San Francisco City Hall Wedding
So, you have chosen SF City Hall to register your marriage or! you prefer to use this as a location for just a love story photoshoot, and the ceremony itself will take place elsewhere at another time (yes, you can do that too!)
First things first
Here you can get marriage license
Current fee: $113 you pay before your ceremony.
Expires in 90 days.
M – F from 8:15 am to 3:30 pm.
Guests
Yep, only six guests are permitted for public civil ceremonies.
Public Civil Ceremony
Cost: $95
Time: Every half hour, Monday through Friday between 9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Check-in: Ten minutes before your ceremony reservation, at the Information Desk in Room 168
Location: Rotunda
You need: Witness, marriage license, valid IDs for both of you.
For the wedding itself under California law, you need at least one witness. City Hall provides an officiant for public and civil ceremonies. And I can be your witness and photographer :)
Parking in the area is a challenge. I recommend using only guarded parking lots, SF City Hall located not in the safe area. For example Performing Arts Garage - Lot #201 (360 Grove St, San Francisco, CA 94102), I myself always use this parking lot.
7 tips on how to prepare for a wedding shoot in San Francisco City Hall:
Pay attention to the opening hours! San Francisco City Hall does not work on weekends, and on weekdays it opens at 8 am and works until 5 pm. The best time to shoot is 8 am, so most likely you will be the only couple and other people will not interfere with the photoshoot.
Some parts of the city hall can be booked by other couples for a private ceremony. But you can use all the other locations of the City Hall for your photo shoot.
You can take more than one outfit with you. If you want to shoot 2-3 looks, we can easily do it. The City Hall has comfortable restrooms for changing.
You don't need plenty of time to shoot in and around the City Hall. I am familiar with City Hall very well, so we can have 1,5 hour time for both the ceremony and the photoshoot. To book me as a photographer - click here.
The best time to shoot is Monday morning, if it's not the holiday season (most likely there will be tourists there by the time)
Practice poses in advance! I have a guide to posing here and will be happy to share it with you.
Preparation is the key. Therefore, before each photoshoot, I make an individual wedding mood board for my couples, so that you could have a better idea what result you are going to get and what mood the shooting is going to be.
If you have any questions I’m always here to chat