The Van Goghkerkje: Nuenen’s #1 Small Scale Big Impact Wedding Location

Eternally tied with the history of the Van Gogh family and painted by Vincent for his mother, the Van Goghkerkje is Nuenen’s best kept secret for micro weddings.

Everyone remembers the first time they see the Van Goghkerkje in Nuenen

It gives you that unmissable feeling of being just about to reach out and touch something timeless when you see a place like the Van Goghkerkje. A place that has seen thousands of weddings, baptisms and families like the Van Goghs over the years, and a place layered full of a thousand funerals, tears, and prayers. That historical element, combined with the chapel’s simplicity and unique design, make this chapel my top wedding location in Nuenen for small weddings and vow renewals.

Walk with me as I share more about this unique chapel nestled just a stone’s throw away from the Salon Nune Ville and Van Gogh Village Nuenen museum.

A Timeless Wedding Location for All Seasons

I have a problem. It may not seem like much of a problem to you, but I love to follow every footpath in the immediate area *just to see where it goes*. Which you can imagine, living in places like England and the Netherlands, has led to many a boggy ground and soggy socks. After our move to Nuenen, I started exploring just like I had in England and Eindhoven. I just don’t feel grounded in a place until I know my way around.

One of my favourite walks quickly became the windmill and little chapel loop. I could easily photograph the church and the Roosdonck windmill at sunrise or sunset and then make my way home for a meal. So it is no surprise that I love to stop in the church when its open Wednesday afternoons in the summer months. This is how I met Naomi and John, an engaged couple from my church, who were visiting to plan their wedding.

I was thrilled when they later asked me to photograph their engagement and wedding in the Van Goghkerkje. Naomi & John’s wedding celebration in the church was held in September, when the leaves are just thinking of changing and the sun hangs golden and low in the sky.

In fact, I look forward to every season around the Van Goghkerkje. In early Spring the narcissus bloom along the path to the doors, and all the village photographers wait for the magnolia across the street to bloom in mid to late March. In the summer the chapel is covered by the green tree canopy, providing welcome shade and respite from the heat of the day.

And autumn is an absolute glory. There’s something about the combination of sunlight, brick, shadown, and autumn coloured foliage in the village that just makes me happy – a harmony of colours captured by Vincent Van Gogh in his 195 paintings he painted in Nuenen.

Not to be forgotten would be the contrast of darkness and light that is winter. Often a pine tree on the Kerkje grounds is bedecked with a string of lights, and the building itself sports a light star. With the lantern light above the arched doors, this wintry scene just beacons for blue light photos and bewondering.

Which is to say that you could pick any season and be happy with the Van Goghkerkje

Simplicity at its finest

A single chapel simply designed in the Neoclassical style popular at the end of the 18th century in the Netherlands, this church has seen many elements come and go but the core of its contents remains largely unchanged over the last 200 years. Originally begun in 1824, this Water State church built to calm contentions between Catholics and Protestants over available houses of worship.

I love the simplicity of the church’s interior. It lends itself so well to giving events and services an elegantly simple feel due to it’s muted and simple tones in paint, as well as the uniform finish of the stained wood articles in the room.

The windows contain stained glass window pains but the colours of the glass are also muted, allowing sunlight to stream nearly unhindered into the hall. There are different lighting set ups that you can ask the Van Goghkerkje foundation about. Sometimes the uplighting along the ceiling is nice, sometimes only chandelier lighting. It depends on the occasion.

Upon entry you find yourself in a small foyer. To your right is a door to a single toilet, and to your left a broom closet with staircase for the organ balcony. This balcony is not open to the public but can be accessed by a photographer or organist. I do hear the organ is quite loud when played in the church, so often the doors to the organ pipes are closed to dampen the sound a bit. Straight through the foyer you enter the church hall.

Ethereal Elements That You Can’t Miss

The first thing you notice upon entry is the shape of the room. Not only is the chapel small, but it is not square. I don’t mean that measurements were incorrect in the construction – I mean that the church building, excluding the kitchen addition on the back, is shaped like an elongated hexagon. This shape and the curved ceiling give the church hall a resonate acoustic power, allowing music and word to flow freely through the hall.

I can attest to this as I’ve walked past the Van Goghkerkje many a Wednesday or Sunday afternoon and caught snippets of song or piano wafting from the doors enticingly.

The church has three large windows on each side, facing North and South respectively, that allow natural light in for beautiful photography. And lastly, don’t forget to notice the smaller details like the fish on the original baptismal font, the beautifully illustrated antique Bible or the lectern. Stay to hear the church bells ring in the hour – the songs they play vary by the hour and season. There’s nothing quite like the atmosphere of the Van Goghkerkje in Nuenen.

There’s Nothing Quite Like Its History, Either

Nuenen was, for all intents and purposes, a small farm village without much claim to fame before the Van Goghs moved to it in the late 1800’s. Theodorus Van Gogh, the father of Vincent Van Gogh, was a Protestant pastor who lead worship at the Van Goghkerkje from 1882 until 1885. On 5 December of 1883, Vincent moved to Nuenen to live with his parents.

When Vincent’s mother Anna broke her leg in 1884, Vincent painted the Van Goghkerkje for her as a way to cheer her up and help her take the time necessary to recover. Vincent’s father Theo served as pastor in the church until a cold March day when he returned home from a long walk to the farms in the area, and died at the doorstep of the family home. From there and from other circumstances, Vincent no longer wished to stay in Nuenen and left in November of 1885 for Antwerp.

The church gets its name from the ties to Vincent Van Gogh and his family, who lived only a short walk away on Berg street in the rectory. It is also a Van Gogh Monument, and a national Rijksmonument.

Bonus: Easy Access To Local Restaurants and Stunning Photography Locations

An easy bonus of planning a wedding at the Van Goghkerkje is how close it is to amazing restaurants, picturesque countryside landscapes, and other historical monuments. Not only that, the gemeente offices are across the street. So you can have your wedding license, hold your ceremony, and celebrate your reception all within a couple minutes walk.

I also happen to live a couple minutes walk away, so its quite simple for me to photograph weddings there- I’m looking forward to my bookings there coming up. Having photographed many times within the building, I have experience with making the most of this space.

For A High Impact Small Wedding Location, Look No Further

I’ve already told my oldest daughter that *IF* I was ever to marry again, I’d incorporate the Van Goghkerkje into my wedding plans. That’s how much I love it. It’s intimate, elegant, and timeless while also adaptable to your wedding wishes.

If you have any questions about the church, feel free to ask them in the comments or message the Van Goghkerkje itself at the email address listed below. Curious why my content is written in English? Read that here at Launching the Dutch Wedding Experience: 7 Reasons Why You Need This Incredible Resource In Your Life.

Want your wedding location photographed and featured? Let’s talk! I’m always happy to discover amazing wedding locations for Amy Harper Fotografie couples and English Speakers marrying in the Netherlands & Flanders.

Liefs, Amy

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Everything in a Nutshell:

• Open to the Public: Between April & October every Wednesday and last Sunday of the month between 13.30 and 17.00
• Available for: church weddings, civil weddings, partner registrations, and other occasions
• Total number of people: 80
• Toilet Available: 1
• Price: On request
• Address: Papenvoort 2a, Nuenen
• Post Address: Sportlaan 5, 5671 GR, Nuenen
• Email Address: vangoghkerkjenuenen@gmail.com
• Parking: Free parking available around the church in designate parking places, as well as across the street in the Gemeentehuis parking lot
• Notable Portrait Locations Nearby: Houtrijk Park across the street, the Gemeentehuis and park across the other street, The Van Gogh Village Nuenen museum, and the Roosdonck Windmill are all within walking distance
• Special Touches: church bells available to ring, Rijksmonument, Van Gogh Monument, kitchen available behind the pulpit, several high quality restaurants within walking distance

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