Short answer: a public license is part of the public record and requires a witness at your ceremony, while a confidential license stays private and doesn't. Most couples default to public without realizing confidential is even an option, but for a lot of City Hall elopements, confidential is actually the better fit.
San Francisco City Hall Photography © Living Pictures
The Core Difference
Public marriage license: Anyone can request a copy from the Assessor-Recorder's office once it's filed. This is the standard, traditional option, and it's what most people picture when they think "marriage license." A public ceremony requires at least one witness, and that witness has to sign the marriage license paperwork, not just stand there and watch.
Confidential marriage license: The record is sealed. Only you and your spouse can request copies later, and it takes a court order or a notarized request from one of you for anyone else to access it. No witness is required at all, no one present, no one signing. A confidential marriage license costs $129 through the Office of the County Clerk.
San Francisco City Hall Photography © Living Pictures
The Requirement Most Couples Don't Expect
To get a confidential license in California, you and your partner have to declare that you're currently living together as spouses at the time you apply, and sign an affidavit to that effect. If you don't live together yet, you won't qualify for confidential and will need to go the public route instead. This trips up more couples than you'd think, so it's worth checking before you build a whole elopement plan around going confidential.
San Francisco City Hall Photography © Living Pictures
Why This Actually Matters for Your City Hall Day
This isn't just paperwork trivia, it changes what your day logistically looks like.
If you're planning a true two-person elopement with no guests, a confidential license removes the witness requirement entirely. That means you don't need to recruit a friend, a stranger in line, or your photographer to stand in as your one required witness. It's one less thing to coordinate on a day that's supposed to be simple.
If privacy matters to you, for personal reasons, professional ones, or just not wanting your marriage details searchable by anyone who asks, confidential keeps that information out of the public record permanently.
On the other hand, if you like the idea of your marriage being part of the public historical record the way City Hall marriages have been for generations, or you already know you'll have a witness there anyway, public is the simpler, more traditional path, and it's a hair less restrictive on the "who can get it" side.
San Francisco City Hall Photography © Living Pictures
What This Means for Your Photographer
This choice touches your photography in a couple of real ways, not just paperwork.
If you go public and don't have a witness lined up, ask your photographer ahead of time. Our photographers act as the required witness for many of our couples, it's a common request for those who are just the two of them, but it needs to be arranged before your appointment, not figured out in line.
Either way, the paperwork is part of your story. As a documentary team, we're usually photographing the whole arc of the day, not just the ceremony itself, so that includes check-in, the license being signed, IDs being checked, the quiet moment right before you're called up. Whether you went public or confidential doesn't change that we're there to catch it.
If privacy is a big part of why you chose confidential, tell us that upfront. It shapes how we talk about sharing your gallery, whether we ask to feature your photos on the blog or in our portfolio, and how we handle anything public-facing afterward. We'd rather know that going in than assume.
Confidential is the more common pick among the true elopements we shoot, small parties, sometimes just the couple and us. Public tends to be the choice for couples bringing family or a small group of guests, since they'll have witnesses on hand regardless.
Either way, this decision has to be made before your ceremony, not after, so it's worth settling early in your planning.
Living Pictures is a San Francisco-based documentary wedding and elopement team, Barbara, Ana, JJ, and Shaylyn. We shoot City Hall ceremonies of every size and can help you think through logistics like this before your big day. Book your date here, or contact us if you want to talk it through first.
FAQ
Can my photographer be my witness? Yes. Our photographers act as the required witness for many of our couples doing a public ceremony with just the two of them. Just let us know ahead of time so it's arranged before your appointment, not sorted out in line.
Can I change a public license to confidential later, or vice versa? No. Once you've applied for one type, it can't be converted to the other. Decide before you file.
Do I need a witness for a confidential marriage in California? No. A confidential license requires no witness at all, present or signing. A public license requires at least one witness who signs the marriage license paperwork, which is one of the main reasons couples doing a true two-person elopement choose confidential instead.
Is a confidential marriage still legally binding? Yes. Both license types are equally legal; the only difference is who can access the record afterward.
Do we have to actually be living together to get a confidential license? Yes, California requires both people to declare they're living together as spouses at the time of application. If you're not, you'll need a public license instead.
