LA Courthouse Wedding vs. Eloping: How to Choose
A courthouse wedding is a real, legal, perfectly good way to get married. If that's what you want, this post tells you how it works. It also lays out the other option, a planned ceremony somewhere that looks like LA, so you can tell which one you actually want before you book anything.
How a civil ceremony works in LA County
The county offers civil ceremonies at its clerk offices for $35, on top of the marriage license. You book an appointment, show up with your license and ID, and a deputy commissioner marries you in a short ceremony at the office. A public license needs one witness present, and if you don't bring your own, the county can provide one for $20. You can bring a small group, though space is limited.
The best-known spot for this is the Beverly Hills Courthouse, which does civil ceremonies and has a nicer backdrop than a standard office. Wherever you go, the appointment itself is quick, usually in and out inside an hour.
How to book an LA County civil ceremony, step by step
Get your marriage license first (both of you, in person, with ID). Full details in our California marriage license guide.
Book a civil ceremony appointment at the county clerk. The ceremony fee is $35 on top of the license.
Bring one witness if you have a public license. No witness is needed for a confidential license, and the county can provide one for a small fee if you're on your own.
Show up, get married, and the office handles the paperwork on the spot.
The best-known option is the Beverly Hills Courthouse, which does civil ceremonies with a nicer backdrop than a standard office. The county's other branch offices also perform them, usually with less of a wait.
What a courthouse wedding gives you
Married, legally and completely, for very little money and very little planning. That's the whole appeal, and it's a real one. If the goal is to be married and the ceremony is a formality, this is the efficient way to do it.
What it doesn't give you
A location you chose. Time. Photos beyond whatever a guest takes on a phone. A ceremony written around the two of you. The courthouse runs on its schedule, in its rooms, with its script. You're one of several couples that day.
The elopement version
An elopement, at least the way we mean it, is a real ceremony at a place you picked, with an officiant, a photographer, and the license handled for you. Up to about 20 guests, not counting the two of you. Still short, still low-stress, still nothing like a 150-person production, but it's yours: your location, your vows, your day, photographed properly.
The honest difference is what you get back. The courthouse is cheaper and faster because you're doing the choosing, the coordinating, and the remembering-it-yourself. A planned elopement costs more because someone builds the day around you and hands it back finished.
When each one makes sense
Go courthouse if you want the legal part done cleanly and don't need the ceremony to be an event. Go elopement if you want a personalized ceremony somewhere that means something, without the size and cost of a traditional wedding.
Courthouse vs. a Cakewalk elopement, side by side
| LA County courthouse | Cakewalk elopement | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $35 ceremony + license | From $4,000, everything included |
| Location | The clerk's office | Anywhere in LA you choose, sourced and permitted for you |
| Photos | Whatever a guest takes | Documentary photography, roughly 70 to 100 edited images |
| Ceremony | A short standard script | Custom, written around the two of you |
| Coordination | You handle the day | An officiant who also runs the day |
| Guests | A few, space permitting | Up to about 20, not counting you |
| License | You manage it | We manage the whole process |
What a real LA ceremony can look like
You don't have to choose between "quick and legal" and "a whole production." A Cakewalk sits in between.
For a sense of the range:
Zeth and Stephanie kept the classic courthouse look but did it their way at Pasadena City Hall, see Zeth + Stephanie's Pasadena City Hall wedding →
For something scenic instead, Chris and Caroline married with the Griffith Observatory behind them, see Chris + Caroline at Griffith →
Common questions
Can we get real photos at a courthouse wedding? Only what a guest shoots. If photos matter, that's the main reason couples choose a planned elopement instead.
Can we bring guests to a courthouse ceremony? A few, but space is limited and it's not built for a group. A Cakewalk holds up to about 20.
Do we still need a marriage license for a courthouse wedding? Yes. The license is separate from the ceremony, and you need it either way.
Can we personalize the vows at the courthouse? Not really, it runs on a standard script. A custom ceremony is part of what you're paying for with an elopement.
The Cakewalk version
Cakewalk runs ceremony-only LA weddings with everything handled in one price: officiant, documentary photography, marriage license, permits, and planning start to finish. You pick the kind of day you want, we build it. Starting at $4,000, one price, nothing hidden. Here’s what's included and what it costs.