Trinity and Jacob's Seattle Municipal Court wedding was the first of many. At the time, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, and neither were they. I learned a lot from this experience that I was able to take it with me into many courthouse weddings that followed.

I loved photographing at the courthouse so much that I put together an entire set of photography packages and a planning guide for anyone else planning a wedding at the Seattle courthouse.

Planning Your Seattle Municipal Court Wedding

One of the trickiest parts of planning a wedding at Seattle Municipal Court is that there really is no way to plan! You can only pick your date 8 weeks in advance, which can make finding a photographer a little tricky. Ceremonies are short and sweet, but begin to take place at 4:30 PM each day when the judge is available. You very well may find yourself waiting in line with several other couples with no ETA. But for the most part, all courthouse weddings I have photographed all ended by 5:30 PM.

Judges are not available on weekends or holidays. Seattle Municipal Court weddings must take place on weekday evenings only.

What Time To Actually Arrive (and how you'll likely need to wait in line)

Check-in is at 4:30 PM. It's advisable to arrive a bit early to avoid long lines and expedite the process. Trinity, Jacob, and their guests arrived at 4:15 PM sharp. However, a queue had already formed with 10+ other couples waiting to get married.

Although we arrived 15 minutes before check in, we still waited 30 minutes or so for a judge to be ready. It's important to stay nearby to ensure you don't miss your name being called. In the meantime, we went to the less-crowded upstairs and took some photos.

When the judge called their names, the three of us went into her office. She asked Trinity and Jacob some questions, and they were able to choose from three different ceremony styles. The judge prefers that your guests stay in the lobby for this part, but you may bring your photographer along with you.

Once they were finished speaking with the judge, we went into the waiting area until the judge did some paperwork.

When she emerged 10 minutes later, we went up to the roof. However, another couple was already using the space Trinity and Jacob had selected. We waited another 10 or 15 minutes, so I snapped some candid photos of them and their guests chatting with the judge - who was extremely hilarious - in the meantime.

Long story short, it can be a lot of waiting around.

Wedding Photos for your Seattle Courthouse Wedding at Seattle Municipal Court

I recommended a private vow reading and portraits at Volunteer Park. We were fortunate to have sunny skies, making for some gorgeous portraits at the park!

Occidental Square is also a great location nearby for courthouse weddings on a shorter timeline, as seen in Diana and Reiner's courthouse wedding gallery.

Although we had to wait a long while, Trinity and Jacob's ceremony took place right as the sun was setting. This was ideal because they chose the roof as their ceremony location. The evening lighting was simply gorgeous! However, any later in the year (e.g. after daylight savings) and it may have been too dark. If you will be having a Seattle Municipal Court Wedding, you will definitely want to plan around the sunset.

Potential Day of Timeline for a Seattle Municipal Court Wedding

Trinity and Jacob's wedding day took place on October 20th, so we needed to chase the daylight. Between portraits at the park before and waiting at the courthouse, my photography with them began at 2:30 PM and ended at 6:15 PM. For reference, sunset was 6:11PM that day. A formal sample timeline (as well as some FAQ and photo galleries) can be found on this page.

Since they wanted photos at Volunteer Park, a three hour courthouse wedding photography package was the perfect choice for Trinity and Jacob. I recommend three hours to anyone who wants a variety of creative wedding portraits. However, plenty of couples also choose a two hour package if they only want a few portraits taken someplace nearby.

Trinity and Jacob's Seattle Municipal Court Wedding Photos