A Boston City Hall wedding costs $125 in city fees: a $50 marriage license and a $75 ceremony. Ceremonies happen in Room 213 or Room 601 on a weekday morning or afternoon, and Massachusetts does not require you to bring a single witness. People also search for this as a Boston courthouse wedding — same thing, different word.
This guide covers the part the city explains and the part it does not: what the paperwork actually involves, which room you end up in and why it matters, and what happens to the photographs. Coverage for the ceremony and portraits afterward is $849.
Every city detail below was checked against Boston's own pages on September 20, 2026.
Who can get married at Boston City Hall
Almost anyone, and that surprises people. Massachusetts has no residency requirement — the state says plainly that you do not have to be a Massachusetts resident to get married here. Couples fly in from other states and other countries and get married at City Hall on a Tuesday morning.
- You do not have to live in Boston. Massachusetts lets you apply for a license from any city or town in the state, and it does not have to be the town where you live or where the ceremony happens. Plenty of couples getting married at Boston City Hall filed their intention somewhere else entirely.
- The license works anywhere in Massachusetts. Once issued it is valid statewide for 60 days, so a license from Boston covers a ceremony in Cambridge, Salem or a friend's back garden in Somerville.
- Out-of-state couples are fine. Bring the same photo ID and Social Security numbers as everyone else.
- Both of you must be 18 or older.
- You file in person, together. The Registry is at 1 City Hall Square, Room 213 — Windows 24 and 25 on the second floor. The $50 application fee takes cash, debit, credit or a money order to the City of Boston. (Only the $75 ceremony fee is cash-only.)
What this really means is that a Boston courthouse wedding is one of the least gated ways to get married in the country. There is no venue to be approved by, no minimum guest count, and no residency to prove — just two people, a form, a three-day wait and a fifteen-dollar service fee on top of the ceremony.
Book the paperwork and ceremony separately
Use the Boston Registry's marriage-license instructions and the official City Hall ceremony booking page. Contact the Registry about exceptions or anything specific to your circumstances.
Both of you apply together, in person, by appointment. Bring valid photo ID — Boston lists passports, driver's licenses, state IDs and military IDs — and your Social Security numbers. You file the marriage intention at the Registry in Room 213. The license is issued after the three-day waiting period and expires 60 days from your appointment date. If you cannot wait three days, a court waiver costs $195.
The ceremony is a separate booking. Marriage appointments open 60 days ahead. Booking a photographer does not reserve the city appointment, and no photographer can hold a slot for you.
Room 213 or Room 601 — and why it matters
Boston runs ceremonies out of two different offices, and your confirmation tells you which one you have. They are not interchangeable: the hours are different, and so is the room.
- Room 213, the Registry Division. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10–11:30 AM and 2–3:30 PM Boston says the room seats 14 guests and accommodates up to 20 people standing. This is also where you filed your intention, so it is the room most couples picture.
- Room 601, the City Clerk's Office. Mondays and Tuesdays, 2–3:30 PM only; Thursdays and Fridays in both the morning and afternoon blocks. It is a smaller office than Room 213.
Two practical consequences. Arrive early, because Boston charges a $25 late penalty if you miss your slot. And tell whoever is photographing you which room you are in before the day, not on the day — a room that seats 14 and a smaller clerk's office call for completely different approaches, and there is no time to work it out once you are inside.
What a Boston City Hall wedding costs
The city's own charges come to $125. Everything else is a choice you make.
- Marriage license — $50. Paid at your in-person intention appointment in Room 213.
- Ceremony — $75. Boston lists this as $60 plus a $15 city service fee, and the Registry notes payment for the ceremony is cash only. Bring exact cash; it is the detail couples most often get caught by.
- Late penalty — $25 if you arrive after your scheduled slot.
- Certified copy of the certificate — $12 in person, $14 by mail, afterward. Most couples need at least one for a name change.
- Marriage Without Delay waiver — $195 at court, only if you cannot wait the three days.
So the realistic all-in city figure is $125, or about $137 once you add a certified copy. That is genuinely the whole cost of being married at Boston City Hall.
Photography is separate. City Hall Ceremony + Portraits is $849 — the ceremony plus portraits afterward. The free photography budget worksheet is there if you want to map out the rest of the day.
What actually happens on the day
This is the part nobody writes down, and it is the thing couples are quietly nervous about. City hall weddings have a reputation for being clinical. They are not.
You arrive early — early enough that a queue or a lift does not eat your slot, since arriving late costs $25. You check in, hand over the license and your photo ID, and wait with whoever came with you. When it is your turn you go into the room, and the person marrying you is a city official who does this several times a day and is usually warmer about it than you expect.
Then it is ordinary. There are vows. You can exchange rings if you brought them. You can read something of your own if you want to. You kiss. You get pronounced married, you sign, and that is it — you walk out into the middle of a working city as two people who just got married, which is a strange and very good feeling, and the reason the photographs afterward matter more than the ones inside.
Things couples ask and are always allowed to do: bring flowers, wear whatever they want, bring their parents, bring a friend to hold the rings, cry, take photographs. Things to leave at home: a seating plan, a rehearsal, and any expectation that this will feel like less of a wedding than a wedding. Most of the couples I photograph at city hall are doing it because they wanted exactly this, not because they settled for it.
Plan the photographs around your appointment
An hour of photography is not an hour of ceremony. Coverage runs around your appointment — arrival, the ceremony itself, a short list of family groups, then portraits outside. We agree the start and finish times around your confirmed slot and the people you want included.
- Share the appointment time, room, guest count and any accessibility needs.
- Choose the family groups in advance and ask one guest to help gather people.
- Allow for entry, walking and delays rather than filling every minute with a different location.
- Photography inside the ceremony room is welcome. The Registry's own answer to whether you can bring a photographer is "Absolutely! You are more than welcome to bring a photographer and record and take pictures." Confirm anything specific to your room on your confirmation.
- Keep a weather plan for outside portraits and check permission for any indoor alternative.
Where to take portraits afterward
Start with the plaza and nearby public streets if their current access and conditions suit your day. A second neighborhood uses time for walking or transport, so choose one you would enjoy rather than trying to cover all of Boston. We confirm the route and permissions before treating any building or private interior as part of the session.
What to wear and bring
Wear something that feels like your wedding: a suit, dress, jumpsuit or another outfit you love. Bring comfortable shoes for walking, a weather layer, the documents required by the city and your rings if you are exchanging them. Keep bags light and tell me if you would prefer fewer walking portraits.
Boston or Cambridge City Hall?
Both are quick, both are weekdays, and both leave you the rest of the day. Boston gives you the plaza, Quincy Market and the harbor a few minutes' walk away; Cambridge gives you a Victorian building and Harvard Square. If you are weighing them up, the Cambridge City Hall guide covers that side, and Luis and Taylor's gallery is a full city hall wedding from start to finish.
City Hall Ceremony + Portraits — $849
60 minutes · Boston or Cambridge City Hall · up to 50 edited images · sneak peek within 48 hours · full gallery within 30 days · full printing rights.
An hour is built around how the day actually runs: arrival, the room, a short list of family groups, and portraits outside afterward. City Hall only performs ceremonies on weekdays, so the weekday timing is simply when you can get married here.
Planning more than the ceremony? Tell me what the day looks like and I'll put the right coverage together.
Check your date with Moe
Send your ceremony date or shortlist, confirmed appointment if you have one, guest count and the parts of the day you want photographed. Ask about City Hall coverage or see all packages. City rules, fees, room hours and the photography policy were checked against Boston's own pages on September 20, 2026. Confirm them when you book — cities change fees without much warning.
