Celebs Who Had Secret Courthouse Weddings

‌Celebrity weddings are often decadent affairs that cost an awful lot of money. However, not all famous people opt for the glitz and glam associated with star-studded nuptials, instead choosing the simpler option of heading to their local courthouse.

Of course, it's hard to forget some of the world's splashiest celebrity unions, such as Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries' wedding. While their marriage infamously only lasted 72 days, the televised wedding was reportedly attended by an incredible 450 guests, which included Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Demi Lovato, Serena Williams, and Ryan Seacrest. It also allegedly cost $10 million, which is quite the price tag for a marriage that came to an end less than two-and-a-half months later.

Unsurprisingly, some celebs choose to wed in private, away from famous friends and paparazzi lenses, by secretly slipping into the courthouse when no one is watching. Here, we explore the sweetest celebrity couples who headed to the courthouse and kept their weddings as low-key as possible.

On June 9, 2023, rumors swirled that actors Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup may have tied the knot after they were photographed wearing what were presumed to be wedding bands, per Page Six. Paparazzi pictures of the couple outside of their apartment in New York City showed Watts wearing a white Oscar de la Renta gown and holding a bouquet of flowers, while Crudup looked suave in a blue suit. 

The following day, the "King Kong" star confirmed her new marital status by sharing a photo on Instagram, which had been taken with her new husband on the steps of the courthouse in New York. Watts simply captained the adorable picture with the word, "Hitched!" alongside a string of emojis. The couple's low-key nuptials looked endlessly chic, and most importantly, avoided the expected Hollywood circus celebrity weddings usually create.

Watts and Crudup were romantically linked in July 2017, after working together on the Netflix series "Gypsy." In March 2023, the "Mulholland Drive" star alluded to her romance with Crudup during an interview with Elle, saying, "I didn't expect to meet someone after I separated [from Liev Schreiber]. He's not squeamish about me aging, and I met him in the height of my menopause."

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's love affair has been well-documented on social media and on the reality TV show "The Kardashians." In May 2022, the couple tied the knot in an extravagant Italian wedding, which was attended by Kourtney's sisters — Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Kendall Jenner — and momager Kris Jenner, along with a slew of famous faces. However, Kourtney actually wed Blink-182's drummer twice before they made the trip to Italy.

After attending the Grammy Awards together, Kourtney and Travis headed to Las Vegas, where they got married at the One Love Wedding Chapel in early April 2022. The Vegas nuptials weren't actually legal, though, as the couple didn't secure a marriage license beforehand. The following month, Kourtney and Travis made their marriage official at the courthouse in Anacapa, Santa Barbara. Rather than inviting a plethora of guests to the event, only Travis' dad, Randy Barker, and Kourtney's grandmother, Mary Jo Campbell, attended. For the intimate affair, Kourtney wore a white minidress, while Travis wore an all-black tux. 

In keeping with their rock-and-roll style, Travis and Kourtney drove away from the ceremony in a vintage car featuring a handwritten "Just Married" sign tied to the back. Sometimes less really is more.

In September 2022, it was reported that Emily Ratajkowski had filed for divorce from husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, with sources telling Page Six that the film producer had allegedly cheated on his model wife. But prior to their split, the couple's whirlwind romance first came to the public's attention in February 2018, when Ratajkowski announced their surprise wedding on Instagram. 

In an Instagram Story, the "Gone Girl" star shared a selfie taken with her new husband, along with the caption, "I got married today." The couple's wedding took place at City Hall in New York City, and was reportedly attended by just two witnesses, one of whom was the comedian The Fat Jewish, real name Josh Ostrovsky. During an appearance on Vanity Fair's "In the Limelight" podcast that April, the model said of her big day, "I can't even imagine what having a 300-person wedding is like, because it still felt kind of hectic to plan ours."

Rather than wearing white on her wedding day, Ratajkowski opted for an affordable Zara pantsuit in mustard yellow, which retailed for under $200. As for why she didn't select a traditional wedding outfit for her nuptials, the "My Body" writer explained, "I never loved the idea of white for a wedding because I'm not a pure woman. ... I also just love the idea of a suit, especially at City Hall, because it's like you're taking care of business."

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell are one of Hollywood's most enduring couples, having revealed their engagement in early 2010. But when it came time to tie the knot, the actors eschewed a big expensive wedding in favor of a short ceremony at their local courthouse. 

During an interview with CBS' "Sunday Morning," Bell reflected on her 2013 wedding to Shepard, saying, "We got married in a tiny room in the Beverly Hills courthouse, and it was still one of the best days of my life." In a 2022 interview with People, the "Veronica Mars" star elaborated on the big day, explaining, "We didn't want to look at or talk to anyone else other than each other." Basically, the couple's wedding day was a celebration of their love for one another, and nothing else.

As well as keeping the entire celebration very private, Bell and Shepard also managed to avoid the usual high price tag associated with weddings. "So we went to the Beverly Hills courthouse and all in, with fuel to get there, $142 out the door," Shepard revealed during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in October 2013 (via the Daily Mail). The "When in Rome" star also joked that their friends gifted them a cake after the ceremony, which was inscribed with the words "World's Worst Wedding," which sounds pretty hilarious, tbh.

In July 2021, Christina Haack went Instagram official with her new beau, Joshua Hall, following her divorces from Tarek El Moussa and Ant Anstead. Less than a year later, in April 2022, TMZ reported that Haack had officially changed her name to Christina Hall, suggesting that she'd already tied the knot with her new partner. 

In December 2022, Christina opened up about the happy news during an episode of her HGTV series "Christina on the Coast," saying, "We just did it low key and we're gonna do a ceremony later." She also joked, "Third time's a charm." Christina went on to confirm that they opted for a private wedding, rather than a big, celebrity-filled affair. "At this point in my life, I really value privacy when I can get it," she explained on her show. "So Josh and I decided to do a courthouse ceremony, just the two of us. Something private, just for us. And then later we'll do a reception for the kids and family."

A romantic wedding in Maui followed the couple's courthouse date, but it's clear that they valued the opportunity to marry quietly without any frills or press attention, away from prying eyes.

Thanks to his roles on "Gossip Girl" and "You," Penn Badgley is a household name, but that doesn't mean that every aspect of his life is available for public consumption. In February 2017, an Instagram photo shared by musician Darren Will revealed that Badgley had tied the knot with Domino Kirke in a small courthouse ceremony in Brooklyn. Domino's sister, Lola Kirke, also posted on Instagram about the occasion, writing in a since-deleted post, "When someone gets married in a courthouse, it's really an open invitation to everyone but the beautiful bride to explore all that fashion has to offer." Domino is also the sister of "Girls" actor Jemima Kirke.

In a 2018 interview with People, Badgley opened up about his relationship with Domino, saying, "[Domino and I] very much had a romantic beginning, and I think that you discover in marriage that what sustains a marriage for decades — there are less and less people who can tell us this — but I think it has something to do with [divine] love."

The couple followed up their courthouse nuptials with a larger, outdoor celebration in June 2017, which was attended by a whole host of celebrities, including actors Debra Messing and Mariska Hargitay and designer Zac Posen. Badgley and Domino welcomed a son, James, together in August 2020, while the "You" actor also serves as a stepfather to Domino's son, Cassius Riley, from a previous relationship. 

In November 2007, "Grey's Anatomy" icon Ellen Pompeo wed music producer Chris Ivery at City Hall in Lower Manhattan. Of the quiet nuptials, the actor's dad, Joseph Pompeo, told People, "I'm very happy for her. She just didn't want a big thing." 

A decade later, Ellen dished some details about her private wedding during an appearance on "Live with Kelly and Ryan," saying, "Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg was our officiator." The couple's big day occurred at the height of the actor's "Grey's Anatomy" fame, which is exactly why she wanted to keep the occasion a secret. "At that point, I was really dying for privacy," she revealed on "Live with Kelly and Ryan." "So sort of we flew out on a redeye Thursday night. Friday morning, [we] woke up, went to City Hall, had the wedding really quick, and then we went to Lupa for lunch after." It's quite miraculous that Ellen and Ivery managed to avoid any details about their wedding leaking to the press before they were ready to reveal all.

Since their 2007 wedding, Ellen Pompeo and Ivery have welcomed three children together — daughters Stella Luna and Sienna May and son Eli Christopher.

As one of the world's most famous actors, Matt Damon is recognizable pretty much wherever he goes. However, the "Ocean's Eleven" star managed to pull off a secret wedding in December 2005. Per The New York Times, Damon wed Luciana Bozán Barroso in an early morning wedding at Manhattan's City Hall. According to the publication, Barroso's then-seven-year-old daughter, Alexia, attended the nuptials, as did then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Damon's best friend and collaborator, Ben Affleck, wasn't in attendance at the low-key event.

Damon first met Barroso while he was filming "Stuck on You" in Miami in 2003. At the time, Barroso was working as a bartender at a Miami nightclub. Along with Alexia, the couple has since welcomed three daughters together — Isabella, Gia, and Stella — meaning that Damon is surrounded by a household of women.

Following their secretive 2005 nuptials, Damon and Barroso decided to renew their wedding vows in April 2013 on St. Lucia. The glamorous affair was reportedly attended by several celebrities, including Affleck and his then-wife, Jennifer Garner, along with A-list couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Actor Salma Hayek chose the romantic date of Valentine's Day in 2009 to tie the knot with French billionaire François-Henri Pinault at the City Hall of the Sixth Arrondissement in Paris. However, in February 2023, Hayek opened up to Glamour about her wedding, saying, "I didn't even know I was getting married that day. ... It was like an intervention." According to Hayek, she had some fears when it came to getting married, so her family members decided to intervene and convince her that she should marry Pinault. "The reason why it was a courthouse wedding was because they dragged me there," she told Glamour.

In spite of feeling nervous about tying the knot, Hayek soon realized that she was happy to have married her longtime love: "And then afterward I said, 'Oh, it's okay. I don't feel any different.' And then a little bit later I said, 'Okay, this is kind of exciting.' And he's like, 'Can we have a party now?'" While Hayek took a little convincing to make it up the aisle, it's clear that she's besotted with her now-husband, with whom she shares four children — daughter Valentina and stepchildren Augustin, Mathilde, and François. "I married a man who is very supportive, who saw things in me that I never even saw in myself," she told Glamour.

Pop superstar Justin Bieber wed model Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) in an exceedingly expensive wedding at Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina in September 2019. Although the nuptials were only attended by a modest 154 guests, a plethora of celebrities were reportedly invited, including Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Jaden Smith, Camila Morrone, and Usher. However, the couple actually tied the knot long before they held their picture-perfect wedding.

In September 2018, People confirmed that the Biebers had married at a courthouse in New York City, but that they planned to hold a religious ceremony after the fact. Despite having such a low-key wedding, Hailey most certainly felt pressure after tying the knot with JBiebs, telling Elle in March 2021, "In the beginning of our marriage, I just wanted to hide. I was like, 'I don't want people so in my business.'"

Discussing her whirlwind romance and decision to wed, Hailey told Elle, "I was married when I was 21, two months before I turned 22, which is insanely young. And sounds almost ridiculous when you say it out loud." She continued, "Although I do think for somebody like me and somebody like Justin, [it's different]. We've seen a lot for our age. We have both lived enough life to know that's what we wanted."

When actor and entrepreneur Jessica Alba married movie producer Cash Warren, she kept the event incredibly private. The pair married at the Beverly Hills courthouse in the venue's ceremony room in May 2008. 

According to People, Alba wore a blue dress for the occasion, while Warren apparently kept it casual in a white shirt, which he paired with brown pants. A source also told the publication that Alba and Warren had no guests in attendance for their big day, instead placing the focus solely on their union. The following month, Alba and Warren welcomed their first child, daughter Honor. They have since expanded their family with daughter Haven and son Hayes.

During a 2022 interview with Glamour U.K., Alba opened up about her surprise wedding, saying, "We eloped and I think I was nine months pregnant!" She continued, "It wasn't planned. It was literally, 'Honey, do you have anything to do this morning?' And he was like, 'No.'" As they were both free that day, Alba suggested that they should get married. As she told Glamour U.K., "And then I said, 'Can we get waffles afterwards because I have a doctor's appointment? Will you come to my doctor's appointment?' And that's how it happened!"

In September 2013, musician John Legend and model Chrissy Teigen married in a gorgeous ceremony held on Lake Como in Italy. However, the couple had already made their marriage official prior to holding their dream Italian wedding. Speaking to E! News, Teigen revealed, "We actually got married after going to a couple Fashion Week shows at Vera Wang, ironically who actually did my dress, but we got married at the courthouse right after." 

As for why they opted for a courthouse wedding prior to their Lake Como nuptials, Teigen told E! News, "We are dumb and didn't realize that our Italian wedding would not be recognized unless we had a real ceremony in New York City." She continued, "So Irina Shayk was our witness — the most beautiful woman on earth!" 

While Teigen and Legend went on to have a huge wedding in an enviable location, surrounded by their nearest and dearest, their small courthouse ceremony made their marriage official. Since then, these two have welcomed four children together, daughters Luna and Esti and sons Miles and Wren.