Courthouse wedding costs: the legal fees line by line, from seven US pages
In seven county and court pages read on November 6, 2026, the listed legal fees for a courthouse wedding run from $60 for a license alone to $171 for a license plus a ceremony fee, and $207 where a witness fee is also listed. Where you apply and which small charges the county lists decide the figure. Everything else, from the photographer to a small meal, has to come from your own quotes.
The legal fees on seven pages
The table lists what each page states. Where a page lists no ceremony fee, the "license plus ceremony or certificate charge" column is only the license, not a promise that the ceremony is free. The pages are county or court sites, not summaries, and most show no date of their own. San Luis Obispo's page is headed as effective July 1, 2026, Goodhue County's is a finance memo dated January 20, 2026, and Cleveland's is a court news release dated January 12, 2026.
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Where | Public license | Ceremony or certificate charge listed | Witness fee listed | License plus ceremony or certificate charge | With witness fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | $105 | $66 solemnization (rooftop ceremony listed separately at $80) | $36 | $171 | $207 |
| Sacramento County, CA | $97 | $49 civil ceremony | $27 | $146 | $173 |
| Tehama County, CA | $70 | $53 commissioner-performed ceremony | $30 | $123 | $153 |
| Goodhue County, MN | $125 | None in the document | None | $125 | Not applicable |
| Cook County, IL | $60 | None on the page | None | $60 | Not applicable |
| Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Municipal Court, OH | $60 | $20 certificate fee | None | $80 | Not applicable |
| Wake County, NC | $60 | $50 magistrate ceremony, exact cash | None; bring two witnesses | $110 | Not applicable |
Among the five jurisdictions that list both a license and a second charge, the listed total runs from $80 (Cuyahoga and Cleveland, for a one-day city hall event) to $171 (San Luis Obispo), and $110 in Wake County, North Carolina, where the magistrate fee is $50 in exact cash. The two places that list only a license, Goodhue and Cook, show how much a single page can leave out: a ceremony fee may exist elsewhere on the same office's site.
San Luis Obispo's page is useful because it shows both the old and the new fee. Its public license rose from $104 to $105, solemnization from $58 to $66, the rooftop wedding ceremony from $70 to $80 and the civil ceremony witness fee from $31 to $36 on July 1, 2026. Small county fee changes are routine, so a figure copied from an older guide, including this one, should be checked against the issuing office's current page before you plan around it.
What moves the bill
The same pages show several small choices that change the total. None is large on its own, but they decide whether you arrive with the right amount in the right form of payment.
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Line | Example from the pages | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Confidential instead of public license | Sacramento $98 vs $97; San Luis Obispo $106 vs $105; Tehama $72 vs $70 | $1 to $2 more |
| After-hours appointment | Sacramento Thursday evening public license $106 vs $97 | $9 more |
| Premarital education | Goodhue County $50 instead of $125, tied in the memo to the 12-hour requirement in Minnesota Statute 517.08 | $75 less |
| Court-run city hall event | Cleveland Valentine's Day 2026: $60 license plus $20 certificate fee, cash only | No separate ceremony fee mentioned |
| Bring your own witnesses | Wake County requires two adults brought by the couple; Sacramento's $27 witness fee applies if you do not bring your own | $0 to $27 or more |
Payment form is its own cost of arriving unprepared. Cleveland's event required cash at both offices, and Wake County's magistrate fee is $50 in exact change. Sacramento's page does not state payment methods, and Pima County, Arizona, points to a separate fee schedule that this guide did not read, so it is left out of the table. Check the payment methods before the day.
Timing matters as well. Wake County's page says the ceremony must take place in North Carolina within 60 days of getting the license. Cook County's page says both partners must appear together at one of its four clerk locations. Cleveland's event required the license to be collected by 3:00 p.m. on the Friday before. A missed deadline can mean starting again, so ask the office what happens.
The lines no fee page can price
A courthouse wedding is not only the legal fee. A small photo session, an outfit, flowers, a meal afterwards and the trip all cost money, and none of them is set by the county. The table lists each line, who sets the price and what to do. This guide gives no figure for any of them, because the pages above do not state one.
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Line | Who sets the price | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Photographer or videographer | The individual supplier | Ask for a written quote for the exact time window; courthouse slots are short |
| Outfits, hair and makeup | You and your suppliers | Set a ceiling before shopping |
| Flowers | Florist or grocery supplier | Ask for the smallest bouquet and buttonhole |
| A small meal or reception | Restaurant or caterer | Request a written per-person total including service and tax |
| Travel, parking and time off work | You | Add them; they are easy to forget |
| Certified copies of the certificate | The county or state | Check the current fee on the issuing office's page; Tehama's page lists $19 but is unclear whether that includes a January 2026 rise of $2 |
If you are adding a small celebration, the scale of the event matters. A CNBC report published July 6, 2024 and updated July 8, 2024 cites The Wedding Report as saying that in 2023, weddings with 25 to 50 guests were about 15% of the market and those with fewer than 25 guests were about 2%. The article defines a micro wedding as roughly 50 guests at most. It gives no average cost for micro weddings, so treat it as context about size, not a price. For how guest count changes catering and venue lines, see the guide on 50 vs 100 guests.
The CSV lists every fee in the first table with its caveats and source dates. It is a reference worksheet, not a Planner backup to restore.
Build your own line-by-line total
- Find the issuing office. Use the county clerk, recorder or register of deeds page for the county where you will apply, not a third-party summary.
- Write down every charge it lists for a license, a ceremony, a witness, a certificate and any after-hours appointment, with the date shown on the page.
- Note the payment form and the deadlines, such as a validity window or a cutoff time.
- Add your own quoted lines from the table above, with each quote in writing.
- Add a small reserve for a fee that changes or a document you need again.
Once you have the total, you can enter it in the Planner's Budget section as your ceremony line.
What these pages cannot tell you
Seven jurisdictions in five states are not a national average, and a county you are considering may differ. Most pages carry no date of their own, so a fee may already have changed. Several pages list a license fee but no ceremony fee, which can mean either that none exists or that it sits on another page. This guide gives general information, not legal advice, and describes no personal experience.
Sources
Each page was read on November 6, 2026. Dates are those the documents show.
- San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder fee changes effective 7/1/26: old and new marriage fees; no page date.
- Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder marriage license and ceremony fees: license, after-hours, ceremony, witness and deputy commissioner fees; no page date.
- Tehama County marriage services: license, ceremony, witness and certified copy fees; no page date.
- Goodhue County 2026 marriage license fees memo (PDF): finance memo dated January 20, 2026.
- Cook County marriage licenses: $60 license; no page date.
- Cleveland Municipal Court Valentine's Day city hall ceremonies: news release dated January 12, 2026.
- Wake County Register of Deeds: apply for a marriage license: license and magistrate ceremony fees; no page date.
- CNBC: the average wedding costs well over $30,000; some couples are having micro weddings instead: published July 6, 2024, updated July 8, 2024.