Wedding Palace. Building 421
The VDNH Wedding Palace offers the following services:
- marriage registration,
- wedding ceremonies,
- scenic locations for photo and video sessions (for instance, the Wedding Palace itself looks like an antique manor),
- themed events,
- zones for wedding receptions,
- music accompaniment.
The Wedding Palace holds no more than 20 ceremonies a day (about 50% less than any other marriage registration office), because we are committed to making your special day intimate and undisturbed by strangers. We greatly appreciate your choice of VDNH as your wedding venue and are ready to give you our utmost support, ensuring in any way necessary that your ceremony is peaceful and that everything goes according to plan.
We make lives easier for couples that choose us, and account for any minor detail; with us, you will never ruin your wedding day by rushing on errands or getting stuck in a Moscow traffic jam.
Modern newlyweds have created a new tradition: taking pictures with the Happy Family bronze sculpture in the Young Naturalists' garden square. According to popular superstition, this ensures that you will be happy together.
If you are interested in an Orthodox Christian wedding ceremony, it can be arranged at the Chapel of Saint Basil the Great, which you will also find on the VDNH premises, not far from the Lilac Garden.
- Assistance from JSC VDNH representatives on the day of official marriage registration;
- Musical accompaniment during the ceremony (as the guests enter, exit and settle in the room; as the newlyweds enter; and as the parents, family members and other guests offer their congratulations);
- Permit for a professional photo and video shoot (wedding footage or a special scenario) at the Palace's marriage registration hall.
- Assistance from JSC VDNH representatives on the day of official marriage registration;
- Musical accompaniment during the ceremony (as the guests enter, exit and settle in the room; as the newlyweds enter; and as the parents, family members and other guests offer their congratulations). Musical service options;
- Permit for a professional photo and video shoot (wedding footage or a special scenario) at the Palace's marriage registration hall;
- Invitations to the Palace for the newlyweds and their guests, including a pass that will allow one vehicle (limo or minibus with a capacity of up to twenty-eight people) to enter the VDNH premises on the wedding day. The vehicle's weight category must be below 12 tons;
- Permission to shower the newlyweds in rose petals as they exit the Palace.
- Assistance from JSC VDNH representatives on the day of official marriage registration;
- Musical accompaniment during the ceremony (as the guests enter, exit and settle in the room; as the newlyweds enter; and as the parents, family members and other guests offer their congratulations).
- Permit for a professional photo and video shoot (wedding footage or a special scenario) at the Palace's marriage registration hall;
- Invitations to the Palace for the newlyweds and their guests, including a pass that will allow two vehicles (2 limos or a limo + minibus with a capacity of up to twenty-eight people each) to enter the VDNH premises on the wedding day. The vehicles' weight category must be below 12 tons;
- Renting Recreation Room No. 2 for a wedding reception (20 minutes);
- Special folder for the marriage certificate;
- Permission to shower the newlyweds in rose petals as they exit the Palace.
The VDNH Wedding Palace is located in a unique historical building; while erected in 1939, it has been designed to replicate a 17th century manor house. Inside, there is a ceremonial hall, a spacious vestibule, recreation areas and two terraces.
The Wedding Palace began accepting applications for marriage registration on 25 February 2014. The very first official wedding ceremony took place 46 days later, on 12 April. The number of couples willing to exchange vows at the Palace has been steadily growing ever since then. After all, what better place to hold a wedding than the country's most important exhibition venue?
Date of Construction, Architect
This building dates back to 1939. It was initially conceptualised as a typical club for kolkhoz farm workers. The core feature of the project was a wooden community space with a capacity of up to 400 people, designed by the All-Union Academy of Architecture specifically for the northern regions of the USSR. Such clubs had already been built before at various farms, for instance, the Ernst Thälmann Farm in the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
The exterior design is a homage to the architectural traditions of 17th-century Russia. Aside from cultural events, the pavilion was also meant for holding meetings.
The building was designed by a talented architect named Nikolay Jamesovich (Yakovlevich) Collie (5 (17) August 1894–3 December 1966). He was also known for his contribution to the design of the Kazansky Railway Station in Moscow under the supervision of A. V. Schusev in 1913–1915. Moreover, in 1928–1932, Collie joined forces with the prominent French architect Le Corbusier to work on the Centrosoyuz building in Paris and in Moscow. And in 1933, as head of Architectural Design Workshop No. 6, he created the layouts of several Moscow Metro stations: Smolenskaya, Park Kultury (north pavilion), Paveletskaya (on the Koltsevaya line), Kirovskaya (Chistiye Prudy). During and after the Great Patriotic War, Collie created reconstruction plans for Tver, Minsk and Riga.