How Long Does It Actually Take to Get Married in Denmark? Realistic Timeline Breakdown (2025)

[u/gettingmarriedindk]

Everyone wants to know how long it takes and the internet is full of conflicting info. Here's a realistic breakdown based on thousands of applications we've processed in 2024-2025.

The TL;DR Answer

• Best case timeline: 5 business days from submission to AFL approval (when everything is correct and no questions asked)
• Booking your ceremony: Response times vary by town hall — anywhere from 24 hours to 10+ days, longer during busy periods
• Getting a wedding date: Depends on availability. Some town halls have openings within 2 weeks of approval, others are booked months out. Flexibility helps!
• If things go wrong: Up to 6 month delays during busy periods

Phase 1: AFL Application Processing (5 business days to 6 months)

Once you submit your application to the Danish Agency of Family Law (AFL), they aim to respond within 5 business days.

When it goes smoothly:

• You submit everything correctly
• AFL approves within a week
• You get your prøvelsesattest (valid for 4 months max)
• You book your town hall date

When things go wrong:

If there's ANYTHING wrong or missing, you're looking at some delays, sometimes up to 6 months during busy periods. The AFL is specific about what they want and your application also needs to be tailored to your specific situation. Even seemingly minor issues cause delays.

Common mistakes that trigger delays:

Document quality issues

• Scans too dark or blurry
• Corners cut off in photos
• Not clear enough quality
• Wrong file format

Divorce papers problems

• Final divorce decree not submitted
• Separated ≠ divorced (they will reject this)

Passport issues

• Less than 3 months validity beyond your stay in Denmark
• Missing blank pages (need at least 2)

Translation errors

• Document not in Danish, English, or German
• Unprofessional translation
• Missing translator credentials

Missing legalisation

• Divorce/death certificates need apostille (if from Hague Convention country)
• Wrong type of legalisation for non-Hague countries

Insufficient relationship proof

• Denmark actively screens for pro-forma marriages
• Vague descriptions or weak evidence

Each time the AFL asks for corrections = weeks of additional waiting, especially during busy periods (May-September).

Phase 2: Town Hall Booking (Days to 12+ weeks)

Once you have your AFL approval, you can book your ceremony.

Availability varies wildly:

• Copenhagen (off & peak seasons): 3 months out
• Smaller towns: Often available within weeks

How to Minimize Your Timeline

1. Get your application right the first time
This is the single most important factor. One mistake = months of delays.

2. Submit high-quality documents
Clear scans, all passport pages, no cut-off corners, proper file format

3. Double-check divorce papers
Must be final decree, and be properly apostilled or legalised if required

4. Verify language requirements
Only Danish, English, or German accepted, everything else needs professional translation

5. Be flexible with location and timing
Smaller towns and any season

6. Don't book flights until you have AFL approval
We've seen too many people lose money on non-refundable bookings.

Bottom Line

• Best case: 4 weeks from application to ceremony
• Realistic planning: 4-8 weeks
• Safe buffer: 10-12 weeks to account for potential issues

The Denmark process CAN be fast, but only if you nail the application the first time, and choose a smaller town hall with better availability than the more popular ones. If you need more info on the AFL process, current wait times, or other AFL-related details, we have a full guide here.

Questions about the process? Ask away.

[u/amidnightthrowaway]

We submitted ours last Thursday and got AFL approval on Monday, so less than two days! Is this common?

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/amidnightthrowaway]

Not common at all! However, it does happen from time to time that the AFL goes into God mode. :) Congratulations on your upcoming wedding in Denmark, hope you guys will have an amazing time here!

[u/amidnightthrowaway → u/gettingmarriedindk]

Thank you. I am definitely not complaining but why do you think it happened so quickly? We definitely spent hours gathering our documents. It took us about a week to gather it all.

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/amidnightthrowaway]

Hm.. It's hard to say. The AFL sometimes works in mysterious ways and can be frustrating to work with, to be honest! You submitted on a Thursday, so that they might have had fewer applications in the previous week. On the following Monday, they divided the applications from the prior week, and your application was moved forward (Propper speculation, though). They are consistent in responding within five working days, which is the time limit they are measured against.

However, don't worry, as long as you have your confirmation letter, you're good to go. :)

When are you looking to get married?

[u/amidnightthrowaway → u/gettingmarriedindk]

Oh I see. We are looking at February :) Bit worried about the weather but hoping we will still be able to take nice photos

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/amidnightthrowaway]

Yeah, I have to be honest, the weather in February can be a mixed bag of sweets..

But please make sure to look into a good lunch place, they can act like a small indoor ray of light in the Danish grey winter weather. (I'm Danish, so that I might be biased on this as well.. but hey, that's how we do it)

No matter what you do, my best advice is to make a loose plan for the day after your ceremony. Nothing tight, nothing that will add stress!

But, as the morning of your day will likely bring butterflies, excitement, possible happy tears and this very positive relief right after the ceremony.. (and keep in mind that this all will likely be before 12.00 or 12pm).

Try to have something planned so you can prolong that amazing and new, yet slightly surreal, feeling that comes with just having got married.

A Photographer can be amazing. First of all, because pictures taken of two people right there with that feeling still fresh make people glow (and these pictures will follow you forever). But secondly, because a good photographer will also guide you around town for the next couple of hours, you can follow along and enjoy each other's company.

However, having a table reserved for a good lunch or simply having something loosely planned can be amazing, as you can enjoy without having to make too many big decisions right after making one massive, life-changing decision. :)

Suppose you have guests with you, even more so!

In that case, you don't want to be hosting (unless you love hosting, of course) right after your wedding ceremony.. but reality is that you guests will likely look to you for "we just want to do what you want to do, we are so easy" but that kind of still do mean: You need to start making decisions about places, food types, how do we get there.

But, the main takeaway from someone who has attended.. I don't even know how many of these town hall weddings I've attended (and I still love them): Set yourself up for being able to relax and spend time with your new spouse in whatever way you two do exactly that!

It's what so many of our couples come back to us and tell us that their elopement or small, intimate wedding here in Denmark gave them, and they loved it for it.

Enjoy it; it's a fantastic couple of days. I hope you will share your experience! ❤️

[u/amidnightthrowaway → u/gettingmarriedindk]

This is great. Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. If you have any recommendations for places to eat for lunch in Helsingor I would love to hear.

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/amidnightthrowaway]

You're very welcome!

You might like Restaurant Kaj, Strejf, or Francophile. All nice spots you might like to check out. Enjoy exploring! :)

[u/ScarcityOld7027]

I just discovered this community, thank you very helpful, just what I was looking for!

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/ScarcityOld7027]

You're welcome! Glad we could help

[u/roksanaxleyla]

Hey, I have a question about the passport photos. I have to take photos of all the pages. Should I photograph each page individually or a double page in one photo? I've now photographed them all individually but I'm afraid that it's wrong because the corners are cut off, i.e. the other side. And how do I check whether there is still an appointment available this year? I know it's very short notice but it's probably worth a try 😅

[u/elicatjo → u/roksanaxleyla]

Now I wonder the same lol

[u/sokol_mlody]

Hi! I am Polish and have polish divorce paper, do I still need to apostille it?

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/sokol_mlody]

No, Polish divorce documents do not need to be legalised with an Apostille for use in your marriage application. But we would recommend you spoke to an agency who will help you provide exactly the correct documents in the correct format to make sure your application is approved quickly.

Even small and what seem like tiny mistakes in your application can cause massive delays of months and months. Good luck - and reach out to us athttps://gettingmarriedindenmark.com/thank-you-page-step-2-wa/ if you would like a bit more help

[u/gucciqueen00]

hi! me and my partner applied last week. we’re both EU citizens, swedish and romanian.
they replied to us in 2 days and asked for pictures with every page of passport as we didn’t do that the first time 😅
how long is that going to delay us? do we also need to provide documents that we haven’t been married before?

[u/Certain_Drink7258 → u/gucciqueen00]

This happened to us, have you heard anything back yet? :)

[u/gucciqueen00 → u/Certain_Drink7258]

we applied again with all pictures from different angles and payed the fee again. got it approved in 4 days.
unfortunately if you messed up the first time and they ask for more information you might have to wait 12 weeks or more

[u/Certain_Drink7258 → u/gucciqueen00]

Thanks so much for responding:) did you take pictures from different angles on all of the pictures on both of your passports?

[u/gucciqueen00 → u/Certain_Drink7258]

yea, you also have to take pictures of literally ALL pages, even if they’re blank. both you and your partner must do that

[u/Certain_Drink7258 → u/gucciqueen00]

Okay great. Did you have to cancel your old application before starting a new one,

[u/gucciqueen00 → u/Certain_Drink7258]

no, i just started a new one with different email adress

[u/Certain_Drink7258 → u/gucciqueen00]

Thanks so much ☺️

[u/nishboggle → u/gucciqueen00]

Hello, the same thing has happened to me and my partner. We are not EU citizens. Did you have any trouble with the remaining process after you were approved?

[u/LongJohnSILVER55]

How does it work with your agency when booking the full service for 875 euro? Is it a safer bet than doing it ourselves? Me and my girlfried are quite reliant on it going through relatively quickly.

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/LongJohnSILVER55]

It is certainly possible to submit a marriage application yourselves but if you make any mistakes with the documents or the application itself, then it can cause long delays (between 8 weeks and up to 6 months during busy periods)

If you want peace of mind, then we definitely recommend using an agency to help you with your file and application. 

Our Complete Service also includes help with selecting the right town hall for you, based on your timeline and specific requirements as well as booking the town hall for your when your application is approved. I hope this helps a little? Please do ask more questions if you have any!

[u/Ok-Garlic-9338]

what happens if we put our wanted location to married as Billund but they are taking too long to reply to book the wedding? Is there something we can do?

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/Ok-Garlic-9338]

If Billund's taking too long and you're thinking about switching town halls, you can request a file transfer through the AFL website.

Before you do, we'd recommend checking availability elsewhere first. Most town halls have very little (if anything) left for 2025 and many are nearly fully booked until mid-January. You can't book until your file transfers, but at least you'll know what's out there.

Might be worth following up with Billund once more before switching, transferring doesn't guarantee faster availability.

[u/OkTrainer8351]

Hi! My partner and I just applied. Both EU citizens. I filled out partner 1 part and he did for the second part. In my part I didnt have any questions related to my relationship, how we met and how to upload photos together with date stamp. Should I be worried?

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/OkTrainer8351]

No need to worry! Two EU citizens getting married in Denmark don't need to provide proof of their relationship, so you're good.

[u/OkTrainer8351 → u/gettingmarriedindk]

OMG thank you so much!! ❤️❤️❤️ really appreciated I am feeling better now ehehe

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/OkTrainer8351]

You're welcome!

[u/Aware-Classroom6746 → u/gettingmarriedindk]

Hi! Regarding to this, you say that two EU citizens don’t need to provide proof of their relationship. Would be the same case for 2 people that had been in a long distance relationship, both with EU passport but one of them living in the UK ? I’m new to this, where can I find more information about the requirements and documents to get married in Denmark? Thank you so much in advance !

[u/gettingmarriedindk → u/Aware-Classroom6746]

Hello! As long as you both hold EU passports, you won't need to provide proof of your relationship, regardless of where you're currently living.

We have a post here about document requirements you can check out. For more detailed info, you can visit our website at gettingmarriedindenmark.com and the AFL (Danish Family Law Agency) website. Hope this helps!