Rebecca and Britton Elope at the Seattle Courthouse

On a beautiful September afternoon, I met Rebecca and Britton at the Seattle Municipal Courthouse to photograph their wedding. I had traded multiple emails with the couple and had also spoken with them on the phone, but we had never met in person. Fortunately they were one of the first couples to arrive at the Courthouse that day, which made locating them and introducing myself quite easy!

Because we had planned to get to the Courthouse early, we were able to take a few minutes before a judge would be ready and make a trip to the rooftop balcony, which has a fantastic view over south Seattle. The weather was spectacular and we were able to play around a bit and get some fun photos. Britton and Rebecca enjoy dancing, and demonstrated some of their moves for the camera. You’ll see some of these photos below.

We returned to the “waiting area” on the 10th floor, where a group of the couples friends and relatives were waiting to meet them for the wedding ceremony.  It only took a few minutes before we meet the judge who would perform the ceremony, whose name is Andrea Chin.  I have worked with Judge Chin at numerous weddings, and she is one of my favorite judges at the Seattle courthouse.

Rebecca, Britton and I accompanied Judge Chen to her office, where the Judge helped Rebecca and Britton fill out their marriage certificate, while I grabbed a few photos. this was completed quickly, and we then went back to the waiting area so we could take the rest of our party back to the balcony for the wedding ceremony.

The ceremony went perfectly. Afterwards we took a few photos with the group, and then the two witnesses (Rebecca’s sister Elise, and friend Mark) signed the marriage certificate and Britton and Rebecca were legally hitched!

From here things varied a bit from most of the weddings I shoot at the Courthouse. Pretty much everyone, including the bride and groom, had ridden scooters to the wedding. The plan was for the entire group to ride to the waterfront for a small post-ceremony party at the new Waterfront Park.  It was decided that I would drive the newlyweds, and everyone else climbed onto their scooters and headed for the waterfront.  Because we were in a car, we could not maneuver through the streets as quickly, but it still didn;t take long for us to get there.

Once at the Park we located the rest of the party, who had brought some forbidden champagne onto the pier.  The group consisted of – Rebecca and Brian, Elise, Mark, Abby, Paola, Shannon and Matt. who had all been at the ceremony.  Joining us at the park were Antonia, Mary, and Danny.  Once everyone was there, it was time to open the champagne for a toast!  Unfortunately we were spotted by someone who worked there, who told us that no alcohol was allowed.  But after telling us that he just left without enforcing the rule, so toasts were poured!

It was really a fun wedding, certainly my favorite court wedding of the summer.  Lots of photos below, and more on my Blog Page at this link.