Courtroom weddings don’t have to be super formal
When Kathryn Cherup walked down the aisle toward her groom Aug. 14, her surroundings were nothing like what she expected them to be.
She and her now husband, Robert Gall, had planned to get married in a courthouse ceremony, so the rows of hard wooden benches and gate separating those seats from the rest of the room didn’t surprise her. No, it was the garnishes and curtains hanging on the walls and seats and the flowers placed around the room that caught her off guard.
The now Kathryn Gall said she thanked Magisterial District Judge Amy Marcinkiewicz for helping to make her wedding day more memorable than it already would have been.
“I was honestly expecting it to be a lot more strict and formal,” said Gall, of Summit Township. “She came in with the biggest smile on her face. She gave everyone a goodie bag, she did a little chalkboard sign with our names on it. It was more personal than I thought it would be.”
Marcinkiewicz is one of a few judges in Butler County who frequently officiate weddings, and she said it is one of her favorite parts of her job, if not her favorite.
In her time as judge since 2022, Marcinkiewicz has officiated 85 weddings, with the Galls being her most recent couple. While some judges simply read a couples’ vows and have them sign their marriage certificate, Marcinkiewicz said she takes the opportunity to make each marriage a wedding.
“I put everything I've got into it. For me, I write the vows for the folks. We ask them if they want to say something, usually nobody does want to do that,” Marcinkiewicz said. “I decorate, I do flowers, different things, I move around the courtroom to put decorations up.”
Couples looking to get married in Butler County can request a courtroom ceremony, and they have 60 days to find a date once they receive their marriage license from the Register of Wills and Orphans' Court.
Sarah Edwards, Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, said these courtroom ceremonies, while not the norm nowadays, actually come with traditional marriage licenses. A self-uniting marriage license is what is given to couples who get married by someone other than a judge.
“A traditional would be used if a judge or magisterial is marrying the people,” Edwards said.
Gall said it was easy for her and her spouse to get a marriage license, and get a date in Marcinkiewicz’s courtroom. The marriage license cost $56, and the date the couple ended up choosing was sooner than any venue in the area had room for, Gall said.
“We wanted something super simple, down to earth, quick and easy, and also it is way cheaper than your typical wedding,” Gall said. “I called and scheduled it, and you don't need any witnesses, which was nice because everyone we invited was related to us.”
Gall said the couple was allowed to invite as many family members as they wanted to the ceremony, and the courtroom on their wedding day was packed with people. They were all surprised by the look of the courtroom, because the Galls were already planning to have a larger gathering to celebrate their union in September.
Marcinkiewicz herself also made everyone in the room more comfortable.
“We were standing really far apart from each other, she made jokes about that,” Gall said. “She offered to take our pictures, and she was standing on two pews in the room to get everyone in the picture which was pretty cool. We were able to get pictures on everyone’s personal cameras.”
Marcinkiewicz said she has weddings scheduled in her courtroom into October and November already, but there are times when she is able to accommodate a couple when they call and say, “can you marry us today?”
She said she didn’t perform wedding ceremonies in her first year on the job, so she could focus on her duties deciding cases. Having waited a year to start marrying people, Marcinkiewicz said she wants to take on as many courtroom weddings as she is able to.
“Just because it's here doesn't mean you don't make it great,” Marcinkiewicz said. “Weddings are the things that make my heart happy.”
