Wedding Photographers›How to price
Courthouse ceremonies are 15-45 minutes. Your pricing still needs to cover travel, setup, editing, and the 2-hour minimum your business requires to stay solvent.
Courthouse weddings are the leanest ceremony format a wedding photographer will encounter. The couple arrives, says vows before a judge, signs the register, and it is over in 20-40 minutes. What that framing misses: you spent 45 minutes getting to the courthouse, 30 minutes shooting portraits afterward, and several hours culling and editing the gallery. The job is not 20 minutes long — it is a half-day job with a 20-minute ceremony anchor. This 2026 guide explains how to price courthouse sessions honestly, why the post-ceremony portrait window is your highest-value upsell, and how to structure quick-turnaround deliverables.
Ceremony only
$450–$650
Half-day with portraits
$750–$950
Full courthouse to celebration
$1000–$1300
Courthouses have strict schedules. Your ceremony slot may be at 10:15am and the next couple is at 10:45am. Know this going in, arrive 20 minutes early to scout the room and the post-ceremony portrait area, and have your camera settings locked before the judge begins. Bring a wide-angle option — courthouse ceremony rooms are often small with unflattering overhead lighting. If there is a window anywhere in the room, position yourself to use it.
The ceremony is the least photographically interesting part of a courthouse wedding. The portraits afterward — on the courthouse steps, in a nearby park, at the restaurant before the meal — are where your best images will come from. Pitch the portrait extension at booking, not as an upsell after the ceremony. Frame it: 'The ceremony will be 20-30 minutes. What makes courthouse photos memorable is the 60-90 minutes of portraits right after — that is where we make the images you will frame.' Almost every couple says yes when framed this way.
Courthouse and elopement couples post on social the same day or the next morning. Your standard 4-week turnaround does not serve that need. Offer a 48-hour 'social preview' gallery of 20-30 edited shots for $100-$200, and a 7-day full gallery turnaround for $150-$250 over your base. Price these as explicit add-ons in your booking form so clients see the option and opt in at the time they book — post-session upsells convert much lower.
US 2026 market: $450-$1300. Ceremony-only coverage: $450-$650. Half-day with portraits: $750-$950. Full courthouse-to-celebration coverage: $1000-$1300.
Standard turnaround is 4 weeks. 48-hour social preview (20-30 shots): $100-$200 add-on. 7-day full gallery: $150-$250 add-on. Quote both options at booking.
Yes, and you should pitch it. Each location move adds $50-$100 to your rate. A courthouse → park → restaurant run is three stops and should be priced as half-day coverage ($750+).
No. Your travel, editing, and minimum time cost are the same whether the ceremony is 20 minutes or 4 hours. Set a minimum rate ($450) that covers your actual costs before a single shutter fires.
Treat it as a non-photography service. Some states allow the photographer to witness; others restrict it to disinterested parties. If allowed, charge a flat $50-$100 witness fee or decline politely — your role is the camera, not the signature.
5 free quotes per month. Auto-applies travel, setup, rush, and tax — every time.
Open the wedding photographers calculator