Seattle Courthouse Elopement Wedding, plus Gas Works Park

I recently was fortunate to be the photographer at the wedding of Mandy and James.  This was an elopement wedding at the Seattle Courthouse, held on a Thursday afternoon.  Unlike many of the Corthouse weddings that I photograph, both Mandy and James had several family members in attendance.  For Mandy this took some doing, since she is from Germany and her family had to make a rather long trip to be there for her wedding.

Whenever I first talk with a couple who is getting married at the Seattle Courthouse I try to give them some advice that will help make their experience at the Courthouse go better.  Perhaps the most important thing that I tell them is to arrive at the Courthouse early; being there an hour early is a very good idea!  The procedure at the Courthouse is “first come, first served”, and if there are a lot of other couples who want to get married on the same day in front of you in line, it is very possible that you will not see a judge and get married for well over an hour once the judges are available to perform ceremonies.

James and Mandy had consequently made plans to arrive at the Courthouse before 4PM (the earliest that ceremonies are performed is 4:30PM) so they would be at or near the front of the line.  But as often happens, things did not go as planned!  The Uber that was supposed to pick up James and his mother never showed up, and by the time they had found another ride and made it to the Courthouse it was past 4:30 and there was quite a line of other couples in front of them.

We took advantage of the wait to take photos in the hallway outside the courtrooms.  This is actually a pretty nice area, and usually has very nice natural light for photos.  We also did some family group photos.  You’ll see a selection of these photo below.

It took awhile, but finally a judge was available.  Her name was Anita Crawford-Willis, and she is a wonderful officiant.  I have worked with her numerous times in the past and always enjoy her wedding ceremonies.  Judge Willis-Crawford asked if Mandy and James would like to get married outdoors or indoors.  It was a very nice Spring afternoon, and they opted for outdoors.  These ceremonies are held on the rooftop balcony of the Courthouse, which offers a great view of the Olympic range and south Seattle.  On a clear day Mt Rainier is also visible, but we were not lucky enough to see the mountain that day.

The ceremony was attended by

Ric Myles – James’ father
Alex Myles – James’ sister
Gavin Fulton – Alex’ fiancé
Tamara ChomenkoDeCouteau – James’ mother
Matt DeCouteau –  James’ and Alex’s step father
Wolfgang Meier – Mandy’s father
Petra Meier – Mandy’s mother
Wolfgang Meier – Mandy’s brother

After the ceremony was concluded we all made the short drive to Gas Works Park, on Lake Union.  At this point it was a bit after 6PM, and we were enjoying a very pleasant spring evening.  We began by having the entire group walk across the park to Lake Union, where we took family photos.  Once that was finished I took James and Mandy to some of my favorite photo locations in the park.  We had a good time and got some great photos!

Now you can finally check out some of the photos from the day.  I hope that you enjoy them!