Elopement has become “a formal contact sport” in California, if the Los Angeles Times is right. Courthouse marriage slots are filling months ahead, and the demand for plain civil ceremonies has set off a rush for appointments at municipal buildings.
Couples are reportedly turning away from costly, extravagant weddings across the West Coast. Some plan far in advance. Others snap up last-minute bookings.
Melinda Greene, the Santa Barbara County Clerk, said openings vanish quickly. “They pretty much get picked up as soon as we release them,” she told the Times. “We have people from all over the world.”
The people on the other side of the camera feel it too. Asha Marshall of So Fetch Photography said her clients have to be online at the exact moment slots open. “A lot of my brides get stressed out,” she said.
Where couples are going
Social media is steering many of them. Posts about celebrity weddings send couples to the same venues, which helps explain the reported rise in micro-weddings.
Santa Barbara’s Spanish Moorish revival courthouse is a sought-after example. Kamala Harris married Doug Emhoff there, and Kourtney Kardashian married Travis Barker. County supervisor Roy Lee says the building handles “dozens a day, starting at 8 o’clock in the morning.”
San Francisco City Hall has its own history. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married there in 1954. It hosts some 7,000 weddings a year.
A generation reaches the altar
Zola, the online wedding-planning and registry company, notes that the oldest members of Gen Z, born from 1997 on, are hitting the average marrying age of 28. It calls the generation a primary driver of the wedding industry. Its report describes couples who use TikTok and AI daily and who care about mental wellness.
Not everyone is cutting back. Zola puts the average wedding at $36,000 with around 145 guests, and 85% of couples told it their wedding will be worth every penny. Bank of America said wedding-related spending rose 8.5% year over year so far in 2026.
Sources
- Courthouse weddings are booming as many couples skip pricey traditional ceremonies
- Courthouse weddings are booming as many couples skip pricey traditional ceremonies
- The Ultimate Courthouse Wedding Guide | microWED collective
