Getting married or registered partnership

Before you get married or enter into a registered partnership, you file a notification of your proposed marriage. This (online) notification replaces the former civil marriage. Arrange this at least four weeks and up to one year before you get married.

For the notification of intended marriage, you and your partner need DigiD. In the form, you choose the type of ceremony, the date, the location and, if desired, indicate your preference for a wedding officiant. You can also immediately specify two, three or four adults as your witnesses in the form and upload the requested copy of identity documents.

The choices you make in this process are not yet final. After your digital application and payment of fees, the municipality will review your choices and then contact you.

Filing a notification of intended marriage/registered partnership

Would you like to get married free of charge at the Municipal Office or get married in Raadhuis de Paauw and are you curious if your preferred date is still available? Then fill in the form "Notification of marriage or registered partnership".

You and your partner log in with DigiD and you choose whether you want an elaborate, simple or free ceremony. Then you can see in the calendar which dates and times are still available.

Notice! Until you submit the form, the date will not be reserved. 

Do you have a registered partnership and want to get married? Then you can have your registered partnership converted into a marriage. Here you can choose in which form the conversion takes place: via a simple or an elaborate wedding ceremony or purely as an administrative act. You no longer need witnesses. With a conversion, no witnesses are listed on the deed because they have already testified at your partnership registration. 

Are you choosing conversion with a simple or elaborate ceremony? Then please use the button below. For this you and your partner need DigiD. 

Do you only want an administrative conversion at the front desk of the municipal office? Then contact the civil registry by phone at 14070. 

Convert registered partnership to marriage

In the notification of intended marriage, you can fill out a declaration of name use. You then choose which name you want to use after the marriage or registered partnership. This is not an official name change, but the name by which you want to be addressed by official bodies. The name in your passport or driver's license will not change.

You can both choose from the following options:

• Your own name
• Name of partner
• Name of partner followed by own name
• Own name followed by partner's name

Learn more about naming. 

In Wassenaar we have three different types of wedding ceremonies: free, simple and elaborate. Below you can read what these ceremonies look like and what the Requirements are.

Free wedding

You can take advantage of the opportunity to get married free of charge only if at least one of the two partners lives in Wassenaar. 

Free wedding ceremonies are performed on Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. in the consulting room of the municipal office on the Johan de Wittstraat. Due to space limitations, you can only bring a total of two witnesses and guests are not allowed. The registrar will not make a speech but will immediately proceed to the marriage pledge (saying yes) and/or signing the deed.

Simple ceremony

On Mondays through Thursdays at 10:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., there is the option of getting married via a simple wedding ceremony. You will be married in the wedding hall of Raadhuis De Paauw by a designated wedding officiant. The ceremony lasts a maximum of fifteen minutes during which a general, short speech is given by the wedding officiant. You will not have a preparatory conversation with the wedding officiant. You or your partner do not have to live in Wassenaar to take advantage of the simple wedding ceremony. The ceremony may have two, three or four witnesses. A total of 40 people are allowed in the wedding hall. During the simple ceremony, it is not possible to have music or invite a guest speaker. There is also no usher present and the red carpet is not rolled out.

Extended ceremony

From Sunday through Saturday, you can get married from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at any designated location. The extended ceremony offers you more customization compared to the simple ceremony. In addition to the free choice of your wedding location, you may also specify your preferred wedding officiant. A few weeks before the wedding you will have a personal meeting with this wedding officiant. This meeting is first of all to get acquainted and also forms the basis for the personal speech that the wedding officiant will make for you. During this meeting you can also express other wishes regarding the ceremony. For example, whether a family member will act as a guest speaker or the playing of music during the ceremony.

Wassenaar has several beautiful locations where you can get married.
You can view an overview of all designated wedding venues in Wassenaar.

Please note! If you are marrying at a location other than Raadhuis De Paauw, you must reserve this location yourself. This is not arranged by the municipality. Please contact the location in question yourself. These locations also charge a fee. These costs are not included in the wedding fees you pay to the municipality.

Getting married in a private (one-off) venue

It is also possible to have a location designated once for your wedding. We will then visit the location to see to what extent it meets the applicable Requirements . For the designation of a one-time location you pay extra costs. The schedule of costs below shows the amount. In the 'Policy Rule on the designation of the Town Hall (marriage and registered partnership) Wassenaar' you will find the Requirements that the location must meet. For a request to designate a single wedding location, please contact us via the email address burgerlijkestand@wassenaar.nl. 

Weddings in Council House De Paauw possible through March 31, 2026

Raadhuis De Paauw is open for weddings until March 31, 2026. After that time, Raadhuis De Paauw will close for an extended period of time due to renovation of the inside of the town hall.

The rules of the game in Council House De Paauw

We want to make every wedding ceremony a festive affair. Together we agree on the following ground rules so that there are no misunderstandings in the preparation and on the day itself:

• Live music at the ceremony is not permitted.
• Music playback is only possible for an elaborate ceremony. You can provide the music on a USB stick to the usher of the Paauw a week before the wedding. This gives the usher the opportunity to test the music.
• The standard arrangement in the wedding hall cannot be changed.
• You are not allowed to make your own decorations in the wedding hall.
• A maximum of 40 people are allowed in the wedding hall.
• It is not permitted to sprinkle confetti or rice, for example, in and around Council House De Paauw.
• Due to environmental concerns, the municipality advises against balloon launching.
• Only sport pigeons trained to fly back are allowed to be released.
• Animals are not allowed during the ceremony with the exception of assistance animals.

A (special) registrar will perform your marriage. If you opt for an extensive ceremony, you can also indicate which officiant you prefer. We will try to take your preference into account in consultation with the wedding officiant. If you do not indicate your preference, the civil registrar of the Municipality of Wassenaar will make the choice.

See the overview of our babes

Your own wedding officiant

You can choose this wedding officiant if you wish to nominate someone who is not employed as such by the municipality of Wassenaar as your wedding officiant. That person must already have been appointed and sworn in as a wedding officiant in another municipality. The following items are required of this wedding officiant to complete the designation:

• Copy of ID;
• Copy designation municipality;
• Copy pv of affidavit from court.

You can mail these documents after you report your proposed marriage to burgerlijkestand@wassenaar.nl. There are costs associated with appointing your own wedding officiant. See the heading 'costs' at the bottom of the page. Please feel free to contact the civil registry office for more information.

To get married, there are a number of Requirements:

• You and your partner are both 18 years of age or older;
• You must not be in a registered partnership with someone else or already married;
• You may not marry your own child, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, grandchild, half-brother, half-sister;
• You should not be forced into marriage;
• Are you under financial supervision? Then you need permission from the trustee or cantonal judge.