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 Kampen

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of Kampen: Applying to get married

You register your marriage with the municipality, providing all the 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

Make an appointment

If neither you nor your partner live in the Netherlands, you must give notice of your marriage in the municipality of Den Haag (The Hague). 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, which you communicate to the municipality. These choices relate to the ceremony and the venue. The costs depend on your wishes and the possibilities in the municipality of Kampen.

Ceremony

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

marriage free of charge;
simple ceremony;
elaborate ceremony.

If you choose an elaborate ceremony, you can choose who leads the ceremony. You can choose from:

wedding registrar from the municipality;
family member or acquaintance.

If you choose a wedding registrar from the municipality, a registrar from the municipality of Kampen will contact you a few weeks before the wedding date to introduce themselves and find out more about you and your future spouse.

Do you want a family member or someone you know to be your own wedding registrar? If so, you must contact the municipality yourself by sending an e-mail to burgerzaken@kampen.nl

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, contact the municipality by sending an e-mail to burgerzaken@kampen.nl. You may have to pay for a wedding venue of your own choice.