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 Zwolle

Here is some information from your municipality.

Marriage

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 at the town hall.

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.

a valid identity document for you and your future spouse;
a copy of the identity documents of your 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 14038.

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;
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.