Civil wedding photography

For two visitors, the City of Buenos Aires runs a specific procedure for couples in transit. Its Registro Civil asks for both passports, sworn marriage declaration forms sent by email, two witnesses over 18 with a valid Argentine DNI and an address in Argentina, and a notarial act from a CABA escribano stating your temporary address and length of stay. Anyone who does not understand Spanish needs a traductor público, and once the request is approved the appointment falls within 5 business days. The ceremonies at the city’s emblematic places and private venues are a different procedure that requires at least one spouse with a DNI showing a CABA address, so they are rarely open to visiting couples.

Outside the capital the rules change by province. Tigre, San Antonio de Areco, Mar del Plata and Cariló all fall under the Registro de las Personas of Buenos Aires Province, which asks for an appointment 20 business days before the date, documents up to 14 days before, and two witnesses over 18 with a DNI. Mendoza, Río Negro, Salta, Córdoba and the other provinces each run their own Registro with their own forms. Ask the Registro in the city where you plan to marry which of your foreign documents need an apostille or a translation, and whether a previous divorce abroad needs authorising first.

A civil wedding is short, and the photography plan is built around that. The ceremony itself often lasts minutes, families and witnesses fill a small room, and each Registro office decides where a photographer may stand, so the photographer arrives early, asks the staff, and saves the long portraits for afterwards. Many couples pair this service with a symbolic celebration on another day — an elopement in Patagonia, a party at an estancia — and book the two separately.