Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Long Beach Wedding Chapel Offering $14 Marriage Ceremonies On Valentine's Day
Cute Little Wedding Chapel will host $14 Valentine's Day weddings. (Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images)
()
This Valentine's Day, a Southern California officiant is offering $14 weddings at his Long Beach chapel for happy couples looking to tie the knot.
Alan Katz is "not that crusty, old guy standing up there," he told LAist. Instead, his weddings are "a fun approach where I make people laugh, and where I make the guests laugh."
To give you a taste of the kind of humor you may be in for: "We do take walk-ins. Not Christopher, though." (Get it? Because Christopher Walken.)
In addition to running the Cute Little Wedding Chapel in Long Beach, Alan Katz runs Great Officiants, an event planning service that specializes in marriage ceremonies. (Courtesy Alan Katz)
()
Support for LAist comes from
From 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Valentine's Day, couples may show up to the Cute Little Wedding Chapel in Long Beach to declare their love for each other. And for real, you and your significant other can walk in and have your ceremony on the spot -- or you can call ahead to see if there are scheduled time slots still open.
To qualify for the $14 deal, couples must have their marriage license in hand and limit their guests to four people. Katz can also issue marriage licenses on the day of the wedding, as well as accommodate larger crowds at an extra cost.
ELSEWHERE...
At county offices, officials are anticipating a bigger-than-usual influx of happy couples on Valentine's Day -- after all, the holiday falls on a Friday this year. And it's a three-day weekend for those who have President's Day off on Monday.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see more people turn out than in the previous two years," said Mike Sanchez, public information office for the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office. The county conducted 284 marriage ceremonies on Valentine's Day in 2018 and 233 marriages on Valentine's Day 2019, Sanchez said.
All L.A. County offices are open for marriage ceremonies on Fridays, but the Norwalk office is the only one that will accept same-day ceremonies. Licenses in L.A. County cost $91, and ceremonies cost $35.
In Orange County, Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen told LAist he wants to break the county record for the number of couples married in a day. The current record was set five years ago when 266 couples tied the knot on Feb. 14, 2015.
Support for LAist comes from
To contribute to this year's excitement, Snoopy -- yes, the cartoon beagle and Knott's Berry Farm mascot -- will be at two Orange County office locations to hand out roses. Expect to see him at the North County Branch Office in Anaheim from 10-11:30 a.m., and at the Old County Santa Ana Courthouse from 1-2:30 p.m.
Wild Wing, the Anaheim Ducks mascot, will also be at the North County Branch Office in Anaheim from noon to 1 p.m., Nguyen said.
In Orange County, marriage licenses cost $61, and a civil ceremony costs $28.
And for couples looking for an even more unique wedding date than Valentine's Day, Nguyen and his staff will perform marriage ceremonies on Saturday, Feb. 29 -- Leap Day. More than 150 appointments for marriage ceremonies have already been made for that day.
"I think people are going, 'hey, we don't have to celebrate for four years,'" Nguyen said.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
-
Hexavalent chromium is the same carcinogen Erin Brockovich warned about in the 1990s, but researchers say more study is needed on the potential health effects of nanoparticles detected earlier this year. Experts will answer questions at a webinar this evening.
Best of LAist