AABENRAA, Denmark – The ceremony lasted only about 10 minutes. Rings and a kiss were exchanged and photos were taken. A tear ran down the bride’s cheek. It was a special moment for the young couple.

For the city, however, operations continued as usual.

Aabenraa, a Danish coastal town of less than 17,000 inhabitants about half an hour’s drive from the German border, is not exactly a popular tourist destination. Yet the visitors it receives are surprisingly diverse.

Many stay for just one or two nights and come for the same reason: to get married. Dozens of couples come every week, and about 90 percent of them are from abroad.

This phenomenon is not limited to Aabenraa. Denmark as a whole is considered the Las Vegas of Europe because of its uncomplicated weddings – a comparison that annoys some Danes.

In 2023, the country issued more than 18,000 international marriage certificates, compared to about 31,500 for couples where at least one spouse lives in Denmark. Since becoming the first country in the world to recognize same-sex partnerships in 1989, it has also become particularly popular with LGBTQ+ couples.

“I can’t wait to get married in Denmark,” said Garry Sullivan, a professional drummer from New York who originally planned to marry his German girlfriend in Hamburg. “The process in Germany was terribly bureaucratic. One day the official said, ‘If you want to get married quickly, you should go to Denmark.'”

Sullivan and his now wife followed that advice and in 2024 joined the approximately 800 couples who said “I do” in Aabenraa’s two-century-old town hall.

The experience was better than expected and relatively affordable, with the total cost coming in at just over US$1,000 (S$1,340) for four people, including trains, a night’s hotel accommodation and restaurant outings.

Denmark’s appeal lies primarily in its lack of bureaucracy. Couples can complete all the paperwork online, no birth certificates are required and applications are usually processed within five working days. If everything goes smoothly, the whole process can take between seven and ten days and the certificates are recognized worldwide.

This is in stark contrast to Germany, where foreign couples must submit original documents and the bureaucratic process can take up to a year, and to Spain and France, where at least one partner must have a residence in the country.

Many European countries also require a current birth certificate, which can be a problem for people from conflict areas such as Ukraine or the Gaza Strip.

“Most marriage laws are designed for two Germans to marry in Germany or two Irish people to marry in Ireland,” says Rasmus Sorensen, founder of Getting Married in Denmark, a service that helps couples through the process.

“Today, however, the situations are more complex. People meet across borders and suddenly the laws work against the couples.”

Denmark is also a popular marriage destination for same-sex couples from countries where such partnerships are not legal or recognized.

They do it “as a symbolic gesture. It is a commitment within the couple,” says Martina Lanotte, an LGBTQ+ wedding photographer based in Copenhagen.

“Some couples are being openly queer for the first time and it takes them a while to realize that no one is making fun of them,” she added. “It’s just beautiful to see.”