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 Hoorn

Here is some information from your municipality.

Marriage or registered partnership

Read everything about getting married or a registered partnership in Hoorn in the Trouwmagazine.

Reporting a proposed marriage or partnership

You report this to the municipality where you are getting married or where the partnership is registered.

You can arrange the notification online. You both need your DigiD. It is not necessary to visit the town hall. With this report, you immediately state who the witnesses are.

If you both do not live in the Netherlands, you must register your marriage in the municipality of The Hague. More information can be found under melding doen van huwelijk voor Nederlanders die in het buitenland wonen.

Reserve marriage or partnership

You can book a marriage or partnership online. Think of date, type of ceremony, location, marriage officials, whether or not a marriage booklet, name use and what steps you need to take to get married or enter into a partnership in Hoorn. If this is known, you can book and pay for the marriage or partnership via the website.

Location

For a number of locations, you must first reserve the date and location with the owner of the location.

Wedding official

Specify your choice when booking online. Do you choose a family member or friend as a wedding officiant for one day/BABS? Please provide the following information when booking: first and last name, date of birth and telephone number. The municipality expects the wedding official for one day/BABS to know what the tasks are. The wedding official for one day/BABS receives a manual from the municipality to prepare for the ceremony.

Name usage

Read about this on the Naamgebruik page

Additional terms

You must not be forced.
If you are under guardianship, you need permission from the curator or subdistrict court judge

Notification of intended marriage or partnership

You both need DigiD for this.

Reserve marriage

When you register your marriage, you make a number of choices, which you communicate to the municipality online. 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 use the reserveren form. You may have to pay for a wedding venue of your own choice.

Notification of intended marriage or partnership

The notification is free
Municipal employee acting as witness € 31

Reserve intended marriage or partnership

Ceremony
These are the options:

Free marriage/registered partnership without speech
Tuesday at 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m
Location: City Hall
Cost: none
Only the bridal couple and a maximum of 4 witnesses are present.
Marriage/registered partnership without speech
Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Location: City Hall
Costs: €248,70
Marriage/registered partnership with speech
Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m
Location: you can choose from the locations designated by the municipality or make your own choice
Costs*: the total costs depend on the choice of the wedding officiant:
- with wedding official of the municipality of your choice: € 531,50*
- already sworn in with your own wedding official: € 474,70*
You agree on any (financial) compensation with the wedding official for one day/BABS. You will not receive any money from the municipality for this.
Marriage/registered partnership with speech
All (holidays) days and outside office hours (office hours: Mon to Fri from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Location: All locations except City Hall.
Costs*: the total costs depend on the choice of the wedding officiant:
- with wedding official of the municipality of your choice: € 750,30*
- already sworn in with your own wedding official: € 510,80*

*these costs do not include the costs charged by the owner of the location. This does not apply to the Bontekoezaal in the town hall and the Statenlogement.