Timeless and Intimate San Francisco City Hall Wedding

The Intimate Wedding

This San Francisco city hall wedding morning started beautifully at the Proper, a cute boutique hotel only 5-minutes away from San Francisco City Hall. The elaborate wallpapers and art-deco design were a beautiful backdrop for the getting ready space. Heather’s details included matching pearl earrings and necklace, a beautiful floral hair pin, the cutest pair of blue shoes with bows, and a stunning off-the-shoulder, modern wedding dress from aandbe. The most touching gift from her best friend was a recipe box, filled with recipes from her closets friends and family. The sun was in full force and the shadows and contrast from the windows provided avenues for creative and artistic shots. 

Afterwards, Heather and Zack did their first look on the the fourth floor gallery. The large windows illuminated the architecture creating the perfect setting for their dreamy portraits among the arches and hallway. With more contrast and shadow-casting from certain parts of the windows we were able to create some beautiful editorial shots among the light and shadows. Transitioning to some of the other popular spots for portraits, among these of course is the grand staircase and in front of the third floor windows. Sometimes if you get lucky you’ll find more contrast at the top of the staircase like we did that morning. I always recommend having a second shooter to get the variety of portraits we did.

Their San Francisco city hall wedding intimate ceremony was on the Mayor’s Balcony overlooking the grand staircase accompanied by a harpist. After the ceremony we went straight into family portraits. I often prefer to take family and friend group photos immediately after the ceremony so that they don’t have to arrive early or stay late. Being an intimate wedding we got through these very quickly. We ended photography with the classical “just-married” shot in front of the steps of the exterior of city hall then the newlyweds went to a private lunch with their loved ones.

More on City Hall 

The bride and groom as aforementioned got married on the Mayor’s Balcony. On weekdays, a 1-hour ceremony space can be reserved between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm for $1000. Mayor’s balcony accommodates up to 40 seated guests. An alternative ceremony spot is the fourth floor gallery which can accommodate 60 guests standing. More information on City Hall and how to reserve a ceremony slot can be found on their website.  The key to shooting at city hall is to work around their scheduled events. I once made the mistake in the past of shooting an engagement when during an event that hosted 300 people at the bottom of the staircase. Another tip is to start early as their are less crowds to deal with. Finally is to be patient as lots of weddings and other portraiture is going on simultaneously. Sometimes we will have to wait our turn for a spot and that is why I always recommend 1.5 hours for portraits at city hall. Find more information on the San Francisco City Hall Website

Vendors:

• Photographer: Arianna Maddox Photography
• HMUA: Bay Area Beautiful
• Dress: A&Be Bridal Shop

Ending this blog with some more beautiful photos from Heather and Zack’s San Francisco City Hall Elopement with 35mm film.