Getting married in The Netherlands is more than a legal formality; especially for international couples. It’s one of the few countries where a wedding ceremony can be both fully legal and deeply personal. For couples whose love story crosses borders, languages, and cultures, choosing the right wedding officiant can make all the difference.
A Legal Marriage With Room for Meaning
In The Netherlands, all legal marriages are registered through the gemeente (municipality). Couples submit a notice of intent to marry and provide official documents such as passports and birth certificates. Once approved, the marriage itself can take place at a municipal location or another approved venue.
Traditionally, the ceremony is conducted by a gemeente trouwambtenaar: a civil servant appointed by the municipality. These ceremonies are correct and official, but often short and fairly standard.
Dutch law, however, also allows for independent wedding officiants — and some of them are officially sworn in. This means they can both create a fully personalised ceremony and legally marry you, signing all documents on the spot.
Oriana is such an independent wedding officiant: sworn in in Delft, but also officiating weddings in almost any location in the Netherlands, allowing couples to celebrate wherever feels most meaningful.
This combination is quite unique internationally. In many countries, legal ceremonies are purely administrative. In The Netherlands, they can be warm, emotional, multilingual, and deeply personal.
Why a Mindful Wedding Officiant Makes the Difference
For international couples, language and cultural understanding matter just as much as legal clarity. A mindful wedding officiant doesn’t just “speak good English”; they listen carefully, read between the lines, and understand how cultural backgrounds shape family dynamics, traditions, humour, and expectations.
That sensitivity is essential when families come together from different countries, sometimes speaking different languages, but all wanting to feel included and seen.
Love That Crosses Borders
“For more than four years now, I’ve had the honour of creating heartfelt wedding ceremonies for international couples in The Netherlands,” says Oriana van der Sande-Semenciuc, independent and sworn-in wedding officiant and municipal officiant for the city of Delft since 2021.
A connector and storyteller at heart, Oriana brings together her background in intercultural communication, coaching, and teaching with her deep love for ceremonies that truly reflect the people standing in front of her.
“Every wedding moves me,” she says. “Whether couples are young or older, marrying for the first or second time, it’s always about two life stories being woven into one.”
With her Romanian roots, international work experience, and multilingualism, Oriana feels deeply connected to the international community in The Netherlands. This shows clearly in her ceremonies, where language is never a barrier, but a bridge.
Multilingual, Inclusive, and Personal
Multilingual ceremonies are especially close to Oriana’s heart. She weaves different languages and cultural elements: a word, a poem, a promise, into one shared story, so everyone feels at home. She often experiences quiet joy and pride as she stands behind the couple she has just married, seeing families speaking different languages come together through the universal language of love and connection.
Over the years, Oriana has married couples across the Netherlands, and this year she will officiate her first international ceremony, celebrating the same couple twice: once legally in the Netherlands and again ceremonially abroad. Whether it’s Ja, Yes, Si, or Da, what matters most is that couples and their guests feel truly recognised and represented.
Planning Your Wedding in 2026 or 2027?
If you’re an international couple planning to get married in The Netherlands in 2026 or beyond, now is the perfect moment to start exploring what kind of ceremony truly fits you.
A wedding here can be legal and meaningful, personal and inclusive. Choosing the right wedding officiant is not just a practical decision, but an emotional one.
Oriana warmly invites couples to reach out with questions or simply to make acquaintance. Every love story deserves to be told with care, in all the languages and locations that matter.
Website: https://orianavandersande.nl/trouwen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trouwambtenaar_oriana/
