Bùzios Travel Forum

My fiance is Brazilian and I am American. We are living in the US and traveling to Rio in March. We are trying to plan a wedding in Buzios but having a difficult time finding an affordable place. We will have about 30 people. We will need accomadation for some. Hoping to be married on the beach or somewhere with a view of the beach, and a small affordable reception to follow. Please help. Any ideas?

Your principal concern should be the documentation you, the American, will need to marry in Brazil and the time the process takes. Someone in Brazil should immediately go to the cartorio you will be using (in Buzios, if that is where you choose) and ask them what they will require for you to marry. There are a number of documents that must be notarized and then "recognized" at the Brazilian Consulate which deals with the city where each was emittted. Then these must be translated by an official translator in Brazil. After taking all of these (and your partner's Brazilian documents) to the cartorio, you will wait about a month or so to get a date for the wedding, which is normally at the cartorio itself with a group of others. If you cannot be there in person, you must sign a procuracao to let someone in Brazil act for you in this matter. (Your closest Brazilian OCnsulate can help you with this.) You may be able to pay someone at the cartorio extra to do the wedding at the location of your choice, and perhaps on the date of your choice.
I suggest looking on the expat forum on www.gringoes.com where the process has been described in detail many times. You may find it easier to have the ceremony in the U.S. (and register the marriage with the COnsulate and then in Brazil in your partner's place of residence) and then have a celebration on the beach in Buzios.

If we get married in the court here in the US, do we still have to go through all that in Brazil? We would still like to do a wedding ceremony and reception in Buzios, but we don't care about it being legalized since we will be married in the courts here and living in the US.

Well, if you want the marriage to be recognized in Brazil, you will have to register it with the Brazilian Consulate nearest your U.S.residence and in the town where your fiance lives in Brazil--or else in Brazil he is not considered to be married. As for a ceremony, since it would not be official, I'm curious about who would marry you? (although I suppose there may be a jeitinho when it comes to a juiz or maybe even a padre/pastor) A party sounds like a lovely idea. Buzios is considered a very expensive tourist destination, so I am not surprised you might have problems finding an inexpensive place for a reception or accomodations for your guests. Best wishes for a happy life together.

Hi ,
we have made a couple of weddings here in Buzios and they were very successful . I think March is kind of busy for to make it in a hotel ( they are all booked out) maybe you can rent a big property ( private) to do it so, or wait till low season. Are your guests staying over night or for the weekend at the place , are you paying for their stay . give me details and I will help you.
If you already have a place , we can take care of the reception
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Adrian Ulises Abate