Tell me a little about your wedding. The more I know, the place, the people, the atmosphere you're imagining, the better I can respond with something thoughtful (not a price list and a copy-pasted reply).
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FAQ
Do we need to live in Portugal to get married here?
No. There is no residency requirement. Two foreign nationals can marry in Portugal without living here or holding any kind of visa. What the process does require is paperwork, and that is where couples usually get caught out.
What paperwork do we need as a foreign couple?
Passports, birth certificates, and a certificate of no impediment, sometimes called a certificate of legal capacity to marry or a freedom to marry document. These need an apostille and a certified translation into Portuguese, and they are submitted to the Conservatoria do Registo Civil in the area where you plan to marry. Approval usually takes four to six weeks.
The document that causes the most trouble is the certificate of no impediment, because every country issues it in a different format and some do not issue it at all. Start gathering everything the moment you set a date.
We photograph weddings, we are not lawyers. Your planner or a Portuguese solicitor should handle this part. We mention it because couples often discover it too late.
What is the difference between a legal ceremony and a symbolic one?
A legal ceremony is registered with the Portuguese state and requires all of the above. A symbolic ceremony requires none of it, because it has no legal effect.
Many international couples do the legal part quietly at home, sometimes months before or after, and then celebrate in Portugal with a symbolic ceremony. If that is your plan, the paperwork question disappears entirely. It photographs exactly the same.
When is the best time of year to get married in Portugal?
Late spring and early autumn. April to June and September to October give warm weather, low rain, and fewer tourists than peak summer.
July and August get hot, easily above 30 degrees, and much hotter inland. November to March is quiet and green, and considerably wetter.
One thing worth knowing if you are choosing between September and October: the sun sets around 19:30 in early October and earlier as the month goes on. That moves your ceremony time, and it moves the hour when the light is at its best.
How much does a wedding in Portugal cost?
An intimate celebration usually starts around 10.000 to 15.000 euros. Larger weddings with a full venue, catering and entertainment tend to land between 20.000 and 45.000 euros.
As a reference point, an all inclusive package at one of the well known quintas near Lisbon starts at around 13.000 euros for 50 guests, covering venue hire, catering, bar, flowers and coordination.
Venue and catering take the largest share. Photography is a smaller line, and it is the one that outlives the day.
Do we need a wedding planner?
Not legally, no. But if you are planning from another country, a planner handles the paperwork, coordinates suppliers, and makes sure the timeline holds on the day. Most of the couples we work with have one and none of them regret it.
If you speak Portuguese and enjoy logistics, you can do it yourself. Plenty do.
How far in advance should we book?
Good venues in the May to October window are taken 12 to 18 months ahead. Photographers usually go 9 to 12 months ahead.
If you are reading this more than a year before your date, you are early, which is the right place to be.
Who are you?
Galeria Oliveira is the two of us. Daniel photographs. Rita takes care of everything around it: the first email, the planning calls, the contract, and everything after the wedding.
Daniel is Brazilian, Rita is Italian, and we both live in Lisbon. We chose this country the same way you are choosing it now, which is more useful than it sounds when you are organising something here from abroad.
What languages do you speak?
English, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish.
Can we see a full wedding, rather than a selection?
Yes, and we would rather you did. Tell us your venue and roughly the kind of day you are imagining, and we will send two or three complete galleries from weddings closest to yours.
A portfolio shows you the best fifteen frames of a career. A full gallery shows you what you will actually receive.
Do you work alone or with a second photographer?
Our main wedding package includes two photographers as standard, not as an upgrade.
At a hundred guests or more, one person cannot cover a ceremony and a reception without losing half of it. We would rather not sell you something we know is not enough.
What is included?
Coverage of up to twelve hours, two photographers, between 700 and 900 edited photographs, and a pre wedding session in Lisbon.
There is also a smaller package for intimate celebrations of up to thirty guests, with one photographer and six hours.
Extras that couples often add: a welcome event or day after session, a wedding content creator filming on a phone for social media, and a linen bound album.
How long until we get our photos?
Within sixty days of the wedding, delivered through a private online gallery that stays open for six months.
What happens if it rains?
We adapt. Rain moves the timeline, not the day, and some of the best frames we have come from weather nobody wanted. We bring backup gear and we will have talked through the venue's indoor option long before the date.
Do you travel outside Lisbon?
Lisbon and Greater Lisbon are included in the price. Anywhere further, we will give you the travel cost in writing before you commit, with no surprises afterwards.
We are not comfortable in front of a camera. Is that a problem?
Almost nobody is, including us.
We direct when it helps and step back when it does not. Most of the day you should forget we are there, which is also when the photographs get good. The pre wedding session exists partly for this: an hour and a half in Lisbon, no pressure, so that the wedding day is not the first time you have been photographed by us.
How do we book?
Tell us your date and venue through the form. We reply within twenty four hours.
If the date is free, we send a proposal. To hold it, we ask for a deposit of thirty percent of the total, and the balance is due before the first day of coverage. Nothing is reserved until the deposit is in.