Civil wedding: everything you need to know to plan yours

Civil marriage is summarized in the formal act in which the couple manifests, before the judge, their desire to establish a conjugal bond and he declares them married. In other words, the entire bureaucratic stage of the wedding is concentrated in the well-known moment when the bride and groom sign, together with their godparents, the document that proves the union.

However, until you reach the long-awaited “yes”, it is important to worry about some details so that the ceremony is carried out without complications. Check out everything you need to know to organize your civil wedding:

How it works?

For the civil marriage to take place, some essential organizational steps are necessary that will facilitate and define your ceremony, such as choosing the property regime, seeking witnesses and defining what the couple’s new surname will be like.

1. Qualification for marriage

The first step is to file the marriage license process with the civil registry to prove that both bride and groom are free to marry. At this stage, it is already necessary to present the documents required for the union and, once the request is processed, the couple will have 90 days to get married.

After that, you must decide the ideal date for the ceremony and also the type of wedding that will be held in view of the property regime and the chosen godparents.

2. Regime of assets

The property regime is an agreement that deals with the material goods of the bride and groom, considering the before, during and the possibility of one after the marriage, in cases of divorce or widowhood. It must be defined before the ceremony in the civil, according to four options of regimes:

• Partial ownership of assets: when the bride and groom decide to divide all assets acquired after the wedding and keep the previous ones as personal.
• Universal communion of goods: in this regime, both the goods prior to the marriage and those acquired during the period of union belong to both spouses.
• Final participation in aquestos: this type of regime is equivalent to the partial community property regime. Spouses keep separate assets acquired prior to marriage and also those acquired during the union, with freedom of administration and division of debts. However, in the case of divorce, the assets purchased during the marriage will be divided in half for each.
• Separation of assets: in this case, the bride and groom choose to keep all assets prior to marriage and also those acquired during the union as personal and incommunicado.

If the couple needs to change the regime after the union, it is possible to file a lawsuit motivated by both bride and groom.

3. Last name change

The act of marriage already marks the desire to consecrate the love of the bride and groom, but for those who feel the desire to take this to life in an even deeper way, it is possible that one of the spouses chooses to add the surname of the other to theirs. For this to actually happen, it is necessary to indicate the desire in the marriage license memorial.

4. Witnesses

One of the most important steps is the choice of godparents: one for each spouse, relatives or not, and over 18 years of age. The ideal is that these people are close to the couple, able to declare the knowledge of the bride and groom and also the non-impediment to the union.

5. Costs

Finally, knowing the step by step for civil marriage, there is still a question: how much does it cost? Well, this is a factor that varies from region to region. However, normally the value of the ceremony is around R$400.00, plus expenses with documents, certified copies and notary and notary services. In addition, the value changes if the wedding is held at the registry office or outside it.

As you may have noticed, the steps are simple, but they are interconnected, and it is crucial to pay attention to the deadlines for everything to go as planned.

What documents are needed?

When entering the marriage license process, it is necessary to present a list of updated documents of the bride and groom. It is important to start organizing the papers at least 3 months in advance, so that there is enough time to issue duplicates or change data in the originals, if necessary. In order not to miss any details, check out everything you will need:

single bride and groom

• Identity card (RG), also being accepted the ballots issued by the army and National Driver’s License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the bride and groom or their parents (water, electricity, telephone) – in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the owner of the property;
• Updated birth certificate (2nd original, issued within the last 3 months);
• Under 18 years old: present parental consent.

divorced bride and groom

• Identity card (RG), also being accepted the ballots issued by the army and National Driver’s License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the bride and groom or their parents (water, electricity, telephone) – in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the owner of the property;
• Up-to-date marriage certificate with divorce registration (2nd original copy, issued within the last 3 months);
• Certificate issued by the Family Court of the Forum of the city where the divorce was made, certifying whether or not there was a sharing of assets from the previous marriage, or even, a photocopy of the public deed of divorce, if it was done through Notary Public

widowed bride and groom

• Identity card (RG), also being accepted the ballots issued by the army and National Driver’s License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the bride and groom or their parents (water, electricity, telephone) – in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the owner of the property;
• Up-to-date marriage certificate with the death note (2nd original, issued in the last 3 months);
• Death certificate of the deceased spouse;
• Certificate issued by the Family Court of the Forum of the city where the inventory was made, certifying whether or not there was a survey of the assets of the previous marriage, or even, a photocopy of the public deed of the inventory, if it was done through a Notary.

Foreign brides residing in Brazil

• Permanent Alien Identity Card (RNE)
• CPF;
• Original birth certificate, legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the country of birth and translation, made by a sworn translator (the foreign language certificate and translation must be previously registered at the Civil Registry of Titles and Documents);
• Photocopy of the passport;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the bride and groom or their parents; in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or declaration of the owner of the property;
• Public declaration made at Notary Public, attesting that the groom is single.

Foreign brides not residing in Brazil

• Original birth certificate, legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the country of birth and translation, made by a sworn translator (the foreign language certificate and translation must be previously registered at the Civil Registry of Titles and Documents);
• Photocopy of the passport;
• Public declaration attesting that the groom is single and his residence is legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the country of residence (if in another language, the declaration must be translated by a sworn translator).

Now it’s easy, right? Following this list of basic documents, your marriage license will be ready without any problems!

types of ceremony

The civil marriage changes according to the wishes of the bride and groom. It can be carried out in the registry office or outside it, in communion with the religious ceremony or it can mean the updating of an existing stable union.

To find out exactly how each of them works, check out the explanations given by lawyer Heloise Cella:

1. Marriage at the registry office

This is the ceremony carried out in the registry office itself, before the justice of the peace, with the marriage registration in the proper book together with two witnesses and some guests. As the space for weddings in this format is usually limited, it is important to inform yourself about how many guests are allowed and about the possibility of taking the photographer to record the ceremony, to avoid any embarrassment.

2. Marriage in Diligence

This is the wedding performed outside the registry office, in which the justice of the peace goes to your ceremony with the registrar to officiate the ceremony. In this case, it is common for the fees to be paid to undergo a significant change, and may even double in relation to the marriage at the registry office. The diligence marriage also allows, depending on the civil registry, for the bride and groom to have two witnesses each, instead of one.

3. Religious marriage with civil effect

Religious marriage is celebrated and recognized by a church authority, such as a priest or pastor, rather than the judge. It is necessary to enter the qualification process at the notary, as well as in other modalities. Before the ceremony takes place, the Certificate of Qualification issued by the registry office must be delivered to the religious celebrant.

It is also possible to register the marriage at the registry office after the religious ceremony. In this case, the bride and groom will receive a term of marriage, instead of the certificate, and have up to 90 days after the union to regularize the situation at the registry office.

4. Conversion of stable union into marriage

This union takes place in a simple way: it is enough for the couple to enter the qualification process in a civil registry near their residence and there is no need for a ceremony before a justice of the peace or religious authority. As in conventional marriage, documents and two witnesses are required to enter the license process.

These are the possible types of civil weddings, but nothing prevents the bride and groom from choosing to have an event for the civil and another for the religious, for example.

What to wear?

Bureaucracy solved! Now it’s time to decide the ideal outfit for the civil wedding. Something that will greatly influence the decision is whether your wedding will be in the registry office, in the religious or in diligence. So it’s worth considering a few things:

• For the wedding at the registry office: unions held at the civil registry ask for slightly more informal dresses, allowing for shorts, overalls, midi models, among other options. It is also common to bet on colors that deviate from the traditional white and prints, such as floral and polka dots.
• For church ceremonies: religious ceremonies ask for the traditional, such as long dresses in light colors, with space for the bride to shine in models decorated with lace, embroidery, veils and everything else.
• For other stagecoach ceremonies: here, many couples propose celebrations outdoors, on the beach or on the farm, for example. Thus, the bride’s clothes will change depending on the chosen location, which can be a short flowery, a traditional white or even something unusual.

Inspiring looks for the civil wedding

Considering that the wedding at the registry office is the type of ceremony that most differs in terms of the bride’s look, we have separated some inspirations to help you define what to wear if you are going to perform your…