Mandy & James Elope at the Seattle Courthouse

A couple of weeks ago I was the photographer at the elopement wedding of Mandy and James at the Seattle Municipal Courthouse.  This wedding was a lot of fun, but I want to use this post to point out a possible issue when getting married at the Courthouse that most couples simply are not aware of, often until it is too late.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding I was in regular contact with James and his mother, who was helping James and Mandy put the whole wedding together.  Mandy is from Germany, and while her parents were planning to be at the wedding it would not have been very easy (or practical) for them to try to help from 5000 miles away.  The plan for the day was for James and Mandy to be married at the courthouse, after which we would drive to Gas Works Park for some post-wedding photos with both families.  Afterwards they had dinner reservations at Ray’s.

The Seattle Courthouse has become a very popular place for couples to get married, especially for those who just want to have a quick and simple ceremony.  I have been taking wedding photos there for 30+ years, and over that time I have seen the number of couples getting married there rise dramatically.  The biggest increase probably was right after the enactment of Marriage Equality in Washington State in 2012.   I noticed an immediate increase in courthouse weddings at that time, and if anything that number has increased since then.

Because of this I warned Mandy and James several times that it was really important to get to the Courthouse early and check in with the clerk, so they would be one of the first couples called as soon as a judge was available.  Typically I advise my couples to arrive at least an hour before the close of business for the check-in.  We can then spend the time while waiting taking photos in and around the Courthouse.  In this case, because we had a post-wedding session planned Mandy and James asked that I not arrive until closer to 4:30PM, which is the earliest that a judge is typically free to perform a wedding.  James told me they were planning on being at the Courthouse by 3:30 to check in,

I arrived at the Courthouse at  a little after 4PM (I hate being late!) and looked for Mandy, James and their families.  No one was there yet, but there were already at least 6-8 other couples (along with their entourages) waiting.  As I was waiting more couples arrived, and I started getting a bit concerned.  I texted James but did not receive an answer.  At this point I was just hoping that they had arrived early as planned and then left the building.

I continued to wait.  At 4:30 the clerk’s office opened and couples began being assigned to a judge for their wedding ceremonies.  Still no sign of Mandy and James, as well as no call or text.  There were now an even dozen couples in the lobby area waiting to be married.

A bit before 5PM I finally got a text from James, telling me that they would be there soon. And at 5:15 James and Mandy arrived, followed by Many’s parents and brother and James’ mom, brother and step-dad.  There had been a problem with the Uber that was supposed to bring James, Mandy and his mom to the courthouse and their entire schedule had then exploded.

We were the last couple in line and ended up finally getting a judge about 6PM.  It was a beautiful day so Mandy and James elected to get married on the rooftop balcony.  They were accompanied by –

Ric Myles – James’ father
Tamara Chomenko-Decouteau – James’ mother
Alex Myles – James’ sister
Gavin Fulton – Alex’ fiancé
Matt DeCouteau – James’ and Alex’s step father
Wolfgang Meier – Mandy’s father
Patra Meier – Mandy’s mother
Wolfgang Meier – Mandy’s brother

The ceremony was performed by Judge Anita Crawford-Willis and everything went perfectly.

Once the ceremony was over, we made our way to Gas Works Park as quickly as we could, arriving there ~6:45.  The near-perfect weather conditions were great for photos!   After getting some group shots with the parents and sibs, Mandy and James and I just wandered the park for the next half hour or so and took advantage of all of the great photo possibilities there.

Even though the day got off to a rough start, everything ended up turning out well.  But this shows how important it is to be not just on-time but EARLY if you are planning a courthouse wedding.  There will almost certainly be a lot of other couples there too, so if you don’t want to spend a long time waiting arrive early to save your place.