I can’t believe I’m finally able to share our engagement photoshoot and civil wedding experience! It was by far one of our favorites, of course, with it being such an important day in our lives. When we first started wedding planning, Victor and I were unsure if we just wanted to elope and keep our wedding very small and intimate, but decided to do our civil wedding as a very intimate gathering while we did our engagement photos in San Francisco instead.
San Francisco City Hall is one of the most beautiful city halls I have ever seen! We narrowed down our inspo for engagement photos and decided to go for something timeless, editorial, romantic, and fun. Our photographer Paige is amazing and she really knew how to capture exactly what we were looking for!
The Ceremony
We booked our Marriage License appointment about 3 months in advance, which I highly recommend, and the timing worked out perfectly with our photographer’s schedule because she was going to be in town that same weekend. When we arrived for our appointment, we waited in line behind several other people who were eloping and doing their civil wedding, it was such an exciting experience to be around so much love! There were also actual wedding ceremonies happening around the city hall that you could reserve, they were stunning!
We submitted our application and then met with Paige for our photoshoot. We took photos around the city hall, taking turns with other groups since it was very busy. We also had some family following us around and getting behind the scene pics and videos, and of course my dad had the whole family on a video call watching us while they sobbed, haha. It was such a fun time and I loved seeing Paige’s creative ideas come to life with different photo ideas we had! If you’re interested in booking with Paige, you can book with her here!
At the end of our shoot, I did a dress change and we did our exit photos with our family and friends cheering us on. After our city hall ceremony, all of us went to a late lunch and the Golden Gate Bridge right before sunset. Nearby was Baker Beach which has beautiful views of the bridge and the ocean.
I was so thankful we had the most beautiful sunset because this is when Erick, our officiant, did his speech and had us do a mini vow exchange. This was totally unplanned for us which made it even more perfect! After we had our intimate beach ceremony, we popped champagne and enjoyed the beach before running back to the car because it was freezing out! Even with frizzy beach hair and outfits that made no sense, it was such a perfect day. I highly recommend doing this as part of your wedding journey! View the SF City Hall Photoshoot Gallery for more photos.
Getting Married in SF City Hall
If you’re interested in doing something similar, here are some important tips and things to know in advance:
- Set your Marriage License appointment in advance and coordinate the time and date with a photographer.
- Make sure your application is filled out and you bring a form of ID to the appointment.
- You must get married within 90 days of your license appointment in California. We had our very close friend Erick become an official ordained minister so he could sign our documents and marry us.
- Ensure that whoever performs your ceremony submits all of the paperwork accurately, on time, and to the right place.
- If you want a friend or family member to perform your ceremony, Erick became an official ordained minister for free here.
- If you’d like to plan your wedding ceremony at the city hall, you can look in to booking it here.
- This link gives you step by step instructions and requirements for getting married here!
- If you need a photographer, check out Paige’s website!
Amazing 🤩 you did amazing with details and information 🥰