Applying to get married in the Netherlands

Are you planning to get married? If you intend to get married, you must notify the municipality of this at least 2 weeks and not more than 1 year before the wedding.

There are certain requirements for marriage that everyone must meet:

you must be at least 18 years of age;
you cannot marry someone who is already married or in a civil partnership;
you cannot be related to one other, e.g. grandparent, grandchild, parent, child or sibling.

Are you getting married to a non-Dutch citizen in the Netherlands? Then different conditions apply.

If you intend to marry someone of the same sex, you can get married in the Netherlands in the presence of the civil registrar. This is called a civil marriage, and you are only legally married once you have had a civil ceremony. In addition, it is possible to have a religious ceremony in some churches, but not all churches allow it. Check first with the church where you want to have the ceremony. A church wedding can only take place after the civil ceremony.

If you are getting married outside the Netherlands and are not yet 18 years old, your marriage will only be recognised in the Netherlands once both spouses have reached 18 years of age.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Bunnik

Here is some information from your municipality.

Get married or register a partnership

You want to get married or register your partnership
You can reserve your wedding date up to 1 year in advance
Follow the 5 steps to arrange the right things
Where we say getting married, we also mean having a partnership registered

Step 1: book your date first

Contact us by phone to reserve your wedding date. We will then immediately prepare a marriage file. You can get married in the municipality of Bunnik:

from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. on
Mondays at 9.00 and 10.00 you can get married free of charge. This is only for residents of the municipality of Bunnik.
Saturdays between 09:00 - 20:00
on Sundays and public holidays you cannot get married at the municipality

Step 2: choose a wedding location

Ofcourse you can get married or have your partnership registered at our town hall. You may also choose a different wedding location. In addition to the town hall, the municipality of Bunnik has a number of other permanent wedding locations. You must arrange the date and other appointments yourself with the location you choose.

Step 3: choose your witnesses

At a marriage and partnership registration, a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 adult witnesses must be present. Anyone over the age of 18 can be a witness.

Step 4: choose a wedding officiant

Let us know who your wedding officiant is. If you don't want to make a choice, we will assign someone. You can also register your own marriage officer from the registry office. For your own wedding officiant you must submit your request to the municipality at least 4 months in advance.

Step 5: Report your intention of marriage or partnership

Before you get married or have your partnership registered, you must report your intention of marriage or partnership to the municipality where you will get married.

When you register your marriage, you make a number of choices, which you communicate to the municipality. These choices relate to the ceremony and the venue. The costs depend on your wishes and the possibilities of the municipality.

Ceremony

The ceremony is the official part of your marriage. You can choose from:

marriage free of charge;
simple ceremony;
elaborate ceremony.

If you opt for an elaborate ceremony, you determine who leads the ceremony. You have the following choices:

A wedding registrar from the municipality. The wedding registrar will contact you a few weeks before the wedding date to introduce themselves and find out more about you and your future spouse. If you have a preference for a wedding registrar, inform the municipality of this.
A family member or acquaintance. If you would like a family member or an acquaintance to be your own wedding registrar, contact the municipality.

Wedding venue

You can get married in various places. You can choose from:

a wedding venue of the municipality;
a wedding venue of your own choice. Notify the municipality of your venue. To do so, call or use the contact form. You may have to pay for a wedding venue of your own choice.

Location en wedding officiant	Normal time: Monday from 10:30 am - 5:00 pm and Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm	Special time: Monday to Friday after 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m
Weddinghall with weddingofficiant	€ 608,65	€ 760,75
Weddinghall with one-time experienced wedding officiant	€ 672,90	€ 748,95
Weddinghall with one-time inexperienced wedding officiant	€ 1047,85	€ 1199,95
Other permanent wedding venue with wedding officiant	€ 466,00	€ 542,05
Other permanent wedding venue with one-time experienced wedding officiant	€ 530,25	€ 530,25
Other permanent wedding venue with one-time inexperienced wedding officiant	€ 905,20	€ 981,25
Brothers Horeca Groep (BHG) wedding locationg with BHG-wedding officiant (costs for administration)	€ 256,75	€ 256,75
Free wedding venue with wedding officiant	€ 657,40	€ 733,45
Free wedding venue with one-time experienced wedding officiant	€ 721,65	€ 721,65
Free wedding venue with one-time inexperienced wedding officiant	€ 1096,66	€ 1172,65

Other costs:
Marriage booklet with leather cover (dark blue)	€ 37,95
Marriage booklet with plastic cover (dark red)	€ 17,10
Conversion of registered partnership into marriage (formality at the counter)	€ 16,85