September 5, 2024, 9:58 am | Read time: 5 minutes
If you want to get married quickly and easily, you don’t have to jet off to the States. Weddings are also possible in Denmark without a lot of bureaucracy and long waits. What makes the neighbor to the north so attractive for weddings – and whether Copenhagen is the Las Vegas of Europe.
They are the happiest people in Europe (according to the World Happiness Report 2013), often quite wealthy (Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world), and apparently honest too – at least if Otto Waalkes is to be believed (“Danes don’t lie“). Happy, rich, and honest are all qualities that you can only wish for in your partner. But it’s not just the people, the country itself has a lot to offer, which is why more and more people wanting to get married are saying “yes” to their neighbor to the north and celebrating their wedding in Denmark.
The number of inquiries is increasing, confirms the press department of the Danish embassy in Berlin. They have now set up a separate menu item on the subject on its official homepage. But what makes Denmark so attractive to wedding couples? TRAVELBOOK has compiled the reasons why.
1. The procedure is much simpler
The wedding mills grind a little faster in Denmark than in Germany. And the procedure is also much less complicated. For Germans who were not previously married, a current passport or identity card, a registration certificate from their hometown, and a birth certificate are sufficient. Getting married in Denmark is also easier for binational couples and non-EU citizens than in many other places in Europe. The waiting times that are mandatory in Germany do not exist in Denmark. Therefore, it is often possible to get married very spontaneously.
However, if you don’t want to hire an agency to plan your wedding, which can take a lot of work off your hands, you should choose your registry office carefully. In Copenhagen, for example, you have to show up two to three weeks before the desired date. You then have to fill out a marriage declaration and hand in copies of your own papers. This means that two trips to Denmark would be necessary, or you could simply bring your honeymoon forward. Some registry offices in Denmark also require you to spend a few days in the country before you can get married.
2. The locations
In addition to the much lower travel costs compared to Las Vegas, there is at least one other good reason in favor of the Danish alternative: couples are spared the cheesy chapels of the casino city. Instead, they can choose from various beautiful backdrops for their Denmark wedding. How about Copenhagen City Hall, for example? Or even better, on the beach? For example on Ärö, the Baltic Sea island that is considered particularly “hyggelig”, i.e., particularly “idyllic” and “typically Danish”, and so is now known as the “wedding island”: Last year alone, 2,000 foreign couples said “I do” on the island, which has a population of around 6,000.
3. Take care of the honeymoon at the same time
If the registry office requires a longer stay in the country, it is best to combine your honeymoon with your stay in Denmark. And the Scandinavian destination, with its 7,300 kilometers (4536 miles) of coastline and beautiful beaches, offers plenty of reasons for a honeymoon. And if you already have children, you won’t have to think twice. Why not rent a vacation home?
4. No witnesses? No problem
Of course, if you want to get married in secret, you won’t have any witnesses at hand, which is exactly what should be avoided. But what do you do if the registry office in Denmark wants to see two witnesses at your wedding? Keep calm. Because if the couple celebrates without witnesses, the municipality will provide them free of charge. This is not only nice, but also practical, as they can quickly whisper how to say “I love you” in Danish. It is written like this: Jeg elsker dig!
5. The exotic factor
People who get married, often not only feel the irrepressible urge to finally say “I do”, but also the desire to stand out from the crowd. Weddings in unusual locations are very popular. Lighthouses, beaches, and green spaces become registry offices, pastors, priests, and registrars are then forced to climb mountains or into boats. Therefore, getting married in Denmark offers not only many practical advantages but also an exotic factor that can impress friends and colleagues – if that’s what you desire.
6. An instant wedding is possible in Denmark
Admittedly, even if everything moves a little faster in Denmark, Copenhagen is not Las Vegas. As a rule, the Danes are not as spontaneous as the wedding professionals in Nevada. However, so-called express weddings are certainly possible – with a little professional help. One Danish agency offers a complete program for those in a hurry. For a corresponding expense, of course.
7. Danish wedding customs
Of course, you don’t necessarily have to take part in these, but it would be fun. For example, the rule in Denmark is that the groom may be kissed by all the women during the entire wedding ceremony as soon as the bride has left the room – to go to the restroom, for example – and vice versa. And to finally make the groom unattractive to all other women, the tips of his socks are cut off – because what woman wants a man with holes in his socks?
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Married – now what?
Even if many things are less complicated in Denmark, you can’t avoid a bit of German bureaucracy. For example, the international marriage certificate that the newlywed couple receives must be recognized in Germany. The registry office often requires an additional legalization, the so-called apostille. Ideally, this should be issued locally immediately after the marriage. A joint family name must also be registered in Germany. When you get married in Denmark, each partner automatically retains their own surname.
The original version of this article was published in 2014.