Hi.
I am currently in Belo Horizonte - MG - Brazil, and my wedding date is set to be the 1 september. I am NOT married yet. This is what I had to do so far :
1. You need to get some documents from Canada before you can start the process of marrying in Brazil. Every cartório of Brazil function differently. Make sure you verify what document YOU need to register/get married at THAT cartório. You will probably need an original birth certificate (with names of both parents) and a declaration civil status that is not older than 3 months at the date of registration(or divorce certificate if you were married before). You need to send both of thoses documents at the Embassy of Brazil in Canada to make them legalized (look on the website of the embassy of Brazil covering your area in Canada to know how to do this).
2. I had to go to the federal police (there is a special office that handle procedures for foreigners). I needed the following documents : a photocopy of each modified pages of my passport, my original passport with the visa and the stamp and my card of entry (They give you this paper at the airport when you land in Brazil. I forgot to bring mine but the guy still manage to find that information with a bit of search in his system).
They made me fill a document(with the help of my girlfriend since it's all in portuguese) where I had to put some information about myself, my family and some details about my arrival. Once I gave him the paper, he made 2 copies of a document that declared I was able eligible to register a marriage in brazil. I had to write some declaration in portuguese and sign one of the two copies... he gave me the other.
3. I had to go to the cartório and ask for a list of traductors they recognize. My girlfriend called a few of them and saw which one was the more advantageous for the price/rapidity. I sent my documents there and I had the traduction from french to portuguese 1 week later for R$150.
4. With all my documents ready(certificate of the federal police, original birth certificate and the traduction, original declaration of civil status and the traduction, passport), it was the time to register the marriage. You need to register the marriage at least 1 month before the date you want to marry(for the publication of the banns). Bring all your documents and the documents of your brazilian partner(she can know what document is needed by taking information at the cartório). Also, you need two witness(that know both of you) that show their identity papers and sign some documents. I had to give them all my original documents and the traductions(except the passport of course) and to pay the fee of R$210.
When they had all the necessary papers, I had to tell them some information about my parents(date of birth, place of birth, ...) but I didn't need to prove them any of that information. They asked us for the date we wanted to marry and they gave us a receipt confirming we had paid for a marriage on that date.
Since my birth certificate is catholic, my name was written like this : FirstName Joseph FirstNameOfGodFather LastName. This is NOT my legal name in Québec. The girl at the cartório refused to let me register only with my legal name(name I have in my passport and on every official document), she said that I had to register with the name written on my birth certificate. I still could use my normal signature even if it did'nt have those names. Also, in this particular cartório, I did'nt need to prove that I was single(they didn't ask my declaration of civil status)... so I could have registered a marriage even if I was already married in Canada.
5. On the new paper the cartório gave us, we had to enter the information of two witness that would be present the day of the marriage. We filled that paper ourselves(after confirming some information with those two persons) since it didn't need any signature. We brought photocopies of their identity card along with that paper to the cartório. The marriage was finally confirmed and they told us the time the marriage would be(Yes, they only told us the day when we registered... and they told us the time after that new paper). They asked if I needed a translator.. but we answered no and we hope we didn't do a mistake.
This is all you need to know for the days before the marriage... I don't know yet what happen on the day of the marriage since I am not married yet!