours actually distribute across a multi day celebration is worth mapping before you sign anything.

Staying over at Åsgård and in Mariefred

Åsgård has ten hotel rooms with twenty beds, plus two extra beds. That covers the couple and close family but rarely the whole wedding party. For everyone else there are options in Mariefred five minutes away, from family run guesthouses to hotel rooms in the old town by the square.

Guests sleeping in Mariefred and taking a taxi or sharing a car for the five minute drive works well in practice. Count on a handful of taxis, or book a shuttle if you want everyone to arrive and leave together. A booked transfer to and from Mariefred in the morning and at the end of the night is the simplest solution for a larger party.

Send accommodation suggestions out early, especially to guests travelling from abroad, so they can book at a price level that suits them. Mariefred is small and fills up in high summer.

Getting to Åsgård

From central Stockholm the drive takes about an hour on the E20. By train it is roughly 30 minutes from Stockholm Central to Läggesta station, then a short taxi or hire car out to Åsgård. Current timetables are on the SJ site. There is parking on site.

If you have many guests coming from abroad, a shared coach from Stockholm Central or from Arlanda airport is worth planning. More couples now book a bus that leaves central Stockholm a couple of hours before the ceremony, which solves both the parking question and the risk of stragglers. Ask Åsgård to recommend a coach operator who has driven guests there before.

One safety note for guests with small children. Mälaren lies directly below the house and the shoreline is not fenced. It is beautiful and it needs supervision. If you are inviting families with young children, plan childcare for the dinner specifically, when parents most want a couple of hours off duty.

What a wedding day at Åsgård looks like

Treat that as a starting point. Many couples move dinner earlier to buy more evening light for portraits, which at this venue is the right instinct. How to build the rest of the schedule around the light is covered in the guide to a wedding day timeline.

What couples often miss

The first is the age of the house. It reads as seventeenth century and it is a 1960s building using salvaged seventeenth century stonework. Knowing that before the viewing means you judge the place on what it is rather than on what you assumed.

The second is that the weekend hire gives you more hours than you plan for. Holding the house from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon leaves room for a welcome reception, a long Saturday and a slow Sunday. Decide which of those you actually want, because the venue cost is the same either way and unused time is the most expensive thing you can buy.

The third is that Mälaren is a presence throughout. The view towards Gripsholm Castle is the centrepiece, but the wind off the bay is part of the same package, particularly for anything held outdoors. Brief your suppliers for an exposed site rather than a sheltered terrace, and have a quick way of moving drinks indoors if the weather turns.

A photographer’s perspective

My name is Karin Lundin and I am a wedding photographer based in Stockholm. What makes a wedding at Åsgård different from most venues around Mälaren is that you are not sharing the house with anybody. That sounds like a comfort detail and it is actually a photographic one. Guests behave differently when there is no lobby full of strangers, and the pictures show it.

The slope down to the water is the thing I would build the portrait time around. It lets me place you above or below the camera instead of straight in front of it, and it puts the castle in the background without turning the frame into a postcard. Late evening is when it works best, so protect twenty minutes after dinner and tell your toastmaster it is fixed.

Inside, the dining room has height and daylight, which is a better starting point than most. The one thing worth agreeing before the room is set is where the top table sits relative to the windows. Backlight behind a top table looks beautiful to the eye and reads as silhouettes in a photograph, and moving a table plan in April is easy while moving it at five in the afternoon is not.

The weekend format also changes how I work. With a Friday welcome dinner and a Sunday brunch, the Saturday portraits do not have to carry the whole story, and the quiet frames of people arriving, cooking, laughing on a lawn on Friday evening often become the ones couples like most. If you are hiring the house for the full weekend, talk to your photographer about splitting the hours rather than putting all of them on Saturday.

Want to capture the day on film as well? I often work alongside Nordvér Films.

Key takeaways

• Åsgård holds up to 130 guests indoors, with the dining room seating 100 and an adjoining room another 30.
• The whole property goes to one party at a time and is hired by the weekend from Friday to Sunday.
• There are 10 hotel rooms with 20 beds on site, plus 2 extra beds, so most guests stay in Mariefred five minutes away.
• The main building was built in the 1960s in seventeenth century style using salvaged stonework, not in the seventeenth century itself.
• Mariefred church is about five minutes away by car for a church ceremony before dinner.
• Stockholm to Läggesta takes about 30 minutes by train, or about an hour by car on the E20, with parking on site.
• The shoreline below the house is not fenced, so plan supervision or childcare if you are inviting young families.

Frequently asked questions about a wedding at Åsgård

How many guests fit at Åsgård?

Up to 130 indoors and more outdoors when the weather allows. The dining room is laid for up to 100 seated guests with an adjoining room seating another 30. Ask for a floor plan built around your guest count, since the seating arrangement changes the number.

Can we book the whole of Åsgård for just our party?

Yes, and that is the standard arrangement. The property is let to one group at a time, hired by the weekend from Friday to Sunday, so no other party shares the house or the grounds with you.

Can guests stay overnight at Åsgård?

There are 10 hotel rooms with 20 beds on site, plus 2 extra beds. That usually covers the couple and close family. Other guests stay in Mariefred, five minutes away, which has guesthouses and hotel rooms in the old town.

How do guests get to Åsgård without a car?

Train from Stockholm Central to Läggesta takes about 30 minutes, followed by a short taxi ride. For a larger party, book a coach from central Stockholm or Arlanda. In summer the 1903 steamship S/S Mariefred also runs between Stockholm and Mariefred, which takes a few hours and is an experience rather than a transfer.

Is the main building from the seventeenth century?

No. It was built in the 1960s as a pastiche in seventeenth century style, using cut stone elements and decorative details taken from demolished seventeenth century houses in Stockholm. It looks the part, and it is worth knowing before the viewing.

What does a photographer cost for a weekend wedding here?

A full day in the Stockholm region runs 35,000 to 80,000 SEK including VAT, and a weekend format normally means splitting hours across Friday, Saturday and Sunday rather than adding a second full day. The breakdown is in the guide to wedding photographer cost in Stockholm.

How far in advance should we book?

Because the property takes one wedding per weekend, summer dates go early. Contact Åsgård as soon as you have a date in mind, and book the photographer and any coach transfer in the same period since both are single booking per day suppliers.

Can we hold the ceremony, dinner and party in the same place?

Yes. The ceremony can be held outdoors by the bay or in the baroque salon, dinner in the dining room, and dancing afterwards on the same floor. Nobody moves between addresses during the day, which is the main practical argument for the venue.

Planning a wedding? I am happy to talk about how your day could look in pictures. Get in touch and we will talk.