Civil wedding ceremonies
This is a non-religious ceremony conducted by Sola municipality. You can book a ceremony with us and we will contact you to confirm if a solemnizer is available.
Book a civil ceremony here
Times for ceremonies
Times available for a solemnizer to attend will be agreed between the couple and Sola municipality/political secretariat.
Please note that we are not available for ceremonies on so-called red days, or odd working days.
Where to have your ceremony
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Sola rådhus (available for up to 10 people)
Costs:
Details of fees
Civil marriage is free for people living in Sola municipality, within the municipality's opening hours and offered premises. This also applies to couples who are not residents in Norway. For weddings at other times and places, a fee of NOK 1000 will be required.
For weddings for people residing in other municipalities, a fee of NOK 1500 will be required.
Language
The wedding ceremony can take place in Norwegian or English. For other languages, the couple must provide an interpreter.
What you can include in your ceremony
We encourage you to meet with us to discuss the ceremony. You can have it as simple, personal or traditional as you wish.
Civil ceremonies can include cultural features such as readings, songs or music. Please also discuss photographs and video recording with your solemnizer.
Solemnizers in Sola municipality:
- Mayor Tom Henning Slethei
- Deputy Mayor Siv-Len Strandskog
- Chief Municipal Executive Knut Underbakke
- Municipal Attorney Alf Bjarne Høyvik
- Janne Stangeland Rege (Høyre)
- Anja Endresen (Venstre)
Submission of documents:
Before the ceremony, the couple must make sure that self-declarations, maid of statements and certificates are sent to the National Registry to verify that the conditions for marriage have been met.
The National Registry will then issue a test certificate valid for four months. This must be sent to Sola municipality/political secretariat: vigsel@sola.kommune.no, as soon as possible or no later than one week before the wedding ceremony.
All questions related to the test certificate must be addressed to the population register at your regional tax office. The final marriage certificate will be submitted by the population register and sent to you by mail.
Overview of forms
Before the ceremony
The couple, witnesses and guests must meet at least 15 minutes before the agreed time. You must wait outside the ceremony room until you get ushered inside.
During the ceremony
The ceremony lasts between 10-15 minutes. The wedding ceremony itself takes place when the solemnizer reads a fixed text for civil marriage. At the end of the ceremony you, the witnesses and the solemnizer will sign your names on the marriage protocol.
Photographing and filming is allowed during and after the ceremony in agreement with the solemnizer.
Rings
If you wish to exchange rings, you must notify us beforehand, preferably when you agree the time of the ceremony. You can also notify the solemnizer before the ceremony begins.
Artistic performances / Cultural features
If you wish to have music or a poem reading as part of the ceremony this can be agreed in advance. Cultural features/items must be organized, agreed and paid for by the couple themselves.
After the ceremony
The municipality sends a wedding announcement to the population register (Skatteetaten) within three days after the marriage ceremony. A copy will be sent to the couple. This acts as a temporary marriage certificate until you receive the final marriage certificate from the population register.
Standard text:
PROCEDURE FOR A CIVIL MARRAGE
(Laid down by Royal Decree of 5. December 2008)
You have come before me today to be joined in marriage. I wish to remind you of the deep significance of the commitment you are making to one another in choosing to live together in matrimony. By entering into marriage, you are promising to stand by and support each other for better or for worse, in prosperity and adversity.
However, you are promising each other more than that:
Marriage involves a pledge to love and be faithful to one another. Vowing to love each other for the rest of your life is the most difficult promise you can make to another person. It requires your setting high standards for your life together, and it requires your sincere desire to strive to achieve these standards, now and in the years to come.
That is the promise that you are making to one another today.
"When you enter into marriage, you become one, but you also remain two independent, equal individuals.There is no contradiction between love and unity on the one hand, and freedom and autonomy on the other. Love also means showing respect for one another.
It is my privilege, but also my duty under the law to impress upon you the importance of the promise you are now making to one another.
And now:
l ask you first
Do you take
who is standing at your side, to be your lawfully wedded spouse?
And do you,
take
who is standing at your side, to be your lawfully wedded spouse?
As you have promised each other — in the presence of witnesses— to live together in matrimony, I now pronounce you lawfully wedded spouses.