Rozendaal most popular wedding location

Rozendaal, near Arnhem, was the most popular municipality for weddings in 2004: none of the couples who got married there lived in Rozendaal themselves.

Most marriages in Amsterdam

Dutch population statistics counted 74 thousand marriages in 2005. 67 thousand of these took place in the Netherlands, more than 6 thousand took place abroad. Amsterdam accounted for the largest number of marriages in the Netherlands: just over 3 thousand. A total of nearly 8 thousand marriages took place in the four big cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

10 municipalities with the most marriages, 2004

10 municipalities with the most marriages, 2004

Rozendaal and Wadden islands popular wedding locations

In nearly four in ten marriages that took place in the Netherlands, one or both partners did not live in the municipality in which they married.
Popular wedding municipalities are often smaller municipalities with a listed building or castle to be used as wedding venue. In 2004 Rozendaal was the most popular wedding municipality: all couples marrying in Rozendaal in that year came from other municipalities. One reason for this is that Rozendaal is a small municipality and has an old population, with only very few people in the marrying ages. Moreover, the municipality has a number of picturesque wedding venues, including Rosendael castle. This makes it an attractive location for couples from all over the country. Most of the Wadden islands are also popular places to get married.

10 municipalities with the largest share of marriages from outside the municipality, 2004

10 municipalities with the largest share of marriages from outside the municipality, 2004

Borculo least popular municipality

Borculo and Groenlo were the least popular marriage municipalities. The share of couples from elsewhere marrying there was lowest, at 5 percent. Nearby Ruurlo, on the other hand, is very popular: 80 percent of couples marrying there come from other municipalities. The start attraction in Ruurlo is Huize Ruurlo castle, a popular wedding venue, also for inhabitants of Borculo and Groenlo.

10 municipalities with the smallest share of marriages from outside the municipality, 2004

10 municipalities with the smallest share of marriages from outside the municipality, 2004

Weddings abroad

Nearly one in ten weddings took place outside the Netherlands in 2004. Turkey and Morocco are important countries in this respect. There marriages often take place between a partner living in the Netherlands and one still living in Turkey or Morocco.
Nearly 2 thousand couples living in the Netherlands chose to get married abroad. Many married in the United States, the Netherlands Antilles or Italy.

Marriages taking place abroad by partners’ country of residence, 2004

Marriages taking place abroad by partners’ country of residence, 2004

Suzanne Loozen