Have you decided on the Santa Barbara Courthouse for your special day? Choosing the Best Time for Your Santa Barbara Courthouse Wedding will play a big role in your wedding planning tasks. Below are some tips and steps on what to plan for when you are organizing your wedding plans at the Santa Barbara Courthouse.

1) FIND OUT WHAT THE BOOKING WINDOWS ARE:

For a civil ceremony appointment with the courthouse, you will be able to book your wedding appointment 90 days in advance. The slots will open up at the exact time of when you want the courthouse wedding, not at midnight, for example.

For a private ceremony location, this can be booked one year in advance. These are for rooms such as the Mural Room, Sunken Gardens, and so forth.

2) PRO TIP: MAKE A REMINDER FOR YOURSELF:

I always tell my couples to make reminders for when the date and time will open up for them on the schedule at the courthouse. If they do this, they rarely aren’t able to get the exact time they were hoping for.

3) SCHEDULE FOR THE COURTHOUSE:

If you are looking to schedule a civil ceremony, reminder that they do not have options for the weekend for these. A very popular date is Friday. They are great since they have appointments for this day but it’s the weekend after so you can also celebrate at a local lounge or restaurant, if you wish to do so! So many awesome wineries and restaurants around.

4) ALL HOURS ARE BEAUTIFUL:

Depending on how much coverage you are looking to book and the time of year, the best time to book your appointment would be earlier morning or afternoon (this can fluctuate on exactly when based on when the sun sets that day, i.e the time of year). However, from our experience, we have shot at ALL hours of the day for intimate weddings at the courthouse and they are all so beautiful in all different types of lighting so don’t worry too much about the exact appointment time. We always like to tell our couples to plan their appointment around their plans for the day, i.e are you going to lunch after, brunch or dinner? That will be your best bet on when to schedule your appointment. Check out this beautiful intimate wedding shot at the Santa Barbara Courthouse we shot during the summer.

5) BOOK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER:

Finally, the last step is to book your photographer as soon as you have secured your courthouse date. We have a lot of couples that actually like to book us first in hopes of getting the date they envision. This almost always works out and if it doesn’t we work together to find a date that will work for the civil ceremony. If you are opting to do the bigger wedding ceremony at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, we recommend booking your photographer more in advanced.

Choosing the Best Time for Your Santa Barbara Courthouse Wedding shouldn’t be complicated, so don’t fret if you didn’t get the exact time you envisioned. We have captured so many gorgeous wedding days here at the Santa Barbara Courthouse and they have been shot at all hours of the day. We are here to help you along the way if you are interested, reach out below to book photography with our studio!