Standing in a white dress that had only arrived the day before, Caitlin Moore bounced up and down on her bedazzled silver heels. Holding her hands, soon-to-be husband Kelly Smeall stumbled through the last part of his vows with a little chuckle.
As Smeall promised to have Moore in sickness and in health, his father whispered in the back, “That’s the right answer.”
It was a simple Friday afternoon wedding held at the Whatcom County Courthouse on a rainy day. The bride and groom, who have been together for 10 years and have three kids, arrived in Judge Evan Jones’s second-floor courtroom with their parents and 7-year-old son Carson in tow, wearing their best formal attire.
The usual seriousness of the courtroom had been lightened with two bouquets of flowers and Jones’s invitation to the couple’s son to bang the judge’s gavel three times to make the ceremony official.
The courthouse does accommodate weddings, whether it be an elopement or a small civil ceremony with close friends and family. But an impulsive decision to elope requires some planning on the part of the couple in Washington — including finding an officiant to oversee the marriage ceremony. To start, it takes three days to obtain the marriage license.
While Whatcom County provides a list of five judicial officials who can do civil ceremonies, it’s on the couple to make sure the scheduling works out since judges cannot interrupt regular court duties to preside over a marriage. Sometimes the couple chooses to find their own officiant — a close friend or family member who can get ordained through the internet.
A more recent trend: Wedding photographers have started to get ordained, offering elopement packages where they not only take the photos, but also conduct the ceremony.
For Moore and Smeall, getting married at the courthouse took some of the time and stress out of planning a large wedding.
“We were ready to make it official,” Moore said. “We figured we’re going to have to do the paperwork, we may as well do the ceremony with it to make it special.”
After they got the marriage certificate in early January, Moore coordinated with Jones’s judicial assistant to find a time that would work. She’s typically off on Fridays and their youngest son was off from school.
Jones said when he does weddings in his chambers, it’s typically around 4:30 p.m. after the criminal and civil court proceedings.
“Weddings in the courthouse are a nice change of pace,” he said. “They’re nice for me because it’s not always the happiest of things that happen at the courthouse. So when you see people that are smiling, happy and at the start of a grand adventure, that’s nice to be involved in.”
The judges and commissioners are also willing to travel for wedding ceremonies, from parks to people’s houses. Commissioner Jonathan Richardson said he once presided over a wedding at Boulevard Park and the couple didn’t have two witnesses because their family wasn’t in town.
“That was a fun wedding because there were more than enough community members [at the park] who wanted to be involved in and be witnesses,” he said.
But sometimes, couples don’t want to be married by a judge or commissioner and they may not have close family or friends nearby who can get ordained online. Sometimes, they can’t find an officiant who’s a good match.
That’s what happened to McKenna Ross, a wedding photographer based in Deming. About three years ago, one of her couples was struggling to find an officiant.
Ross offered to get ordained online through the Universal Life Church (a shockingly easy process) and not only would she take their wedding pictures at Artist Point, but she would preside over the ceremony so long as the couple wrote their own vows.
“They were kind of the platform couple to kick off the idea that you could both officiate and photograph beautifully and seamlessly without having any awkward moments,” Ross said. “It was a really lovely experience to be able to both guide them through their day, be a part of their celebration and then help them.”
Since then, she’s done eight ceremonies, mostly in nature, where she’s officiated and photographed.
“It’s always a fun and engaging way of being able to just meet my couples in a different space because as a photographer, you’re there to document their day,” she said. “But, I take the time to do a more in-depth consultation, figure out a bit more about their relationship.”
Kymber Gustin is also a wedding photographer in Sedro-Woolley and used to work with Ross. She got ordained for her sister’s marriage and now offers her officiating services with her wedding photo packages.
“I liked the idea that for those couples who can’t get their families to hike super far out, this offers us an opportunity to provide something really intimate,” she said.
Back at the courthouse, as Smeall and Moore took photos inside, the clouds parted and a rainbow sprung out. They quickly snapped family photos, capturing the colorful arch before heading out to a small dinner at Anthony’s, officially man and wife.
For this story, reporter Annie Todd got ordained through the Universal Life Church online. She can confirm the process took 30 seconds, was shockingly easy and free (except you do have to pay $20 for the letter of Good Standing with ULC). She is now hawking her ministerial services.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
