Accompanying a Photographer to Submit Our Marriage Registration! My Experience Report on the Still Rare "Marriage Registration Photos"

2021.02.14 published

We had our marriage registration photo taken♡

Hello, I'm Nagisa from Marry＊

Recently, I got married and asked for a "marriage registration photo" on the day I submitted my marriage registration♩

(Marriage registration photos involve having a professional photographer take commemorative pictures on the day the marriage registration is submitted!)

I always thought that having moments of the marriage registration process captured by a photographer would be a lifelong memory. I had wanted to do this for a long time♡

After actually having the marriage registration photos taken, it was indeed a wonderful memory, so I highly recommend it.

In this article, based on my experience, I will introduce the steps and things to be careful about for those who want to try taking "marriage registration photos"!＊

Deciding how we want the photos to be taken＊

Before requesting a photographer, I roughly decided what kind of photos I wanted to have taken＊

【My desired conditions】

☑ About 1 hour

☑ Locations: our home apartment and the ward office (a 5-minute walk)

☑ Budget: around 20,000 yen

☑ No specific limit on the number of photos taken (it didn’t have to be unlimited)

☑ I wanted not only photos of us but also individual shots of the wedding rings and the marriage registration

☑ I wanted to do a ring exchange, as I had kept the wedding rings closed until then. I wanted that moment captured.

That was the plan.

How did I choose the photographer???

To ask for marriage registration photos from a professional photographer, there are several options: contacting a freelance photographer directly, requesting an engagement photo plan from a photo studio, or using a mobile photographer service.

Here are the candidates I considered＊

① Searching for photographers on Instagram

At first, I wanted to ask a trendy freelance photographer who is popular on Instagram, but I found it difficult,

Many freelance photographers’ websites did not have their prices listed, and I couldn't find out if my desired dates were available without inquiring first, so I gave up early on.

For engagement or pre-wedding photos, it’s easier because we can choose from available dates, but for marriage registration photos, our registration date takes priority, so I thought it would be quite challenging to find a freelance photographer.

(Especially on weekends, popular photographers seem to be busy with wedding shoots.)

② Lovegraph

This is a well-known mobile photo service for couple shoots. You can have one of the photographers registered with Lovegraph take your photos♡

While considering this, I also looked into other options.

<Reference Fees>

Number of Photos: 75 and up

Price: starting from 23,800 yen (varies by photographer)

Duration: most plans were about 1-2 hours

➡ Visit Lovegraph's website here

③ Our Photo

This is another mobile photography service similar to Lovegraph. You can choose from registered photographers. It was very affordable and good, but I thought the shortest plan of 50 minutes might be a bit short because there could be delays traveling from home to the ward office for submission.

<Reference Fees>

Number of Photos: 30 and up

Price: starting from 8,800 yen

Duration: 50 minutes and up

➡ Visit Our Photo's website here

④ Mitsumore

Mitsumore is a service that allows you to get quotes from photographers.

When I requested, “I want to take marriage registration photos at [location] on [date],” available photographers would respond with, “I can do this content for this price!”

➡ Visit Mitsumore's website here

When I made a request through Mitsumore, I found a photographer who could shoot for 10,000 yen with no particular time restrictions or limits on data for my desired date, so I decided to ask that person.

Since Mitsumore doesn’t have fixed price plans, it’s not possible to say “this is the price!”, but since you state your wishes first, it is convenient to be able to find photographers who can meet your conditions♩

<What to bring for the marriage registration photo>

I wanted to take not only pictures of us but also cute shots of the wedding rings, so I brought some props for the shoot with me＊

☑ Marriage registration

☑ Wedding rings and engagement ring

☑ Cases for the wedding rings and engagement ring

☑ Cute pen (to write in the marriage registration)

<Flow of the day>

On the day, we met at the lobby of our apartment at 11:00! I chose the apartment lobby because I wanted to take photos of the ring exchange and photos of the rings and marriage registration there.

My room is small, and the ward office was not open for after-hours reception (even if it were open, there wouldn’t be space for taking props shots), so we decided to do the shoot at the apartment lobby.

If the home and the ward office are far apart, meeting at home can take more time to travel, so unless there’s a strong desire to take photos at home, I think it’s better to meet directly at the ward office.

After introducing ourselves, we exchanged rings in the lobby (the photographer guided us like a ceremony!) and took props photos, then walked directly to the ward office together.

Since we didn’t have any pictures of us walking together, it was nice to have these photos taken＊

We took the classic photo holding the marriage registration in front of the ward office, thinking we were ready to submit the registration, but… I learned that my nearest office is a branch office, which only accepts partial procedures, and that they do not have after-hours reception for marriage registrations...!!!

(For those submitting a marriage registration in the future, please be careful to check if your office accommodates after-hours submissions…!)

➡ Note for submitting a marriage registration "after hours"

I was surprised by this unexpected turn of events, but since we couldn’t submit the registration, we decided to do location photos in a nearby park instead. (We submitted the marriage registration at a slightly distant ward office after shooting.)

Cannot take photos inside the office when submitting after hours!

Speaking of marriage registration photos,

It's common to see pictures of writing in the marriage registration at the ward office or

@yt20150316

moments of submission inside the ward office, but those can only be taken if submitting during open hours.

I realized it’s only a privilege for those registering on a weekday afternoon...!

If you submit after hours (weekday evenings or on weekends and holidays), you just hand it to the security at the back door, so be aware!

It became a cherished memory♡

Taking photos on the day of marriage registration feels special.

It was my first time having photos with my partner, and I’m so glad we captured many wonderful images as a memento＊

If we hadn’t requested the shoot, it would simply have been a day to submit the registration, and I feel it would have passed by into next year’s wedding anniversary without much thought.

However, because we had photos taken, the registration day felt special, and next year on our anniversary, when we review the photos, we can say things like “We had photos taken last year!” and “What a happy day!” reflecting on the day we registered, and it seems we can make it a wonderful anniversary.

(I’ve also made plans for the future, thinking I want to ask the photographer I hired this time for maternity photos or the Shinto shrine visit photos someday…. Finding a wonderful photographer who makes me want to keep having them shoot for us is also a great thing!)

The amount I paid was about 10,000 yen, but I’m really satisfied. I created memories worth much more than that amount, and it feels almost too generous for just 10,000 yen for such treasured keepsakes.

I highly recommend having a photographer for marriage registration photos on the day of registration; I hope everyone gives it a try♡

➡️ Download Marry’s marriage registration here♡

➡️ Download a customizable marriage registration here♡