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.
Marriage/civil partnership
You register your marriage with the municipality, providing all the details about yourself, your partner and your witnesses. You choose a date, place and ceremony. You can reserve a date up to 1 year in advance.
If neither you nor your partner live in the Netherlands, you must give notice of your marriage in The Hague. You can find more information here: Register a marriage for Dutch citizens living abroad.
- a valid identity document for you and your future spouse;
- a copy of the identity documents of your witnesses. You may have a total of 2 - 4 witnesses.
If one of you comes from a country other than the Netherlands, the municipality will need additional information. You can call the municipality about this on +31 24 329 90 00.
Please call +31 24 329 90 00 to arrange for your wedding or partnership.
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.
Marriage free of charge
A marriage or partnership registration free of charge takes a maximum of 10 minutes. There is a waiting list of at least 10 months. The municipality chooses the wedding registrar and you will not get an interview or a speech.
Simple ceremony
This is possible in the Stadswinkel in the morning from Monday to Wednesday. The ceremony lasts a maximum of 15 minutes. For a simple ceremony, the municipality chooses your wedding registrar. You do not have a personal interview with the wedding registrar, but you will receive a short speech during the ceremony.
Elaborate ceremony
This can be arranged in the town hall (in Dutch: stadhuis) or at a location of your choice. You choose your wedding registrar and receive a personal interview and a speech at the ceremony. An elaborate ceremony takes a maximum of 30-45 minutes. In addition, there is time for taking pictures and receiving congratulations.
You also 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 and register your partnership anywhere in Nijmegen. There are a few rules though:
- You may only get married in an existing building.
- The building must be a public place where anyone can enter.
- The building must be a designated wedding venue. Has the place where you want to get married not yet been designated? Call us on +31 24 329 90 00.
Book a wedding venue:
- Do you want to get married in the town hall or the Stadswinkel? Then you can choose a day and time in the online application. Please note: your choice is not yet certain. We will contact you to let you know if your choice is possible.
- Do you want to get married in a different place? Then first reserve the date and time yourself with the company/organization of the place where you want to get married. You can then enter this information in the online application.
- no ceremony: free of charge;
- simple ceremony from € 260,80;
- elaborate ceremony from € 388,35.
All costs are available on the webpage 'Trouwen' of the municipality of Nijmegen. Costs are listed beneath the header 'Kosten'.
Questions about this topic?
Contact the Municipality of Nijmegen
Visiting address
Mariënburg 30
6511PS Nijmegen
| Monday | 09:00 -17:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 -17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 -17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00 -20:00 |
| Friday | 09:00 -17:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |