TAMPA, Fla. — More couples in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties are choosing courthouse weddings, with local clerks’ offices reporting increases in marriage ceremonies as some newlyweds look for a simpler and less expensive option.
At the Hillsborough County Pat Frank Courthouse, couples lined up Friday to say “I do.”
Garnet Arias and Jessica Pugh, who have known each other for 3 1/2 years, exchanged rings there after deciding several months ago to get married.
“More simple, less stress, and we can spend more time for ourselves,” Arias said.
Arias said the cost and planning involved in a larger wedding were factors in the couple’s decision.
“A big wedding, it’s kind of stressful with all the planning or all the money that you got to invest in everything,” Arias said. “So for us, more simple is better for us.”
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court has performed about 2,800 courthouse ceremonies so far this year, up from 1,800 at the same time last year, according to Chakeya Boykins, director of the official records and tax deeds department for the clerk’s office. That is an increase of more than 55%.
Boykins said courthouse ceremonies cost $30, and she believes rising wedding costs may be one reason more couples are choosing them.
“I hope that we do make it a very nice experience,” Boykins said. “We have a nice little room and they can bring their own photographer. Sometimes they have their own flower girls. They have a whole wedding party set up.”
Some couples are using the courthouse ceremony as a step before a larger celebration. Aaron Floyd and Vasiliki Papaioannou-Floyd got married at the courthouse last week and said they still plan to have a bigger wedding ceremony later.
“For right now, it takes time to get to that point of having the big, grand old wedding,” Papaioannou-Floyd said. “So we wanted to do it now.”
Wedding publication and planning site Marry Me Tampa Bay checked with more than 10 photographers, venues and planners, who said 70% of their clients’ budgets were steady or declined this year.
For Arias and Pugh, saving money was part of the decision. The couple has a 1-year-old child and said they would rather put thet money toward a house.
“We rather spend the money on something for our future,” Arias said.
The Pinellas County Clerk’s Office has also seen a steady increase in courthouse ceremonies since at least 2022. Last year, the county had fewer than 2,800 ceremonies, a nearly 6% increase from the year before.