ROTTERDAM, 2 July 2026 – A full civil wedding ceremony in Rotterdam costs €982 on a Friday afternoon, placing the city among the ten most expensive municipalities in the Netherlands for getting married. New research shows that couples can save hundreds of euros by choosing a different day or looking just beyond the city boundary.
The figure covers the municipal ceremony fee, so the dress, rings, venue, dinner, photographer and mysterious last-minute expenses are still waiting patiently in the wings. Love may be priceless, but the paperwork clearly has a tariff.
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Rotterdam sits above provincial average
Researchers compared official wedding fees in all 342 Dutch municipalities. Friday afternoon was used as the benchmark because it is traditionally the most popular time to marry and is available across every municipality included in the study.
Rotterdam’s €982 fee is well above the Zuid-Holland average of €568. That means couples choosing the city pay €414 more than the provincial average before anyone has ordered a glass of champagne.
The exact price also depends on when the ceremony takes place. A full ceremony in Rotterdam costs €947 from Monday to Thursday afternoon, €982 on Friday afternoon and €1,429 on Saturday.
So yes, Saturday has charm, convenience and considerably stronger opinions about your bank balance. Moving the ceremony to a weekday saves €482 compared with the Saturday rate.
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Maassluis offers a cheaper option
Couples do not have to marry in the municipality where they live. Within Zuid-Holland, Maassluis is the cheapest option included in the comparison for a Friday afternoon ceremony, charging €330.
That is €652 less than the Rotterdam price. Depending on your priorities, that difference could cover part of the catering, flowers or a honeymoon hotel that does not overlook a car park.
“By consciously looking at another municipality or a less popular time, you can save considerably, without making the day any less special,” says Richard Wiegers of Trouwen.nl.
The comparison shows that the municipality itself can be a surprisingly large part of the wedding budget. Couples who are flexible about location, day or time may therefore find savings without changing the celebration they actually want.
What the research compared
Trouwen.nl collected the official municipal rates for full wedding ceremonies and placed them on an interactive map. Couples can compare prices for Monday to Thursday afternoons, Friday afternoons and Saturdays.
Morning, evening and Sunday rates were excluded from the national and provincial comparison. These ceremonies are not offered consistently by every municipality, while morning options are often shorter or more limited and therefore harder to compare fairly.
The figures also do not represent the total price of a wedding. They show what the municipality charges for the ceremony itself, before the cost of the venue, food, clothing, entertainment and everything else that turns “we’ll keep it simple” into a shared family spreadsheet.
For Rotterdam couples, the conclusion is fairly simple: marrying in the city is possible, romantic and rather expensive. A weekday ceremony or a short trip to another Zuid-Holland municipality could leave a little more room in the budget for the part with cake.
