During the last years I had the pleasure to plan weddings with couples from all over the world who wanted to get married in Germany, Bavaria, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, India, Switzerland, Austria, Italia, Russia, Finland, Norway, China or Australia…
There are always a lot of question marks about the requirements for a civil marriage or a church wedding in Germany and so I´ll try to answer the faqs here in my blog to make it easier to understand. The needs for marriage will probably be different, the informations depend on the country and the civil status of the individual but I´m going to show here samples and then assist you as your personal wedding planner in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with indivudal details.
Civil Marriage in Germany (Standesamtliche Trauung)
“Standesamtliche Trauung” – Civil Marriage in Germany, Bavaria, at the town house in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, based on the following assumptions:
- 1st marital partner unmarried (never bin married before), British nationality, living in Great Britain
- 2nd marital partner divorced 2014 (had been married once before with a British citizen), British nationality, living in Great Britain
Responsible for the banns (if no one of the couple lives in Germany and they want to get married in Garmisch-Partenkirchen) is the registry office at the town house in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
There the couple has to fill out a form (please see pictures below):
Normally you have to do this personally at the town house of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. If this is not possible it can be down on the postal way. Each of the couple (bride and groom) has to fill out one form on his own, sign it and has to get it certified at the German consular office in Great Britain (certified that the content of the form was translated to him/her). The postal way has the disadvantage that the couple still has to see the registrar at the town house Garmisch-Partenkirchen before the wedding. Keep that in mind, try to get a date with him early and book flighs maybe a few days earlier.
What documents do you need for the civil marriage in Germany?
1st marital partner
- Certified copy of the passport
- Statement of the register of births
- Affidavit about the family status (unmarried) at the German consular office; not necessary if you do the registration personally in Garmisch because they will do it there for you.
- Registration certificate for Great Britain
- Certificate of no impediment from a British registrar from the region of your home town.
2nd marital partner
- Certified copy of the passport
- Statement of the register of births
- Affidavit about the family status (divorced; number of marriages, no marriage since the last divorce) at the German consular office; not necessary if you do the registration personally in Garmisch because they will do it there for you.
- Registration certificate for Great Britain
- Certificate of no impediment from a British registrar from the region of your home town.
- Statement of the marriage register from your 1. marriage
- Decree absolute with confirmation according to Art. 39 from the EG regulation No. 2201/2003 from Nov, 27th 2003. (If you show this confirmation the verdict will be admitted without further needs)
All documents in English have to be translated by a translator admitted by a German court. Such a translator (admitted by a German court) must be present during the marriage at the town house!
The cost will be between € 200,– to € 300,– and the registration has not be done earlier then 6 months before the wedding date (because it is not longer then 6 months valid).
Find pictures about wedding facilities (town house or Richard-Strauss-Institut or Zugspitze) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Pinterest.
Each Friday civil weddings in Garmisch-Partenkirchen take place at the Richard Strauss Institute and once a month it is possible to have a civil wedding on the top of Germany, the Zugspitze (2.962 m) but you need to do a reservation very early because there is a great demand for those dates.
Catholic church wedding in Germany, Bavaria, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
First item on the “to do” list is to find a church and make a reservation for your wedding date. Your wedding planner will assist you in this point.
The catholic churches of Garmisch (and surroundings):
- Pfarrkirche St. Martin (city centre of Garmisch)
- “Old church” of Garmisch (nearby city centre Garmisch)
- Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt (city centre of Partenkirchen)
- Pilgrimage church St. Anton (in the forrest above Partenkirchen)
- St. Johannes der Täufer (Grainau, ca. 2 km far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
- St. Andreas (Farchant, ca. 2 km far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
- St. Ludwig (Oberau, ca. 4 km far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
- Ettal abbey (Ammergauer Alpen region, ca. 10 km from GaPa)
Documents for catholic church wedding
For this post we provide that the couple from abroad speaks English/comes from an English-speaking country like Great Britain, Ireland or USA.
You need a „Brautprotokoll“ (pre-nuptial investigation form). You will get this form from your home-town parish. If you are NOT both catholic the sheet has to be confirmed from the diocese (but your priest at home will tell you that if necessary). Further a certificate of baptism is needed from bride and groom and it should be not older then 6 months before the wedding (you will get this from the parish where your baptism has taken place). All the documents must be at the church office where the marriage will take place (Garmisch, Grainau…) 6 weeks before the wedding in the original (no copies, fax or e-mail). So an assured shipping is highly recommended.
Do you speak English?
If the couple don´t speaks German the mass can be hold in English. Therefore normally the couple has to organize a priest on their own. I recommend to contact the English-speaking mission in Munich. In Grainau there is an English-speaking priest who offers to hold the mass in English so to choose this church will make things less complicated.
What else to organize for a church wedding in Germany?
Once you have booked the church, organized the paperwork and ordered the priest most of the work is done and there are only some details like flower arrangements, music and a shuttle for the guests.
Your wedding planner in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (hopefully me ;)) will assist you with all details, costs and questions.
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| Pfarrkirche St. Martin, Garmisch |
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| Pfarrkirche St. Martin, Garmisch |
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| Pfarrkirche St. Martin, Garmisch |
Indipendent Marriage – free wedding ceremony
Sometimes it is really difficult to collect all the papers and documents and get a permit for a civil or church marriage in Germany. That is the reason why a lot of couples decide to do the “official part” at home and then having just a nice ceremony with a speaker on a romantic place in the nature of the Bavarian mountains.
Usually the location for the reception offers even space for a ceremony, otherwise your wedding coordinator knows surely nice places to go. Even English speaking “masters of ceremony” are available and for example these are even able to do a ceremony in German and English:
There are no documents requested, they usually just ask you to fill out a form with personal questions (in case you won´t come to Germany before the wedding) to have a very individual ceremony. Afterwards you get an un-official wedding certificate. Attention, you are not legally married by this ceremony, is is just a very romantic show.
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| Free wedding ceremony – indipendent marriage – Hotel am Badersee, Grainau |
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| Free wedding ceremony – indipendent marriage – Hotel am Badersee, Grainau |
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| Free wedding ceremony – indipendent marriage – Hotel am Badersee, Grainau |
So hopefully that gives you some help and impressions about how to get married in Germany when you are living abroad. For all other questions like finding the right venue for the reception, food, drinks, accomodation, flowers, cake, photographers, music, candy bar, photo booth, wedding shoot with Alpakas and lots more – I´ll be there as your personal wedding planner.
Just send me an e-mail!
Regards from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria
Uschi
Wedding planner, coordinator, guardian angel and good fairy
(thanks to my previously couples for giving me the names ;))
