Xiaoxi and Mike have an Elopement Wedding at the Seattle Courthouse

I recently was the photographer at the elopement wedding of Xiaoxi and Mike, who were married at the Seattle Municipal Courthouse. Mike had contacted me several weeks earlier, wanting to know if I had much experience with courthouse weddings. I assured him that I have a lot of experience with elopement weddings at a number of locations, and had photographed dozens of weddings at the Seattle Courthouse.

The day of the wedding we met for the first time as we were all entering the courthouse building. Mike and Xioaxi were accompanied by their parents; Joe and Mindy Luo (Mike’s parents), and Ron Chen and Hong Li Xiaoxi’s parents). We rode the elevator up to the tenth floor (where couples check in to see a judge) and had a chance to talk a bit about the plans for the day.

As I had advised Mike, he and Xiaoxi had arrived early, and they were able to quickly check in. We were told that a judge would be ready in about 15 minutes, so we took advantage of the time to take some photos in the hall outside the courtrooms. This is a pretty nice place for photos, and we were able to take a nice variety of shots before we were told that a judge was ready to see us. We learned that our judge was Willie Gregory. I have worked with Judge Gregory many times, and he is always a lot of fun.

After Judge Gregory discussed the ceremony with Xiaoxi and Mike, we all got onto the elevator and made our way up a few floors to the rooftop balcony. The Seattle Courthouse balcony is one of the more scenic locations in Seattle for a wedding, looking out over SoDo and both sports stadiums, with a view to the west across Puget Sound and to the south a great view of Mt Rainier, if the weather is clear.

Unfortunately we did not have a view of Rainier, but the view was wonderful anyway. And frankly Mike and Xiaoxi were more concerned with the reason they were there than in admiring the view!

Judge Gregory did his usual great job of officiating the ceremony, and Mke and Xiaoxi were soon married. After the ceremony we were able to spend a few minutes taking photos before the next couple arrived. And you can see some of those photos below.  More photos from other weddings can be seen on my website.