Marriage ceremony
Marriage can be a church or a civil marriage. Legal marriages are made by the Evangelical Lutheran and Orthodox churches and registered religious communities entitled to do so. We and the District Court carry out civil ceremonies.
The marriage ceremony can take place on the premises of the agency during office hours or at the venue of your choice outside office hours.
We marry spouses of the same or different gender at our service location, i.e. the Local Register Office, in accordance with the marriage ceremony script of the Marriage Decree. The officiator is a district registrar or a notary public.
Both spouses must be personally present in the marriage ceremony. In addition, two witnesses who are at least 15 years of age must be present for the marriage ceremony. The witnesses may be your close relatives. If you do not have your own witnesses, our staff can act as witnesses.
Read more about the marriage facilities.
Wedding ceremony at the venue
We can marry you at your preferred venue outside office hours. Such a wedding ceremony will cost 250 euros + the officiator's travel expenses. Please propose a suitable time and place for you by sending us a message to [email protected].
Do the following
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Ask for an examination of the impediments to marriage before the marriage ceremony
The certificate is valid for 4 months from the date of issue.
Please check that the certificate is valid until the marriage ceremony and that your surnames after the marriage ceremony are correctly marked on the certificate.
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Book a appointment for the marriage ceremony
You can book a marriage ceremony up to six months in advance. The easiest way to make a booking is through our online reservation system.
As a service, you can choose either Wedding with own witnesses or Wedding without own witnesses depending on your situation. If your own witnesses are unable to attend or if you arrange your own witnesses for the ceremony, you do not need to inform us of the change in advance.
You can also book an appointment by phone or e-mail.
We perform marriage ceremonies at our service locations only on specific days, not every day. For information on the service location's ceremony days and spaces, see our website.
If you would like a marriage ceremony outside office hours, please send us the form below or a free-form request by e-mail to [email protected]
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Attend the ceremony in person
Remember to take with you
your valid proof of identity
Certificate of the examination of impediments to marriage when the examination has been carried out by a parish
preferably two witnesses of at least 15 years of age.
If your own witnesses are unable to attend or if you arrange your own witnesses for the ceremony, you do not need to inform us of the change in advance. The marriage ceremony will take place in any case.
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Registration of marriage and surname in the Population Information System
We register marriages and surename changes made to the Population Information System in Finland, if the marriage ceremony has taken place at us, in a District Court or in a registered religious community on the basis of a notification made by the officiator. The officiators of the Evangelical Lutheran and Orthodox Churches register the marriage and changes in the surname themselves in the Population Information System. You can ask the parish directly about registrations if you are married in a church.
Price
A marriage ceremony that can be performed at our service location is free of charge during the office hours (weekdays at 9.00-16.15).
A fee of 250 euros is charged for all wedding ceremonies officiated after office hours. In addition, the travel expenses of the officiator to your marriage venue will be added to the fee.
During office hours, marriage ceremony outside our service location costs €150. In addition, the travel expenses of the officiator to your marriage venue will be added to the fee. Please note that it is not possible to arrange a marriage ceremony for most service places outside the office during office hours.
Frequently asked questions
The marriage ceremony lasts a couple of minutes.
Civil marriage ceremony is performed by the officiator by reciting the following script to the couple in the presence of the witnesses.
“The purpose of marriage is the establishment of a family for the common good of its members and the preservation of society. Marriage is intended to be permanent so as to allow the family members to establish a happy home together.”
“Before these witnesses I ask you [person’s name]: Will you take [person’s name] to be your spouse, to love, for better or for worse?”
Response: I will.
“Before these witnesses I ask you [person’s name]: Will you take [person’s name] to be your spouse, to love, for better or for worse?”
Response: I will.
“As you have both answered the question in the affirmative, I now pronounce you spouses.”
“Take the ring from your spouse as a sign of your union.” This sentence is omitted if no ring is to be given.
“You are now joined together in marriage. As spouses you are equal. Show love and mutual trust for each other in marriage and act together for the good of the family.”
The marriage ceremony can be performed in Finnish, Swedish and English. The ceremony can be performed also in Finnish-English combination.
If you do not know the languages mentioned above, you must have an interpreter. As a couple to be married, you must understand the wedding ceremony.
You can prove your identity with a valid passport or an official photo identity card issued to a citizen of an EU Member State, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or San Marino. You can also prove your identity in the marriage ceremony with a driving licence issued in Finland after 1st October 1990.
If necessary, witnesses must verify their age, so they should also bring an identity document with them.
You can dress as you like.
No. If you wish, you can give a ring to the other spouse or both spouses. Whether rings are given or not will affect the script of the marriage ceremony a little. If you have not already done so, notify the officiator about your wish to give one or more rings in the marriage ceremony.
A close family member can act as a witness. The witnesses must be at least 15 years of age. If necessary, the witnesses must also prove their age. It is recommended that also the witnesses have a personal identity document with them. The witnesses do not have to be Finnish citizens or live in Finland.
Guests can participate in the marriage ceremony. The size of the marriage ceremony premises varies by location.
Read more about marriage ceremony premises
In the marriage ceremony, both spouses must be present at the same time. The officiator of the marriage ceremony asks the each of the spouses whether they wish to enter into marriage with their spouse. When both of the spouses have given an affirmative answer to the question, the officiator declares the couple as marital spouses. There is no other way to conclude a marriage.
Yes, you can. You can cancel the appointment either with the booking code you have received from the booking system or by submitting the cancellation to [email protected]. We hope that you cancel your time as soon as possible so that we can provide the appointment for other couples.
Yes, you can. You can choose any service location as your wedding place.
Both the couple and the witnesses must know the language used in the marriage ceremony and understand the marriage ceremony. If you do not know the language used in the ceremony, you must have an interpreter.
Ask for an examination of the impediments to marriage first. In the marriage ceremony itself, citizenship is irrelevant. The marriage ceremony can be performed in Finnish, Swedish or English. If your spouse does not know any of these languages, please bring an interpreter.
Unfortunately, you cannot renew your vows in Finland because you cannot officially renew your wedding vows in Finland. If you want, you can, of course, renew the vows in your own way.
It is not necessary if the marriage is solemnised at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s premises during office hours.
If you would like a marriage ceremony outside office hours, please send us a free-form request by e-mail to [email protected].
Contact us
Please use secure email if your message contains personal or otherwise confidential information. Choose [email protected] as the recipient.
Telephone
Telephone service number is 0295 535 690
Service hours: Mon–Fri 9–15
Postal address
Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki
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