Getting Married in the Czech Republic: All You Need to Know

Before Your Wedding - Required Paperwork - Registry Office - Ceremony - A Few Practical Tips

Step 1: Booking Your Wedding Date and Venue:

When you're getting married in the Czech Republic, the first step is surprisingly simple: you need to pick a date and a location for your big day.

It's a good idea to secure your date well in advance, especially if you're planning a wedding in the busy months of May or September. Popular venues and timeslots can book up quickly.

Some Czech registry offices (matrika) even let you book your date online. For example, the Registry Office in Plzeň 3, which oversees the beautiful Renaissance Town Hall on the main square, offers Saturday weddings. You can reserve your spot directly on their website: https://umo3plzen-matrika.rsystem.cz/.

Some Options in Prague:

For other towns and municipalities, you'll find all the necessary information on their websites. I only focus on Pilsen and Prague, as that's where I'm based.

Required Paperwork

Essentially, you'll need to prove three things:

• The identity of both you and your fiancé.
• That you are legally able to marry.
• That there are no legal obstacles to your marriage.

Does that sound complicated? Don't panic. But also, don't expect it to be a piece of cake.

You'll need to give yourself plenty of time to get all the documents, have them legalised, and get them officially translated. Be prepared that after your first visit to the registry office, they might send you home and ask you to provide more documents.

Now, let's take a closer look at each item.

A) Proving Your Identity

To prove your identity, you'll need to show a valid ID. (For a Czech citizen, this would be their national ID card.) For you, it will be your passport. You might also use a residence permit or a valid EU identity document, along with your birth certificate.

B) Legal Capacity to Marry

You'll need to present a Certificate of No Impediments (i.e. a certificate of your legal capacity to marry). This document can be no older than six months, and importantly, that six-month period is counted from the date of your wedding.

What if your home country doesn't issue this document? No problem—a simple official letter stating that they don't will suffice.

C) Single Status

This is about proving that neither of you is currently married, in the Czech Republic or anywhere else. For Czech citizens, the registrar will check their ID card or the national registry for this information.

• Foreign nationals, however, must provide a Single Status Certificate (which may also include your permanent residence). If your home country doesn't issue such a document, you will need to provide an affidavit instead.

Here's an example of what that declaration might look like:

• If you are widowed, you must present your late spouse's death certificate. If you are divorced, you will need the final divorce decree.

Other impediments to marriage include being related to your partner, a guardian-ward relationship, or being a minor.

In addition, you'll need to submit a Certificate of Legal Residence in the Czech Republic, which is issued by the Foreign Police.

PLEASE NOTE: This document cannot be more than seven days old. This means you can't take it to the registry office until the week before your wedding. However, this rule does not apply to citizens of the EU or another country that is a party to the EEA Agreement.

Document Legalisation and Translation

• Documents Issued in the EU: If your documents were issued in the EU, you're halfway there. You won't have to worry about getting them legalised with an Apostille or Superlegalisation stamp. All you need is an official translation into Czech.

• Documents from Other Countries: If your documents are from a country outside the EU, you won't be able to avoid the verification process. You'll need to get an Apostille stamp if your country is a part of the Apostille Convention (this includes English-speaking countries like the UK, the USA, and Australia). You can check the full list on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. For any country not on that list, you'll need to arrange for what's called Superlegalisation, which you can get at the embassy of the country that issued the document.

  Remember, you must have the legalisation done before you get the official translation.

Registry Office

Do you have all your documents ready and translated? Great, let's head to the registry office!

Do you have all your documents ready and translated? Great, let's head to the registry office!

At the office, you'll fill out a questionnaire. Besides your personal details, you'll have to decide on the surname you will use after the wedding. You also need to state what surname your future children will have. If you already have children together, you'll decide whether this surname agreement will apply to them as well.

The registrar will then check all your documents against the list we covered earlier.

Do You Need an Interpreter?

If a foreign national doesn't speak Czech, they should generally use a court-certified interpreter for dealing with the authorities. Some registry offices might not require this and will let your Czech partner help you with communication. However, other offices (and sometimes, paradoxically, those in smaller towns) will strictly require the presence of an official interpreter.

So, with or without an interpreter? My friend, who is a lawyer, says that technically, getting married without an interpreter could result in the marriage being considered invalid. This would happen if the foreign partner, who doesn't understand Czech, could prove that they didn't understand the legal nature of the act they were participating in.

How Much Does a Wedding Ceremony Cost?

In short: nothing. But there's a catch. The zero-fee rule only applies if you meet two conditions:

1. Both partners have permanent residency in the Czech Republic.  
2. You choose a time and venue for your ceremony that the municipal office normally offers.

What if one of you (the foreign national) does not have permanent residency in the Czech Republic? In that case, the fee will be 3,000 CZK. If neither of you has permanent residency in the Czech Republic (this also applies to Slovak citizens), then be prepared to pay 5,000 CZK.

Have you decided to get married in a town that doesn't have its own registry office? You'll need to pay a fee of 1,000 CZK for the registrar to be present at your ceremony.

For more detailed information on all fees, you can check out Act No. 634/2004 Sb., on Court Fees.

Ceremony

In short, the ceremony will include the walk down the isle, a welcome, the required legal declarations, the speech by the officiant, the vows, and the signing of the official record.

Before the Ceremony Begins

Before the ceremony itself, you will meet with the registrar. She will brief you on the ceremony's proceedings and check the IDs of both you and your witnesses. If the bride is Czech and is changing her surname, the registrar will cut the corner off her ID card. (This also applies if the bride is keeping her name but has her marital status listed on her ID card.) 

The Procession

The guests will already be seated before the couple's arrival. Only the couple, witnesses, and bridesmaids (if any) will walk down the aisle.

Order

The most important rule is: the bride always comes last. The woman always walks on the man's right-hand side.

• The bride is escorted by her father: The order will be: the groom with his mother (she walks on his right-hand side), followed by the groom's father and the bride's mother (she also walks on his right), then the witnesses, and finally the bride with her father (the bride on the right).
• The option without parents: First, the witnesses walk down the aisle. Then the bride and groom walk together. In this case, the bride walks on the groom's right-hand side.
• For small, intimate weddings (just the couple and witnesses) where the bride doesn't want the groom to see her dress before the ceremony, the groom can walk alone, wait at the officiant's desk, or walk with the witnesses. The bride will then walk down the aisle alone. 

After the processional, the parents (and guests) will be seated. The witnesses will remain standing and make room for the bride. She will stand on the groom's right-hand side. The witnesses will then stand behind "their" respective partner.

Finally, the officiant arrives. Sometimes they walk in a procession (officiant, registrar, interpreter), while other times the registrar and interpreter are already at their places and only the officiant walks in.

Ceremony

The officiant will greet the couple.

The registrar will introduce the couple to the officiant, sometimes including the witnesses. This is why I ask for their names and pronunciation beforehand. Then, the mandatory legal phrases will follow. The registrar will list your legal obligations that you had to fulfil (e.g., you are aware of each other's health and financial situation, etc.). Finally, the registrar will hand over to the officiant.

The officiant will give their prepared speech. This is followed by the question of whether you are entering the marriage voluntarily. They will ask the groom first, then the bride. They will then declare you husband and wife.

You will then exchange your wedding rings. The groom places the ring on the bride's finger first, followed by the bride placing the ring on the groom's finger. Then comes the first kiss. Finally, for the last administrative task of the day, you will sign the official record. The groom signs first, then the bride, followed by the witnesses, the officiant, and the registrar (the interpreter usually signs beforehand).

Please note: The newlyweds sign twice: first with their maiden name and then with their married name (this also applies to the husband, even if he didn't change his surname).

Finally, it's time for congratulations. The newlyweds will turn to face their guests, and the officiant and registrar will be the first to congratulate them, followed by the guests.

And What About the Interpreter?

I will have arranged with both the officiant and the registrar beforehand exactly when and how we will alternate. You don't have to worry—we won't interrupt each other, and no one who doesn't understand Czech will miss a single part of the ceremony. Everything will be interpreted.

A small piece of advice: You only need to say "I do" once; you don't have to reply to both the Czech and the English versions.

A Few Practical Tips

What Not to Forget on Your Big Day?

What You Can't be Married without:

• Both the groom and the bride must have valid IDs.
• You must have two witnesses, and both must have valid IDs and be of legal age (over 18 years old).
• If one of you is a foreign national, a certified court interpreter is part of the "mandatory equipment."

Optional:

• Rings: If you've decided to get married without them, make sure to let the registrar know very clearly. The officiant has a small sentence about the exchange of rings incorporated into their speech, so it's a good idea to warn them. Even though they're professionals and can improvise if needed, it's better to tell them. Here's an example from one wedding: The officiant started, "And now, as a symbol of your marriage, exchange..." followed by a look at the empty spot where the rings were supposed to be, "...your first marital kiss." 
• Music: You can choose from the playlist available at the office at the last minute. The organist/pianist will have everything rehearsed and can handle it. But isn't it better to choose in advance?
• Bouquet: You can get married without one, too. But if you have it, don't forget it at home, in the taxi, or anywhere else. 
• Tissues: Even if you don't normally get emotional, you might find them useful here.

Venue

These days, there are no limits to your imagination. You don't necessarily have to get married at the town hall. You don't even have to get married inside a building. With a pinch of salt, you can choose any glade in the middle of a forest far from civilisation for your big day. 

Before you decide on an outdoor venue, it is good to consider:

• A wet weather plan: Unfortunately, you can't choose the weather. You might not mind a light drizzle, but your guests probably will. And the registrar will definitely have a problem with it. The official record cannot look like it has been accidentally put through the wash—it absolutely must not get rained on.
• Heat and scorching sun: It's not pleasant for anyone. The gentlemen will suffer in dark suits, the ladies risk their make-up melting, and the bride might get sunburnt shoulders.
• Even if it last rained two days ago, the meadow, lawn, or other unpaved surface may not be dry. And that white dress may not stay white.