Oslo City Hall marries couples on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, in a room where an original Edvard Munch painting hangs on the wall. The ceremony lasts 10 to 15 minutes, a maximum of 30 people may attend, and around 2,000 couples go through it every year. Foreign couples are welcome, and the ceremony can be held in English.

Then it is over, and it is still morning. What follows is the practical half: what the city requires before it will marry you, and what to do with the afternoon. Our quay sits 900 metres from the City Hall steps, along the water the whole way.

Before the date: what the city requires

Everything below comes from Oslo kommune, which is the only source worth trusting on this. Current as of July 2026:

Slots open one year ahead, and a couple may hold only one active booking.
You need a prøvingsattest, a certificate of no impediment, from the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten). Upload it no later than four weeks before the ceremony. It is valid for four months and the tax office takes time to process it, so apply early.
If you already hold a valid certificate, the four-week upload deadline stops being the constraint: the city can take a booking inside two weeks.
Two witnesses over 18 must attend with valid photo ID. They do not need to be Norwegian citizens, and the City Hall does not supply them.
Both of you must have lawful residence in Norway on the wedding day.
Couples registered in Oslo or living abroad marry free of charge on Wednesdays and Fridays, and pay 3,478 NOK on Saturdays. Couples registered in another Norwegian municipality pay 3,172 NOK on Wednesdays and Fridays, and 3,478 NOK on Saturdays. Prices are adjusted annually.
The ceremony is held in Norwegian or English. If neither works for you, the City Hall books and pays for an authorised interpreter.
Balloons, soap bubbles, rice, rose petals, confetti and alcohol are banned, including outside the building. Tell your guests before they arrive with a bag of rice.

The two calendars have to agree

There are no ceremonies on public holidays, nor in weeks 28, 29 and 30, which in 2026 means 6 to 26 July. Our boat is in the water from May to September and hauled out for the winter. Put those two together and the window where you can do both on the same day is May, June, the first days of July, then 27 July onwards through September. It is a generous window, but it has a three-week hole punched in the middle of the best boating weather of the year, and the Saturdays either side of that hole go early.

The Munch room

Munchrommet became the city's wedding room on 1 January 2018, when the municipality took over civil marriages from Oslo byfogdembete. It had done the same job until 1996, when ceremonies moved to the courthouse (Wikipedia). The room is panelled in wood, unlike the rest of the ceremonial wing, and the painting on the short wall is Munch's Livet ("Life"), painted in 1910. You say your vows in front of it.

The building is worth a look on the way out. Oslo City Hall opened in 1950 on the north side of Pipervika, facing the fjord, and the carillon on top of the east tower has 49 bells, the heaviest of them four tonnes. It rings on the hour from 07:00 to midnight, with a concert on the first Saturday of every month at 11:00, which is a Saturday the City Hall also marries people on. Olsen Nauen bell foundry cast and delivered the instrument in 1999, and it is the largest in the Nordic countries (lokalhistoriewiki). The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in the main hall every 10 December.

A couple on the aft deck of a private boat on the Oslofjord in afternoon light — The afternoon after the ceremony. The route is decided by whoever got married.

From the steps to the quay

Walk out onto Rådhusplassen, follow the harbour promenade west past Aker Brygge, and you reach Tjuvholmen allé 14 after about 900 metres. That is a little over ten minutes at normal pace and rather more in a wedding dress. The whole route runs along the water with no junction that needs organising, and no taxis or minibuses to book for a party of twenty.

That is much of why the fjord works here. Your guests have just spent a quarter of an hour standing still in a warm room. A walk along the harbour is what they need before they sit down again.

The afternoon, and how many of you it holds

The ceremony room takes 30 people. The boat takes seven, which is a different size of afternoon: a format for the couple and the closest few rather than the whole party. Plenty of city hall weddings look like that anyway, with the ceremony for everyone and the hours after for a handful. If you are more than seven and want all of them aboard, email us the date and the headcount and we will see whether a second boat can be arranged. We will say whether it can before you plan around it. Lead time is three to seven days outside high season and about two weeks in July.

There is no fixed route. Some couples want the city from the water first; others want to be out among the islands and lying still in a bay within twenty minutes. The inner fjord packs its islands close together, so the stops come quickly: the monastery ruins on Hovedøya, the painted cabins on Nakholmen and Lindøya, the granite slabs where the water goes deep and clear.

From out there you see the City Hall again. The two brick towers, 63 and 66 metres, stand clear on the waterfront, and watching the building you were married in shrink behind you does something to the day. It also gives your photographer a background no restaurant can be booked for. If it is warm and anyone in the party is brave, surface water runs 18–22°C from late June to mid-August and the swim platform has a ladder.

The ceremony time decides the rest. A midday slot gives you an afternoon on the water and time to spare before dinner. A late one pushes the celebration towards evening: the sunset cruise is always four hours, leaves at 18:00, and in early July the sun does not go down until around 22:40. Catering is arranged in advance, either as the 800 NOK per person premium food and drinks package or as a full meal served at anchor by our restaurant partners on Tjuvholmen.

Prices

Whole-boat prices, VAT included, not per guest:

Three hours: 16,688 NOK
Sunset cruise, always four hours: 20,048 NOK
Six hours: 22,288 NOK
Luxury experience, up to nine hours: 33,488 NOK

The luxury experience is the one built for a whole day: catering, drone photography and a route planned in a conversation beforehand. If the boat is meant to carry the entire celebration rather than the interval, that is the version with time for the outer islands and the quiet sounds. The shorter trips are described on the private cruise page.

Guests before you have left us five stars across 79 reviews on TripAdvisor, Google and GetYourGuide.

The order to do it in

Book the ceremony first. City Hall slots open a year ahead and the Saturdays go first. Apply for the prøvingsattest as soon as the date is fixed, since it is valid for four months and Skatteetaten needs time at its end. Then email oslo@seaexperience.no with the date, the ceremony time and the number of guests, and we will set departure to follow the ceremony with margin for photographs on the steps. Open dates are also on the booking page.

If the bachelor or bachelorette party is also heading out on the water, it is the same boat and the same scaling on a different date.

The route is tailored either way, so if there is a bay or an island that means something to you, say so.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners get married at Oslo City Hall?

Yes, provided both of you have lawful residence in Norway on the wedding day and hold a valid certificate of no impediment from Skatteetaten. The ceremony is conducted in Norwegian or English, and if neither language works, the City Hall books and pays for an authorised interpreter. Couples registered abroad pay nothing on Wednesdays and Fridays, and 3,478 NOK on a Saturday.

Which days does Oslo City Hall hold weddings?

Ceremonies take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There are none on public holidays, and none in weeks 28, 29 and 30, which in 2026 falls on 6 to 26 July. Some Saturdays the ceremony moves to another venue in the city, and the current list is published by Oslo kommune.

How quickly can we get married at Oslo City Hall?

Slots are released a year ahead, and the four-week upload deadline for the prøvingsattest sets the usual floor. With a valid certificate already in hand, a booking inside two weeks is possible, subject to a free slot. Skatteetaten's processing time is the part you cannot compress, so apply there first.

How many guests can attend the ceremony?

A maximum of 30 people may be in Munchrommet, and that number includes children and the photographer. The boat afterwards takes seven. If you are more than that and want everyone aboard, email us the date and the headcount and we will see whether a second boat can be arranged.

How far is the boat from Oslo City Hall?

About 900 metres, or a little over ten minutes on foot along the harbour promenade heading west past Aker Brygge. The quay is Tjuvholmen allé 14 and the entire walk follows the water, so the party can move together without taxis.

What does a private boat cost after the ceremony?

The whole boat is 16,688 NOK for three hours, 20,048 for the four-hour sunset cruise and 22,288 for six hours, VAT included. The nine-hour luxury experience is 33,488 NOK. Prices are for the boat, not per guest.

Ceremony details taken from Oslo kommune in July 2026; days, prices and rules change, so check there before you plan. Boat prices are whole-boat, VAT included, as of July 2026, and the boating season runs May to September. Last reviewed: July 2026.