Sacramento County Clerk Recorder Office offers civil ceremonies for couples looking for small and intimate wedding ceremonies with family and friends. Some couples even opt just to marry by themselves at the clerk’s office here in Sacramento California. The county clerk recorder’s office is also the location that you go to if you’re in need of a marriage license. Even if your wedding is not taking place at county clerk office you’ll need to come here before your wedding day to pick up a marriage license.
The Sacramento County Clerk Recorder office is located in a new building now at 3636 American River Drive, Suite 110, Sacramento, CA 95864, which is located just off of Watt Ave and HWY 50 along the American River. They are open Monday trough Friday and the hours of operation are 8am-5pm. If you’re looking for more information you can find them online or give the a call at 916-874-6334. With that being said you’ll need to make an appointment online if you’re getting your marriage license and if you’re doing both getting your marriage license and having your ceremony at the county clerk recorder office.
When arriving at the Sacramento County Clerk Recorder office you’ll need to grab a number and wait even if you have an appointment you’ll need to grab that paper number. I would recommend showing up about 20-30 minutes before your appointment time to take a number and wait. If not you’ll most likely be waiting and not going to being seen by an employee well after your appointment time. Also be sure to bring all the important information, forms and an I.D. that you’ll need for you marriage license appointment and ceremony. You’ll find all this information online at the Sacramento County website. Once you’re called up to a window and start speaking with an county employee the process is pretty quick and straight forward. This part usually takes about 10-20 minutes and if you’re there only for the marriage license then you’re able to leave after that. If you’re also there to getting married you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer for your ceremony to take place.
When your time comes for your wedding ceremony a county clerk recorder employee will come out from behind the windows and let you and your guest know that it’s time for you ceremony to start. There are two ceremony rooms at Sacramento County Clerk Recorder office. The first room is geared toward a larger guest count and can hold up to 25 guest and the second and smaller room can hold up to 10 guest. The larger room is the nicest and if not being used at the time or about to be used they’ll let smaller ceremonies take place in the bigger room. Ceremonies usually only take about 5 minutes to be performed by one of the county clerk recorder employees. After your ceremony the county recorder will have to go back to their office and finish up the final paper work to make your marriage official. At this time you’ll be able to stay in the room and start having some family photos taken by your wedding photographer. You’re also welcome to step outside and have your family photos taken out front of the building too. When the recorder who performed your ceremony is finished with the paper work they come back to the ceremony room to hand over all the finished official paper work and marriage license to you.
When you’re finished with all the logistics of your ceremony you’ll be able to have your family photos and couples portraits take around the building. Most family portraits are either taken inside the ceremony room or outside the building. Sometimes both will happen since you only have about 10-15 minutes of access to the ceremony rooms after your ceremony is performed. This all depends on how many guest you have an how many family formal portrait combinations you want taken by your wedding photographer. Either way both inside the ceremony rooms and outside the building are perfect for family and friend group photos. Outside locations depend on lighting, but most times of the day the front entrance of the building will have some type of nice lighting with a great backdrop to your formal group portraits. When you’re finished with these family photos you’ll be able to finally have your couples portraits taken.
Depending on if your eloping just by yourselves or having family attending you’ll be able to explore and walk around the building with your wedding photographer to capture some couples portraits of the two of you right after your ceremony. Again the very front of the County Clerk Recorder office building is a great location and has many spots for these types of portraits to take place at. The lighting is generally good all day long, but the best during the afternoon hours. There is also an outdoor courtyard in the center of the building that can be used for couples portraits too. There is a water fountain feature, nice mature trees and other nice plantings that make this area really nice for photos. There is also an outdoor hallway in the courtyard that is a great location for some portraits too. This outdoor hallway is perfect for when it’s hot outside or if it decides to rain on your wedding day since you’ll be covered and in the shade. The other bonus is that you’re able to use some of the indoor areas of the building for your portraits if the weather doesn’t cooperate or if you want to take a break from the summer heat outside. The main front entrance has some great spots like the stair case leading up to the second floor and even the second floor walk way. The second floor walk way as some great lighting coming in through the large windows along with some hanging lighting fixtures that create some stunning photos of your loved one and you. The other huge bonus to the new County Clerk Recorder office location is that it’s located right next to the American River parkway biking and walking path. Just behind the building and parking lot is a levee that you’ll have to walk up and over, but once you do you’ll have access to some beautiful nature areas. Along the American River parkway you’ll have some stunning oak trees and other outdoor areas to have your couples portraits taken at. This is outdoor area is such a dream to have with in a short walking distance to the recorder’s office. Besides this you’re also within a short drive of downtown and capitol park to have your wedding couples portraits taken at too.
Hopefully the above information has helped you out a little with planning your Sacramento County Clerk Recorder office ceremony or planning to get your marriage license. Your number one take away from all the information I stated above and will help you out a ton is please make an appointment through their website for scheduling a time slot for you ceremony and licensing or just to pick up a marriage license. Also, remember to show up early and grab that paper number to help speed along things so that you’ll be seen close to your appointment time.
If you are interested in hiring Doug Miranda to photograph your wedding day please fill out the contract form on this website. You can also email him directly at doug@dougmiranda.com or give him a call at 916-422-2256. He looks forward to hearing from you and learning more about your special day.