Venues · Rådhuspladsen · ceremonies
Copenhagen City Hall is where most international couples marry in Denmark: a short, legal civil ceremony in a historic hall at Rådhuspladsen, in the heart of the city.
Rådhuspladsen · ceremonies
The red-brick City Hall opened in 1905 and its wedding hall is one of the most beautiful rooms in Copenhagen. A registrar from the Copenhagen wedding office leads the ceremony in English, Danish or German. It is short, personal and fully legal.
Once Familieretshuset has approved your documents, we book your date and time with the wedding office, meet you on the day and explain the simple ID check if you have no Nordic personal number. The city always provides two official witnesses, or two of your guests can sign. Afterwards, the square, the H.C. Andersen statue and the old town are right outside for your first photos as a married couple.
Good to know
Ceremonies take place in the wedding hall inside City Hall. Martin Nyrop designed the building in the national romantic style, so on the way in you pass carved details, painted ceilings, granite staircases and tall windows. Your guests are seated, and you stand with the registrar and your two witnesses at the front.
The registrar welcomes you, reads a short text about marriage under Danish law and asks each of you the legal question. You answer “yes”, exchange rings if you wish, kiss and sign the register together with your witnesses. It takes about fifteen minutes and you leave with your Danish marriage certificate in hand.
The main hall with its glass roof, the staircases and the inner courtyard are favourite spots for the first portraits. Outside, the square, the old dragon fountain and the lamp-lit Strøget shopping street lead straight into the medieval centre, and Tivoli Gardens is across the road.
Arrive 10 to 15 minutes early and follow the hearts on the floor to the waiting area; staff walk you up to the wedding hall. Bring your rings, and your ID if you have no Nordic personal number. Rice and confetti belong on the square, not inside or on the steps, and short heels make the stone stairs easier.
City Hall weddings run all year, so the weather never decides your date. Spring and autumn have soft light and fewer tourists, summer has long evenings for photos, and December adds the Tivoli Christmas market and lights just across the square.
We meet you at your hotel or at the City Hall entrance and run through the plan.
Follow the hearts on the floor to the waiting area; staff walk you up to the wedding hall.
Your ceremony in the wedding hall, then the certificate is handed to you.
Portraits in the main hall, the courtyard and on Rådhuspladsen.
Walk or ride to Nyhavn and the old town for more photos and a toast.
The ceremony
The registrar welcomes you, asks for your full names and speaks for a few minutes about marriage. Then come the lines that make it legal: the confirmation, one question to each of you, and the declaration. Read every word in advance, in English and the Danish original.
Copenhagen City Hall · the ceremony in English
You have contacted the Copenhagen City Hall for the purpose of entering a civil marriage, and your wish to marry will now be confirmed before the public authorities.
I now ask you A, do you take B to be your spouse?
In the same way I ask you B, do you take A to be your spouse?
You have now declared your vows to marry, and I therefore proclaim that you are now legally married.
Congratulations!
Copenhagen City Hall · Q&A
You can ask for a morning or an afternoon slot, and we request the time that suits your travel. The wedding office confirms the exact time once your documents are approved, usually a few weeks before the date.
The wedding hall seats a small party of family and friends, enough for most couples who travel to Denmark. If you plan a larger group, tell us early and we check the current limit with the wedding office.
Yes, if you ask for it. Copenhagen registrars hold ceremonies for couples from abroad every week, so English is routine for them. The certificate can be issued in a multilingual version for use abroad.
Yes. Your photographer or a guest may take photos and film during the ceremony, as long as it does not disturb the registrar. Our photographers know the hall and where to stand.
Your rings if you exchange them, and your passports if you have no Danish or Nordic personal number. Witnesses need no ID, and the city provides two official witnesses if you come alone. We bring the confirmation from the wedding office and meet you at the entrance, so you only need to think about each other.
Two witnesses are required, and the city always provides two official witnesses at City Hall. If you prefer two of your own guests, tell the registrar before the signing. Witnesses do not need to show ID.
The ceremony itself takes about fifteen minutes. Plan around an hour at City Hall in total, including arrival, check-in with the wedding office and the first portraits in the main hall.
Yes, on Saturdays between 10:00 and 12:40, but those slots are popular and few. Weekdays give you the widest choice of dates and times, so we suggest a weekday if your travel plans allow it.
Ceremonies & portraits
On selected days the Copenhagen wedding office marries couples outdoors, with exactly the same legal formalities as inside City Hall.
Other Danish municipalities also marry international couples and can sometimes offer an earlier date. We find the town hall that fits your plans.
The painted harbour is Copenhagen’s classic backdrop for wedding portraits, by bike, on foot or from a canal boat.
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