The pandemic isn't over, but at the end of the year many couples find they need quick and safe legal marriage services. We're offering you the help you need with strict observance of current health protocols. We're offering one-stop civil marriages for those with health or tax concerns or immediate legal need to be married with our "Safe Elopement" service.
Service includes confidential marriage licensing and a civil solemnization in full compliance with pandemic safety requirements--outdoors, distanced, masked, no guests or photographers.
Service includes confidential marriage licensing and a civil solemnization in full compliance with pandemic safety requirements--outdoors, distanced, masked, no guests or photographers.
Services
The Wedding Bundle: confidential marriage licensing and officiation together, for a complete legal marriage. It's quick, affordable, and convenient. Due to the 2020 pandemic, we are not offering off-site weddings at this time. Please contact us if you would like to schedule a Safe Elopement on the Westside of Los Angeles.
To make your wedding experience sweet, easy, personal, thoughtful, meaningful, joyous, memorable, and excellent. To help you appreciate and enhance your connection with each other (and your community, if applicable) throughout the entire getting-married process. To make you as happy as I can, since a world populated by happy, loving people is the world I want to walk around in. I work with you to create and officiate custom wedding ceremonies based on your love stories, principles, and outlook, letting you take the lead.
MarriageToGo is the brainchild of Elizabeth Oakes, a wedding officiant and authorized notary with a modern outlook on wedding culture. She's a wedding geek with multiple credentials for solemnizing your marriage; she can also issue a California confidential marriage license at your wedding location, which is super-convenient.
Elizabeth Oakes is a California is a professional wedding officiant and notary authorized to issue California confidential marriage licenses. Our "Safe Elopement" Marriage Bundle with marriage license and civil ceremony is everything you need for a complete legal marriage, and it's quick, easy, and worry-free.
Reviews (16)
Jonathan F.
May 09, 2021
James F.
Jan 04, 2021
It is hard to imagine a better experience than Elizabeth provided for our private/Covid era, at home marriage. She provided clear instructions, was super patient and detail-oriented and an overall sweet, thoughtful person to deal with. Communication was excellent and the service went off on time and without a hitch, all very efficiently and safely handled. Competitively priced and very highly recommended!
Tina M.
Feb 21, 2020
All of the positive reviews are 100% correct here - I am so glad that I read through them and called MarriagesToGo. Elizabeth is more than an officiator - this isn't just about signing papers to her. It is really about making your marriage the way that YOU and your partner want it to be. She is so flexible, kind, understanding, empathetic, and fun!
When I first called Elizabeth, I was reserved about my elopement because there were some disappointments within the family about not having a proper wedding. It seemed that we didn't even want to celebrate, like my fiance and I weren't comfortable with being happy if other people in our lives were unhappy. I told Elizabeth that we wanted the ceremony to be as short as possible and we wanted to wear jeans at a simple place, that's it.
Everything would be casual because none of this was a big deal to us. Here we are, the day after we are officially married. Let me tell you, IT DID MATTER! I do want to start by first prefacing this by saying PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE communicate with Elizabeth about every single change that you might have in mind before you mentally commit to those changes.
While you will find that Elizabeth is super understanding and amazing, you need to remember that this is her JOB and she deserves to be aware and compensated if you make drastic changes from your contract with her (such as the location, the amount of guests present, etc.). COMMUNICATE with her and confirm with her before you actually execute on those changes!
It will be a good skill to have in your marriage and a respectful thing to do for Elizabeth, who is putting her heart and soul into making your marriage beautiful. Okay, so about the marriage. If you can see the photos that I uploaded here, you will find that we married at a beach in Malibu and that we wore wedding attire! I also had my hair and makeup done by two awesome professionals!
Thanks to Elizabeth's ceremony/vows material that she shared with us beforehand, we ended up crafting a gorgeous ceremony with vows that resonated with us (I cried hard with happiness within 30 seconds of Elizabeth's reading during our ceremony). The experience was so special and more than we could've asked for! We had about 30-45 minutes of a break after the ceremony to relax before our photoshoot (yes, we changed our minds that much)!
It was great to space the ceremony from the photography because it really just let us experience the moment on our own. How did we end up changing our minds about keeping things casual? It's because Elizabeth was the first person to accept what we said we wanted. She didn't push us when we said we wanted it to be basic and quick. Her acceptance really made me feel so comfortable. that we naturally pushed our own initial boundaries. And that was the perfect way to do it. Thank you Elizabeth and MarriagesToGo!
When I first called Elizabeth, I was reserved about my elopement because there were some disappointments within the family about not having a proper wedding. It seemed that we didn't even want to celebrate, like my fiance and I weren't comfortable with being happy if other people in our lives were unhappy. I told Elizabeth that we wanted the ceremony to be as short as possible and we wanted to wear jeans at a simple place, that's it.
Everything would be casual because none of this was a big deal to us. Here we are, the day after we are officially married. Let me tell you, IT DID MATTER! I do want to start by first prefacing this by saying PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE communicate with Elizabeth about every single change that you might have in mind before you mentally commit to those changes.
While you will find that Elizabeth is super understanding and amazing, you need to remember that this is her JOB and she deserves to be aware and compensated if you make drastic changes from your contract with her (such as the location, the amount of guests present, etc.). COMMUNICATE with her and confirm with her before you actually execute on those changes!
It will be a good skill to have in your marriage and a respectful thing to do for Elizabeth, who is putting her heart and soul into making your marriage beautiful. Okay, so about the marriage. If you can see the photos that I uploaded here, you will find that we married at a beach in Malibu and that we wore wedding attire! I also had my hair and makeup done by two awesome professionals!
Thanks to Elizabeth's ceremony/vows material that she shared with us beforehand, we ended up crafting a gorgeous ceremony with vows that resonated with us (I cried hard with happiness within 30 seconds of Elizabeth's reading during our ceremony). The experience was so special and more than we could've asked for! We had about 30-45 minutes of a break after the ceremony to relax before our photoshoot (yes, we changed our minds that much)!
It was great to space the ceremony from the photography because it really just let us experience the moment on our own. How did we end up changing our minds about keeping things casual? It's because Elizabeth was the first person to accept what we said we wanted. She didn't push us when we said we wanted it to be basic and quick. Her acceptance really made me feel so comfortable. that we naturally pushed our own initial boundaries. And that was the perfect way to do it. Thank you Elizabeth and MarriagesToGo!
Lillian W.
Aug 28, 2018
Warm, genuine, responsive, responsible, detail-oriented, organized, empathetic, and sincere-- those are just a few adjectives that come into mind when my new husband and I think about our experience with having Elizabeth as our officiant. There's a ton more, but we're trying to be "succinct" here. =) I half joke that Elizabeth was not only our officiant but also my therapist in the time leading up to our wedding since I was a ball of anxiety planning everything. Elizabeth was EVER so patient and responsive with my flurry of nonstop emails and questions, as well as providing constant reassurance which I know was far beyond her job description. Elizabeth really goes above and beyond, not only providing a huge variety of personalized scripts for your wedding (if you so choose), professionalism of making the legal process very easy, but she also takes the time out of her personal life to get to know you as an individual and as a couple, so that if you choose, you do not feel like you are getting married by a stranger, but rather an old family friend.
Thank you so much for being THE best officiant, friend, and guidance for us in one of the more stressful times! P.S. This raving review comes from a couple that self-describes themselves to be pretty high maintenance and picky! =)
Thank you so much for being THE best officiant, friend, and guidance for us in one of the more stressful times! P.S. This raving review comes from a couple that self-describes themselves to be pretty high maintenance and picky! =)
Jennifer G.
Mar 22, 2017
Christopher F.
Aug 24, 2015
If you're considering using Elizabeth's services at Marriage To Go, don't hesitate for even a second and contact her today. She is so talented at what she does and has the ability to adapt her services to your needs, whatever they may be. My lady and I only had a vague idea of what we wanted, but, lucky for us, Elizabeth had the knowledge and experience to guide us in the right direction, a direction that eventually led to the most perfect of wedding ceremonies. She's honest and upfront about what to expect and what could go wrong, and, best of all, she's an expert at taking the stress out of what is an inherently stressful event. We couldn't recommend her more!
Jackie M.
Jun 02, 2015
I am a wedding coordinator, and I had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth at the Beverly Hilton this past weekend! The couple loved how she took time and care to create a ceremony script that was unique to them and their experiences. I loved her special touch of even dressing to match the venue and color scheme! She arrived early, checked in with the DJ for sound needs, and even conducted private vows with the couple that they requested. Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for making their special day so meaningful!
Jennifer J.
May 04, 2015
Elizabeth did a wonderful job with our ceremony. She went beyond the call of duty to answer any questions we had regarding our marriage. From the moment we met her, we not only could tell that she really loves her job and tries her best to do it well, but we were assured that she was our perfect officiant. She is a caring, attentive, and wonderful person who delivered our ceremony with great personal meaning. Thank you.
Domi B.
Oct 26, 2014
Aloha, We did it! It was the most wonderful day of our lifes. We are so lucky to have found each other. We were married with our toes in the Pacific, in our favorite beach in Malibu thanks to Elizabeth Oaks. The ceremony and word were true and powerful and it was truly more than what we had ever expected. Mahalo, Terrence & Dominique
Nathaniel A.
Jan 07, 2014
When we started planning our wedding, the ceremony portion of it was the only part I was dreading. I dislike touchy-feely stuff in general and was nervous about being so straightforwardly emotional in front of all our friends and family. As soon as we decided to work with Elizabeth, she made us appreciate and understand the process so much more than we would have. She's an extremely thoughtful person and a calming presence.
After the wedding was over, my husband and I both agreed that the ceremony was our favorite part. I was not expecting that at all. But Elizabeth's words, both before and during the ceremony, really forced us to focus on the moment. Our guests were very moved by her ceremony and numerous people approached us afterwards to tell us how much they liked her. I really can't recommend Elizabeth highly enough. She was a huge part of what made the day so wonderful for both of us.
After the wedding was over, my husband and I both agreed that the ceremony was our favorite part. I was not expecting that at all. But Elizabeth's words, both before and during the ceremony, really forced us to focus on the moment. Our guests were very moved by her ceremony and numerous people approached us afterwards to tell us how much they liked her. I really can't recommend Elizabeth highly enough. She was a huge part of what made the day so wonderful for both of us.
Camille M.
Jan 03, 2013
Elizabeth married my husband and I a year ago and we are still talking about it. We did a pretty quick wedding and only gave her about 3-4 days notice. Luckily she had some availability! We wanted a simple, short non-denomination wedding. She gave us exactly that but with her touch it was amazing. Much more than we expected. It was beautiful, spiritual and full of love.
The days leading up to the wedding she was in constant contact with us pinning down the details and calming our nerves. She answered all our questions about the wedding, marriage, vows and anything else we could think of. She sent us a lot of ceremony/vow options to choose from but is open to you writing your own. Day of the wedding she met us at the location and had us fill out some paper work (she organized everything, all we had to do was sign and wait for the certificate to arrive). She performed the ceremony and took some beautiful pictures of us afterwards. It was a perfect wedding. I can't recommend Elizabeth enough!
The days leading up to the wedding she was in constant contact with us pinning down the details and calming our nerves. She answered all our questions about the wedding, marriage, vows and anything else we could think of. She sent us a lot of ceremony/vow options to choose from but is open to you writing your own. Day of the wedding she met us at the location and had us fill out some paper work (she organized everything, all we had to do was sign and wait for the certificate to arrive). She performed the ceremony and took some beautiful pictures of us afterwards. It was a perfect wedding. I can't recommend Elizabeth enough!
Gigi D.
Jan 25, 2012
I can not say enough great things about Marriage To Go and Elizabeth. I was struggling to get all the proper paperwork to obtain my marriage license and had been given the run-around along with a lot of misinformation, incorrect paperwork, and unbelievably rude comments from the Van Nuys County Clerk Office, particularly the supervisor there. I was overwhelmed and feeling quite lost and frustrated.
I started going online and calling places to see what I could find out on my own, and came across the Marriage To Go site. I left a message and my inquiry was returned rather quickly. What a blessing! Elizabeth was so nice and she was so informative and was able to talk me down and help me get everything straightened out. I am so happy to say that she was able to officiate my wedding last week and both me and my husband can not thank her enough for all her work and kindness. I don't think we would have been able to get this all done, had it not been for her. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Elizabeth!
I started going online and calling places to see what I could find out on my own, and came across the Marriage To Go site. I left a message and my inquiry was returned rather quickly. What a blessing! Elizabeth was so nice and she was so informative and was able to talk me down and help me get everything straightened out. I am so happy to say that she was able to officiate my wedding last week and both me and my husband can not thank her enough for all her work and kindness. I don't think we would have been able to get this all done, had it not been for her. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Elizabeth!
Fianna R.
Jul 17, 2011
We interviewed a few officiants for our wedding and Elizabeth was an easy pick. Sweet, thoughtful and kind.but the most obvious necessary quality to us was knowing she really and truly believes in marriage. She is quick to answer any and all emails and even skype if necessary! She's thorough and helped us pick out what would be the best way to say thank you to our guests and keep our traditions. Answering all of our concerns and not making any judgements.
I didn't feel pressured to include or exclude anything from my ceremony. It was exactly what I was looking for. She even coordinated our entire ceremony. Our violinist was late, we were losing light, the photographer was getting nervous. Elizabeth was calm and collected. Directed everyone as to where to stand and got the show on the road. Couldn't have chosen a better person for our day.
I didn't feel pressured to include or exclude anything from my ceremony. It was exactly what I was looking for. She even coordinated our entire ceremony. Our violinist was late, we were losing light, the photographer was getting nervous. Elizabeth was calm and collected. Directed everyone as to where to stand and got the show on the road. Couldn't have chosen a better person for our day.
Cynthia H.
Mar 04, 2011
We decided that we wanted to have a wedding in Las Vegas in June so our family that is spread out could meet up for a weekend of fun. We also wanted to have a good friend marry us instead of the minster provided by the chapel in Vegas. To do this we had to have someone who could legally marry us first so our ceremony would technically be a renewal of vows and we could forgo all the legalese of getting married for real there.
We had planned to go to the justice of the peace in LA somewhere, but I really didn't like that idea nor the times that were avail and the drive to Norwalk from Marina Del Rey. I contacted Elisabeth via her email to inquire about her services and got a response immediately. She answered every question and had a warm and welcoming demeanor. I really liked the feeling I got from our correspondence.
The day came and we decided since we were going to be with our friends and family at our wedding in June we would make the day about the two of us and just have her as our witness. We went to her home and it was clean, sweet and homey. It felt like being in a romantic little cottage on a rainy day. She was wonderful to chat with while we went through all the paperwork provided.
We didn't do the ring exchange or any of the fancy stuff as we wanted to save that part for our other wedding, but we both felt that it was intimate and special non the less. After we were done we had tea and cookies and talked about marriage and she shared with us some of the wisdom she had gained over the years. On the way to the car I cried because I was so happy.
A big wedding is about your guests, about showing them a good time and thanking them for being your life. This day was about us, and it couldn't have been more perfect. I highly recommend her.
We had planned to go to the justice of the peace in LA somewhere, but I really didn't like that idea nor the times that were avail and the drive to Norwalk from Marina Del Rey. I contacted Elisabeth via her email to inquire about her services and got a response immediately. She answered every question and had a warm and welcoming demeanor. I really liked the feeling I got from our correspondence.
The day came and we decided since we were going to be with our friends and family at our wedding in June we would make the day about the two of us and just have her as our witness. We went to her home and it was clean, sweet and homey. It felt like being in a romantic little cottage on a rainy day. She was wonderful to chat with while we went through all the paperwork provided.
We didn't do the ring exchange or any of the fancy stuff as we wanted to save that part for our other wedding, but we both felt that it was intimate and special non the less. After we were done we had tea and cookies and talked about marriage and she shared with us some of the wisdom she had gained over the years. On the way to the car I cried because I was so happy.
A big wedding is about your guests, about showing them a good time and thanking them for being your life. This day was about us, and it couldn't have been more perfect. I highly recommend her.
Andrea C.
Sep 11, 2010
Elizabeth is amazing. We started out with a phone meeting and I still have the piece of paper on which I wrote "I heart her. Let's book her right now, okay?" during the phone conversation. : We've taken to calling her Mary Poppins. From start to finish, we couldn't have asked for someone more proficient and more helpful. She provided us with MANY text options and, even though we didn't write a single word of our ceremony, we felt like it was completely personalized for us and that we had a hand in all of it! Elizabeth is highly organized.
She made lightening-quick changes to the ceremony text to accommodate our requests, including working in the fact that my mother was attending the ceremony via Skype at the last minute. She made beautiful cards for our readers, which served as nice keepsakes, handled all the paperwork and even reminded us that we might need to update our voter registration!
She really goes above and beyond. In fact, after hearing my mother wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony, Elizabeth even brought her USB camera in hopes it might be compatible with our laptop! She also went out of her way to make sure we were whisked away to our own private space right after the ceremony as the masses were gathering around us.
She completely rescued us and marched us off to the bridal suite like we were on very official business. She was really paying attention to our needs and came straight to the rescue - I couldn't believe how on top of it she was! Throughout the entire evening, people were complimenting us on how great our officiant was and asking us where we came up with such beautiful vows!
If you're looking for an officiant who will be able to pick up on who you are as a couple and really translate that into a gorgeous ceremony and make sure you're taken care of on your big day, Elizabeth is the best choice you can make!
She made lightening-quick changes to the ceremony text to accommodate our requests, including working in the fact that my mother was attending the ceremony via Skype at the last minute. She made beautiful cards for our readers, which served as nice keepsakes, handled all the paperwork and even reminded us that we might need to update our voter registration!
She really goes above and beyond. In fact, after hearing my mother wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony, Elizabeth even brought her USB camera in hopes it might be compatible with our laptop! She also went out of her way to make sure we were whisked away to our own private space right after the ceremony as the masses were gathering around us.
She completely rescued us and marched us off to the bridal suite like we were on very official business. She was really paying attention to our needs and came straight to the rescue - I couldn't believe how on top of it she was! Throughout the entire evening, people were complimenting us on how great our officiant was and asking us where we came up with such beautiful vows!
If you're looking for an officiant who will be able to pick up on who you are as a couple and really translate that into a gorgeous ceremony and make sure you're taken care of on your big day, Elizabeth is the best choice you can make!
Hazel Q.
Aug 12, 2010
Other than marrying Mr. Q, Elizabeth Oakes may just be the favorite part of my wedding. She was the absolute perfect officiant for us. Backing it up a bit, I used to work in the wedding industry and had seen my fair share of wedding officiants, but Elizabeth always stood out as not only being a great, charismatic speaker - but she's so genuine.
Surprisingly when my day came though, we looked elsewhere for officiants first. I know, I know - stupid, right? Well, we were getting married in Palm Springs and thought we should try to hire someone local - and yeesh, there were some horror stories there. (Almost literally with one lady who I swear could have doubled for either Fire Marshall Bill or The Cryptkeeper - but smothered in perfume.) Then we thought about the possibility of having someone we know do it, but that thought passed quickly. Having seen a bajillion weddings, it doesn't always go according to plan having a pal do it. So, I thought, even though the wedding is in Palm Springs, I'm gonna email Elizabeth. I'm soooo glad I did.
We didn't have many requirements for our ceremony, and while we didn't want it to be 45 minutes long, we also didn't want it to be 5 minutes long. (I think we ended up at a good 15 or so.) We told her we didn't want any talk of God, but also nothing too hippie dippy either. She always responded immediately to emails and gave us lots of ideas for not only readings, but special touches and the order of the whole thing.
She even suggested this thing where the rings were passed through the bridal party to be sorta "blessed" with well wishes - we did it and, while it may sound cheesy writing it here - it definitely brought a tear to my eye. Oh! I didn't even mention all the other stuff - like how she filed all the paperwork for us, and how she had our vows and readings all printed up on very nice paper (vellum overlay even!), and even gave us a nice CD as a wedding gift. I was thoroughly impressed. We just loved how Elizabeth "got" us, and was super helpful in making our ceremony so special to us.
Surprisingly when my day came though, we looked elsewhere for officiants first. I know, I know - stupid, right? Well, we were getting married in Palm Springs and thought we should try to hire someone local - and yeesh, there were some horror stories there. (Almost literally with one lady who I swear could have doubled for either Fire Marshall Bill or The Cryptkeeper - but smothered in perfume.) Then we thought about the possibility of having someone we know do it, but that thought passed quickly. Having seen a bajillion weddings, it doesn't always go according to plan having a pal do it. So, I thought, even though the wedding is in Palm Springs, I'm gonna email Elizabeth. I'm soooo glad I did.
We didn't have many requirements for our ceremony, and while we didn't want it to be 45 minutes long, we also didn't want it to be 5 minutes long. (I think we ended up at a good 15 or so.) We told her we didn't want any talk of God, but also nothing too hippie dippy either. She always responded immediately to emails and gave us lots of ideas for not only readings, but special touches and the order of the whole thing.
She even suggested this thing where the rings were passed through the bridal party to be sorta "blessed" with well wishes - we did it and, while it may sound cheesy writing it here - it definitely brought a tear to my eye. Oh! I didn't even mention all the other stuff - like how she filed all the paperwork for us, and how she had our vows and readings all printed up on very nice paper (vellum overlay even!), and even gave us a nice CD as a wedding gift. I was thoroughly impressed. We just loved how Elizabeth "got" us, and was super helpful in making our ceremony so special to us.
