Verónica Moya (49) speaks from the twelfth floor of her apartment on Columbus Circle, with a dream view of Central Park and says she can't believe how her life has clicked.
"Think that I was
always a
throwaway ,
I rented all my life and my first own house is this, which I bought in 2021, in Manhattan
.
It's incredible, but possible," this woman from Mar del Plata, who grew up in Caballito,
told
Clarín , who
arrived in New York in 2000 and worked at everything
: she cleaned, was a babysitter, a waitress, a receptionist in a gym, while studying acting on Broadway."I dreamed of working in a musical, but I settled for being a model," she says with a laugh.
None of that happened, neither an actress nor a model, but life surprised Verónica in the first of her two marriages, in 2006, with an American.
"I discovered the world of wedding official, I internalized myself, I saw that you could take
courses to marry people and become a justice of the peace
or, as it is called here, wedding officiant."
He began to find out about the possible
metier
and found "
a little-explored universe,
especially for Latinos, who are millions in the United States, and who choose to have their weddings in Spanish."
And he was encouraged to venture into the world of micro-weddings, but already with his registration provided by the city of New York, without leaving -just in case- his multiple jobs.
Verónica Moya with her "minister" certificate, which allows her to legally marry couples in New York City.
What are micro weddings?
"Legal marriages in which
it is not necessary to go to a civil registry
,
that it is not necessary to have an up-to-date visa or be a resident (they can be tourists)
, that take place where the couple is... at home, at my house , in Times Square, on Wall Street, the Rockefeller Center or as happens most of the time, in Central Park... and in an hour everything is resolved. I take care of the organization", describes the Argentine, who exercises since 2008.
An Argentine "seeks"
Among so many activities that allowed her to pay for the room she was renting in Brooklyn and survive in the Big Apple, Verónica, a tall and striking woman, was hired in 2001 by a modeling agency.
"That job was key, not because of the job itself, but because
as I was sponsored I was able to get a work visa that gave me a lot of freedom
. I continued modeling, doing advertising and fashion shows, and over time I left some jobs that took away from me. a long time".
"I declare you husband and wife," Verónica Moya could be saying, in the middle of a couple she has just married.
She grew at work level, she managed to have greater economic independence and she moved, this time, to another room but in the charming Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan, where she stayed until 2006, when she got married.
Although he married white, he inquired about that world that called his attention so much.
"I always liked officiating at a wedding,
I liked seeing the power that person had in declaring a couple husband and wife
," he shares.
In 2008, with her Certificate of Marriage Officiant Registration,
she had her first wedding.
I remember perfectly, she went to a Mexican couple to whom she charged 100 dollars.
How did they find me?
Through the internet, I got my batteries from the beginning, I put together Internet pages, I made many videos and I began to make myself known, because I saw that it could be my source of work.
That's how I created my first company weddingsolution.org", says Verónica, who also founded Wedding Package in 2015.
The last wedding he performed on Friday, at his home.
"A procedure with nothing to organize, neither guests nor reservations, only with the most important thing: the papers," says Verónica Moya.
Word of mouth and "browsing the Internet" gradually positioned Verónica, who became a benchmark in the market.
"During the pandemic, work literally exploded, because
the civil registry (which charges $35) was closed for about a year
and my colleagues, out of fear, preferred not to work."
So it was that he sharpened his survival instinct, appealed to the Argentine liveliness and thought "this is my opportunity."
He posted wedding offers, posted videos about micro-weddings on YouTube, and the inquiries didn't stop.
"In addition, the people from the civil registry, who know my work, began to recommend my work online and that's how work began to pour in. "Many people who traveled from different cities in the United States and I had up to 5 weddings a day,
all
in Central Park, which was the only place open and available."
Verónica says that "the work requires
a lot of dedication and, above all, patience
. We are available 365 days a year, many suitors choose dates like Christmas or New Year and you have to be there. It is not easy because you have to smoke
the
stories of the families that they interfere, what they think, that they change dates or places... You have to deal with that. The sister-in-law who says such a thing, the father-in-law who thinks otherwise, who say they want their photographer, or to be their own justice of the peace.
Ugh, it's not a job for the impatient
," he says with grace.
The "matchmaker" of Central Park.
Since 2008, Verónica Moya has been organizing weddings in the most important green lung of New York.
The offer that Verónica proposes is wide and for all tastes and pockets.
"Over the years I became an expert in the matter and I was able to offer what people asked me for.
From weddings of 200 dollars to 4,200 and in between a menu of alternatives.
"There are those who marry for convenience , who come home, in a very nice hall, and in a while we do all the papers.
There are those who hire the Carriage Ride, which is
a carriage ride, which includes a hairdresser, makeup artist, a violinist on board
, a photographer, and all the bureaucratic permits."
He points out that the most requested is the Silver Package, which takes place in Central Park and has a value of $2,750.
"We got permission to do the wedding in the park, we provided the photographer, we hired a music band and we take care of the flower bouquets for the bride and take care of the couple and the party that we organize. Think that we are in
a public place, there is never a lack of someone to bother or an unwelcome puppy to appear
".
Verónica remarks that "competition grew a lot", based on the need of people and foreigners to find a quick job opportunity.
"It was very difficult for me to find a place,
this is trust and credibility.
You can get your registration tomorrow, as happened with many friends and acquaintances, but they had a hard time, nobody hired them. This is not blowing and making bottles.
Here you have to demonstrate with facts
, have a reliable website and photos with weddings carried out, which are the best guarantee".
Veronica's first marriage lasted two years, which she reoffended in 2015, with Bradley, an American, who joined the venture "although from a distance, she doesn't like to socialize."
The Argentine married true to her style.
"In Central Park and we were married by Alex, a friend who does the same thing, and who introduced me to my husband. I do what I preach and after having experienced getting married in white, today I prefer to do this type of
party , more expeditious, much less expensive.
In any case, instead of spending money for others, the couple honors themselves with something different."
Jasmín and Fernando traveled especially from Buenos Aires to get married in Central Park with the "format" proposed by Verónica Moya.
Verónica surprises by saying that
"there are several Argentines who contact me through my page and who come especially to New York
to get married, because they want something different, because they think that instead of investing in a party for a hundred people, why not spoil yourself and have the wedding in the Big Apple and also the honeymoon".
Jasmín and Fernando traveled in August 2018, but a year earlier, in New York, they found out that they could get married there within the micro-wedding format.
"When we returned to Argentina, I began to find out what the process was like and I found an unknown world, full of offers and among them was that of Verónica, whom I called by video call and, finally, I chose her not only because she is Argentine, but because
He has charisma, warmth and restraint. He radiates joy and is detailed and professional."
More than four years after the wedding, Jasmín (41) remembers it as
"an unforgettable moment in which everything was perfect, dreamed.
The ceremony was in Central Park, the photographer who works with Verónica and another girl from the staff were our But prior to the formal meeting, days before, we were with Verónica at her house to finalize the details and so that nothing was left to chance.
Paula and Franco were on vacation in New York and there they decided to get married "expeditiously and to have a different memory."
Paula and Fernando were spending the summer in New York and suddenly
"the bug bit them: what if we got married here?"
They found out on the internet how they had to do it "and a web page led us to the Argentine girl, who had very good comments and we did not doubt it there. We contacted her, we chose the Top of the Rock viewpoint, in the Rockefeller Center and we got married in
the 70th floor
, in the middle of one of the most spectacular views in the world".
Paula recounts that they paid 1,800 dollars in all respects, a much cheaper amount than what the party would have cost us.
And we had
our own party of two, with a wedding that we broadcast live
.
If you don't want to hold a massive event, as happened to us, this seems like a great, original option that will remain forever in our retinas."
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