Beverly Hills Courthouse Wedding Photography: The 2026 Guide
Getting married at the Beverly Hills Courthouse is one of the smartest moves a Los Angeles couple can make. Fifteen minutes, $35, and you walk out legally married in the most glamorous zip code in America. But the courthouse wedding has a learning curve, and most of it has nothing to do with romance. Two different governments run the two buildings you will use, the appointment rules are strict, and the photography permit for those Beverly Hills City Hall photos is a separate process most couples discover too late.
I have spent 27 years photographing people across Los Angeles, and the courthouse wedding is one of my favorite assignments in the city. Here is everything you need to know, including the fees, the booking windows, the permit, and how to hire the right photographer for it.
First, the building confusion: the courthouse is not City Hall
This is the single most misunderstood fact about a Beverly Hills courthouse wedding, so let us settle it first.
The Beverly Hills Courthouse is property of Los Angeles County. It sits at 9355 Burton Way, fourth floor, and it is where the marriage license office and the civil ceremony room live. The Beverly Hills City Hall is property of the City of Beverly Hills, about a five minute walk away, and it is where the palm trees, the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, and the Old Hollywood backdrops live.
Two jurisdictions. Two sets of rules. You get married in one and take most of your photos at the other. Every logistical mistake couples make here comes from treating them as the same place. They are not.
How to get married at the Beverly Hills Courthouse
The process runs through the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, and it has a specific order. Do it in this sequence.
Get the marriage license first. A public license costs $91; a confidential license costs $85. You can apply online or in person at any of the seven county clerk offices. A witness is required for a public license ceremony, but not for a confidential marriage.
Book the ceremony second. After the license is purchased, you schedule the civil ceremony for an additional $35. Here is the catch that trips people up: unlike the other county offices, Beverly Hills does not accept walk-ins. Appointments are required. Ceremonies run Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, each lasting about 15 minutes, with up to 20 guests allowed in the ceremony room.
There is also an Express Marriage option, available Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. That one happens at the clerk's window, takes a few minutes, and guests are not allowed inside. They wait outside.
Booking windows are tight. Appointments open no more than three weeks in advance, and slots for a given month open at the beginning of that month. The whole process, license to ceremony, takes about three to four weeks. If the county must provide your witness, that is another $20. Your photographer can also serve as your witness with a government issued photo ID, which is a nice two-for-one if you plan it in advance.
What a Beverly Hills courthouse wedding costs
The county side of the ledger is refreshingly simple. These are the published fees:
- Public marriage license: $91
- Confidential marriage license: $85
- Civil ceremony: $35
- County-provided witness (if needed): $20
So the basic license and ceremony runs $126 with a public license or $120 with a confidential one. That is the cheapest legal wedding in Los Angeles, full stop.
The city side is where the money goes. If you want the Beverly Hills City Hall photos, and you should, the photography permit is the real budget line. More on that next.
The photography permit: what you actually need for City Hall photos
Here is the part almost nobody plans for. A Wedding and/or Group Photography Permit is required for wedding photos at the Beverly Hills City Hall exterior, Boat Court, Palm Court, Beverly Gardens Park, Rodeo Drive, and the sidewalk adjacent to the courthouse. This comes straight from the City of Beverly Hills, and the rules are specific:
- $86 per hour, two hours maximum, booked in whole hours
- Apply at least seven business days ahead or late fees apply
- A certificate of insurance with $2 million in general liability coverage, naming the City of Beverly Hills as additional insured
- All fees are non-refundable
Miss the seven day window and it gets expensive fast. Applications submitted three to six business days before the shoot date trigger a $308 delayed application fee. Within two business days, you add a late permit fee on top of that. Applications submitted less than two business days out may not be accepted at all.
One more critical detail: ceremonies are prohibited on city property and in city parks. The permit authorizes photography, not a ceremony. You get married at the courthouse, then you walk to City Hall for photos. Keep the two straight and you will have no problems.
Where the best photos actually happen
The ceremony room itself is functional, not photogenic. Plan on it accordingly. The photography happens after, and this is where the day gets good.
Beverly Hills City Hall exterior. The headliner. Palm-lined walkways, the tower, the archways, that unmistakable 1930s civic glamour. This is the backdrop people picture when they say Beverly Hills wedding, and it photographs beautifully in morning light before the crowds build.
Beverly Gardens Park. Home of the Beverly Hills sign, two blocks of cactus gardens, fountains, and rose beds. It is covered by the same photography permit, and the sign shot is the one your out-of-town family will ask for by name.
Rodeo Drive. If you want the fashion editorial version of your wedding day, a ten minute stroll down Rodeo with your photographer delivers it. Same permit covers it.
The courthouse steps. Do not skip the building where it actually happened. The steps at 9355 Burton Way make a clean, architectural portrait setting, and the photo of the two of you walking out married is the one that belongs in the frame.
If it rains, bring clear umbrellas. There is essentially no covered area at City Hall, and clear umbrellas let the light through while keeping everyone dry. A photographer who has shot here before will tell you this without being asked.
How much does a courthouse wedding photographer cost?
Courthouse coverage is sold differently than full wedding days. Nobody needs eight hours. What you are buying is a one to three hour booking: the ceremony, the family portraits, and the City Hall session.
For market context, Local Lens publishes 60-minute Los Angeles shoots starting at $365, with 90 minutes at $450 and two hours at $595. Established LA wedding photographers typically charge around $650 an hour and up. So for a one to two hour courthouse booking, expect roughly $400 to $1,300 depending on the photographer. Portrait shooters doing quick sessions sit near the low end; established wedding photographers with full galleries and insurance sit near the high end.
What moves the price: whether the photographer carries the $2 million COI the city requires (not everyone does, and getting one takes time), how much planning help you want, and whether you need the gallery fast. Book three to four weeks out for a standard date. Saturday courthouse weddings do not exist, since ceremonies are weekdays only, which actually makes scheduling easier.
How to hire the right Beverly Hills courthouse wedding photographer
Ask these on the first call. The answers separate the photographers who have done this from the ones winging it.
"Have you shot at the Beverly Hills Courthouse and City Hall before?" Venue familiarity is everything here. The photographer should know the permit process, the walk between the buildings, the light at City Hall by hour, and where to stand when the ceremony room doors open.
"Do you carry the insurance the city requires?" The $2 million certificate of insurance naming the City of Beverly Hills is non-negotiable for the permit. If the photographer does not have one, you are either paying rush fees or shooting without a permit. Neither is good.
"Walk me through the day's timeline." A good answer accounts for the 15-minute ceremony, the walk to City Hall, the permit's two-hour window, and the light. If they have not thought about the order of operations, they have not done this before.
"Can I see a full courthouse gallery?" Not highlights. A complete delivery from a recent courthouse wedding: the ceremony room, the family groupings, the City Hall portraits. Consistency across a full gallery is what you are buying.
"Will you act as our witness?" If you are using a public license and keeping the guest list tiny, having the photographer serve as witness saves the $20 county fee and one more moving part. Confirm they will bring government photo ID.
Red flags
No permit knowledge. If the photographer has never heard of the Wedding and/or Group Photography Permit, they have never shot a real Beverly Hills City Hall session. Move on.
No contract. Deposits, delivery timelines, image rights, cancellation terms. A courthouse wedding is small, not informal. Get it in writing.
They want to shoot the ceremony at City Hall. Ceremonies are prohibited on city property. A photographer who suggests it does not know the rules, and the rules are the whole game here.
No backup plan for the booking window. The three-week ceremony window and the seven-day permit window have to line up. A professional builds the timeline backwards from both deadlines. An amateur books the photographer first and discovers the permit problem later.
The bottom line
A Beverly Hills courthouse wedding is the best value in Los Angeles weddings: $126 in county fees, a 15-minute ceremony, and some of the most photogenic civic architecture in California a five minute walk away. The entire thing works if you respect the two timelines that govern it. Book the ceremony inside the three-week window, file the photography permit seven business days out, hire a photographer who has done this exact day before, and you get a wedding day that looks like a million dollars for a fraction of one.
If you are still in the planning phase, it helps to know what wedding photography costs in Los Angeles across the full market, since courthouse packages sit at the accessible end of a wide range. And if the proposal is the part you are planning now, a Los Angeles proposal photographer covers the secret shoot that starts the whole story. After the paperwork is signed, most couples want proper portraits from the day, the kind that go on the wall, which is where a portrait photographer in Los Angeles who knows how to direct people earns the fee.
Getting married at the courthouse and want it documented properly? Get in touch and tell me the date. The permit paperwork is the boring part. The photos are the fun part.
FAQ
How much does it cost to get married at the Beverly Hills Courthouse? The county fees are $91 for a public marriage license (or $85 for confidential) plus $35 for the civil ceremony, so $126 total with a public license. A county-provided witness is another $20 if you need one. Photography permits for City Hall are separate: $86 per hour with a two-hour maximum.
Do I need an appointment at the Beverly Hills Courthouse? Yes. Unlike other Los Angeles County offices, Beverly Hills does not accept walk-ins. Ceremonies are by appointment only, held Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Appointments open no more than three weeks in advance.
Can I have my wedding ceremony at Beverly Hills City Hall? No. Ceremonies are prohibited on City of Beverly Hills property and in city parks. The ceremony happens at the county courthouse; City Hall is for photography only, with the required permit.
Do I need a photography permit for wedding photos at Beverly Hills City Hall? Yes. The city's Wedding and/or Group Photography Permit is required for the City Hall exterior, Boat Court, Palm Court, Beverly Gardens Park, Rodeo Drive, and the sidewalk by the courthouse. It costs $86 per hour (two-hour maximum), must be secured at least seven business days ahead, and requires a $2 million certificate of insurance naming the city.
How much does a courthouse wedding photographer cost in Los Angeles? Most photographers sell courthouse coverage as a one to three hour package. Expect roughly $400 to $1,300 for one to two hours depending on the photographer's experience, with portrait shooters near the low end and established wedding photographers near the high end.
Where is the Beverly Hills Courthouse? 9355 Burton Way, fourth floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. It is a Los Angeles County facility, a different building from Beverly Hills City Hall, about a five minute walk away.
