6% of Swedish women are married to foreign-born spouses. So, yes, finding a wife in Sweden is possible, and we have some tips for you!
The very term “Swedish mail-order brides” may sound like an oxymoron to some people. Why would women from the developed country get married to move somewhere else? And here’s the key mistake — they don’t search for foreign men to migrate. Some of them migrate because they want to get married.
What else should you know about Swedish brides? What are the expectations, motivations, and views of family life? You’ll find all the answers here.
What you should know before ordering a Swedish bride?
Let’s start with some basic facts about Sweden brides and the Sweden segment of the international dating market at large:
- Swedish women have strong family values yet are into actual gender equality, so Sweden is a great place for men seeking a woman who wants to get married but will remain self-reliant.
- There’s no way to choose a Swedish mail-order bride from a catalog, pay a fixed price, and marry a woman. In reality, foreign men and Swedish single women meet each other online and build genuine romantic relationships.
- The vast majority of Swedish women prefer to search for foreign boyfriends and husbands on international sites.
- Niche international dating sites and mail-order bride sites are rarely free for men, but you pay for credits and coins and not for a woman. Traveling services are usually not provided either. You can take an independent trip to Sweden at any time.
- You can’t officially start a family with your Swedish wife without meeting her in real life. She just won’t get a foreign partner/bride/spouse visa. So, people telling you men can actually marry a stranger is horribly wrong.
Basically, mail-order bride dating isn’t much different from mainstream online dating. People meet online (usually, on niche websites designed exclusively for international singles), get to know each other better, start dating online first, and then meet in real life. The only important difference is that both partners know they want a family, so things move much faster than for couples who meet on mainstream apps like Tinder.
What is a Swedish mail-order bride and what does she do?
Now, let’s move on to the definitions.
“A Swedish mail-order bride is just a single woman who believes that she has a better chance of finding a decent partner abroad. She doesn’t receive any compensation and isn’t motivated by the opportunity to move to another country as is. Moreover, migration is often seen as a “side effect” of mail-order dating.
A modern bride won’t agree to marry a foreigner. She’s motivated to build a real relationship and a deep emotional connection with her spouse online first and then in real life when he comes to visit her in Sweden. A couple gets married only if both partners feel they really found a soulmate and not after some kind of negotiation.”
Generally speaking, a Swedish bride is the one who:
- Decides to start a serious relationship with a foreigner
- Goes online to find a foreign boyfriend
- Starts a long-distance relationship first and meets her boyfriend offline
- Applies for a visa if they decide to get married
- Marries her husband in his country and starts a healthy family
And here’s what a Swedish bride doesn’t do:
- Get financially compensated for her decision to marry a foreigner
- Agree to marry a stranger or nearly a stranger just to start a family or move to another country
- Agree to start a family on “special terms”, for example, stay at home, be a “trad wife”, etc.
Now you know a bit more about a typical Sweden girl for marriage and how she is likely to see intermarriage. The question is whether it works for you.
Why Swedish women become mail-order brides
If Sweden mail-order brides don’t need a man to provide for them, don’t want to migrate to another country, or at least don’t usually mention it as their primary goal, and don’t get any compensation for their decision, why do they want to intermarry?
Usually, the reasons are as follows:
- Personal negative experiences with local men, the desire to try a new approach to dating.
- Desire to settle down and get married, failure to find a marriage-minded man in Sweden.
- More traditional views of family overall.
- Interest in other cultures, spontaneity, curiously.
As you can see, money isn’t the only thing that can make a woman choose intermarriage over marriage to a local man.
What it’s like to be married to a Swedish bride
Of course, it’s impossible to describe the one-size-fits-all family life scenario for all foreign men and their Swedish wives.
Still, we can distinguish some peculiarities that both Swedish women and their husbands usually mention when asked what they think to be the distinctive features of themselves and their binational marriages:
- Swedish girls don’t get offended when they have to do “manly stuff”. Many aren’t even sure what exactly that means.
- A Swedish woman doesn’t expect her husband to boost her self-esteem. She’s fine. She’s confident enough, and that reduces the number of conflicts and makes the marriage happier overall.
- In Sweden, people don’t spend money on huge diamond engagement rings. They are way more rational when it comes to planning the budget. So, luxury gifts won’t be expected and sometimes, even appreciated (of course, if it’s quite useless stuff).
- Sex isn’t a big deal or a big concern. Most women from Sweden are quite liberated in the best sense possible.
So, that’s what you can expect. Now, the only thing you should do is compare these observations to what you want from marriage and decide whether to look or not to look for a future spouse in Sweden.
A wedding expert and the founder of The Bride Scoop. I'm passionate about helping potential brides and grooms navigate the world of international weddings and cross-cultural relationships. With years of experience in the industry, I've become a trusted authority on all things wedding-related, from planning and budgeting to cultural traditions and etiquette.
Through The Bride Scoop, I provide practical advice, expert insights, and personalized guidance to couples from all over the world. My blog features a wide range of topics, including wedding planning tips, real wedding stories, cultural traditions, and advice for long-distance relationships.
