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
Here is some information from your municipality.
Municipality of Epe: Applying to get married
You register your marriage with the municipality, providing all the necessary details about yourself, your partner and your witnesses. This can be done up to 2 weeks before the wedding date. You can do it online or at the town hall.
Arrange directly online
Melding huwelijk of geregistreerd partnerschap (epe.nl)
Make an appointment
Een afspraak maken | Gemeente Epe
or call 14 0578
If neither you nor your partner live in the Netherlands, you must give notice of your marriage in the municipality of The Hague (Den Haag). You can find more information on how to register a marriage for Dutch citizens living outside the Netherlands at the netherlandsworldwide.nl website.
When you register your marriage, you make a number of choices that you communicate to the municipality. These choices relate to the ceremony and the venue. The costs depend on your wishes and the options available in the municipality.
Ceremony
The ceremony is the official part of your marriage. You can choose:
- to marry free of charge;
- a simple ceremony;
- an elaborate ceremony.
If you opt for an elaborate ceremony, you decide who conducts 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 particular 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:
- a wedding venue provided by the municipality;
- a wedding venue of your own choice. Notify the municipality of your venue. To do so, call [telefoonnummer] or use the contact form. You may have to pay for a wedding venue of your own choice.
- You can marry free of charge;
- simple ceremony (€ 180);
- elaborate ceremony (€ 750).
[extra optie]
You pay a fee for this service. For more information, contact the municipality gemeente@epe.nl.
Contact details are not yet available for your municipality.