A courthouse wedding
is still a wedding.
Fifteen minutes of vows in a small room, and then the rest of the day is yours. We photograph civil ceremonies across four Southern California counties — the ceremony as it happens, and then the hour afterward that makes it look like the day it was. In English or Spanish, from $1,224.
2027 Season Rate — 15% off. Book by November 30, 2026. Elopements from $1,224.
The ceremony is short.
Plan the hour after it.
Every civil ceremony we have photographed follows the same shape. You get the licence, you wait, you are called into a small room, and eleven minutes later you are married. It is efficient, it is real, and it is genuinely the important part.
It is also, in three of the four counties, a room with fluorescent light and someone else's family waiting behind you. That is worth knowing in advance rather than discovering it in your photographs. So we cover the vows honestly — the ring, the kiss, the signature, whoever came with you — and then we leave, and the next two hours are the ones you will hang on a wall.
Where we go afterward depends on the county, and knowing that in advance is most of the job. Downtown Riverside has the Mission Inn district within walking distance. San Bernardino has nothing nearby, so we drive to Prospect Park in Redlands. Santa Barbara needs no plan at all — the building is the location.
They are not the same day.
Where you sign changes how the day is planned — where the ceremony sits, how far the portraits are, and how far ahead you have to book. Here is what differs.
Riverside County
Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, downtown Riverside
Ceremonies by appointment at the Clerk-Recorder. Downtown Riverside is the strongest backdrop of the four — the Mission Inn district, arches and tile are a two-minute walk from where you sign.
Riverside courthouse →San Bernardino County
Recorder-Clerk, Hall of Records, West Hospitality Lane
Often performed right after the license is issued, which makes it the fastest of the four. The office photographs poorly on purpose — it is built for records — so the portraits happen elsewhere. We use Prospect Park in Redlands, about twenty minutes east.
San Bernardino courthouse →Santa Barbara County
The historic courthouse, reserved through its events office
The only one of the four that is a destination in itself: the Mural Room, the sunken garden and the arcade. Ceremony spaces are booked separately from the license, and they fill months out.
Santa Barbara courthouse →Orange County
Clerk-Recorder, Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana
The 1901 sandstone courthouse in Santa Ana, and the most photogenic civil ceremony in the region after Santa Barbara. We cover it with no travel fee, the same as the Inland Empire.
Courthouse questions.
How much does a courthouse wedding photographer cost?
Around here, ceremony-only coverage of an hour or less runs $450–$750. A three-hour micro wedding is $1,400–$1,600 and four hours $2,000–$2,500. Our elopement coverage starts at $1,224 for four hours — enough for the ceremony, the drive to a second location and a full portrait session — with no travel fee anywhere in the Inland Empire or Orange County.
Is an hour of coverage enough for a courthouse wedding?
For the ceremony itself, yes — most civil ceremonies last under fifteen minutes. But an hour buys you the vows and nothing else, and the ceremony room is the worst-looking part of the day in three of the four counties. The photographs people actually hang come from the hour afterward, somewhere with light. Four hours is what we recommend and it is why our smallest package is built that way.
Do we need witnesses?
It depends on the licence, not the county. In California a public marriage licence requires at least one witness present at the ceremony; a confidential licence requires none. Both are issued by the county clerk and both are equally valid — the confidential one simply is not part of the public record. Tell us which you are getting and we will plan the room around it.
Can our family come?
Inside the ceremony room, whatever that county allows on the day — the spaces are small and the limit is usually a handful of people. Outside, there is no limit at all. Some of the best frames we have made at courthouses are the family waiting on the steps, and that costs nothing extra.
Do you photograph civil ceremonies in Spanish?
Sí. Francisco and the team are fully bilingual, and a good part of the civil ceremonies we cover are in Spanish or switch between both languages. Nothing gets missed because of it, and you can reach us on WhatsApp at (951) 478-2639.
What should we do first — book the photographer or the courthouse?
The courthouse. Ceremony slots are the scarce thing; photographers are not. Get the appointment, then tell us the time and we will build the rest of the day around it — including where to go afterward for light, which is the part couples almost never plan and always want.