This was a recent civil ceremony at San Francisco city hall and we thought we would share some wedding photography. We started this photoshoot at city hall, but then finished it at the Legion of Honor. This couple had their family and friends with them to watch them complete their nuptials at this incredible San Francisco wedding venue. One of the interesting things about this particular wedding was that it took place during a Board of Supervisors meeting at SF City Hall. Whenever that occurs, the County Clerk moves all of the weddings to a different location instead of the Rotunda. On this particular day, the civil ceremonies were all moved to the 4th floor. When you think about it, this is a bit of a lucky break because ordinarily, brides and grooms have to pay $1,000 for a wedding on the 4th floor. While it is true that in this case, they don’t have the whole area to themselves, its still a nice location with beautiful architecture. Its kind of like a $900 discount with a free Marriage Commissioner as well! We also got one of the full time employees for our Marriage Commissioner and she did an excellent job. This particular officiant likes to go the extra mile and will actually help arrange the bride’s dress and also checks in with the couple to make sure they are ready. The other thing she does is smile a lot during the ceremony which is great for the wedding photos!
In the photo above our groom places the ring on the finger of his beautiful bride on the 4th floor of San Francisco city hall. We can also see that there are no people on the other side of the building which enhances the photo even more. We frequently have to deal with lots of people on the other side either watching us or taking their own wedding pictures. In some cases, these people in the background can be removed during the editing process to help make the photo look cleaner.
No San Francisco city hall wedding photography session is complete without at least one picture on the famous Grand Staircase. Our couple was again very fortunate that there were very few people around during our photos here. We did have to wait a bit for people to clear out of our view, but this is normal for any San Francisco city hall wedding photo session. Once we had the opportunity to get some pictures here, we jumped at the chance. We normally take a series of photos with various poses in front the staircase and on it. The Grand Staircase is definitely the premiere attraction of San Francisco city hall and no wedding photography session here is complete with it! Of course there are 4 floors at SF City Hall and everyone of them offers something different for great wedding photography.
Always one of our favorite stops on our SF City Hall photo tour, the 2nd floor offers a great example of the Beau Arts Architecture that the building is famous for. The repeating lines and balance between both sides of the hallway represents classic French Style architecture from the early 1900’s. Our newlyweds make the picture perfect! This is also a great location for reflective images due to the marble floors. If the wedding photographers gets down low for the photo, it really enhances the reflectiveness of the floors.
This is one of our fun poses that we do with our newlyweds. It involves having the groom dip the bride back as though they were dancing. Sometimes we have the couple kiss and other times they just smile at each other. Another variation is for the bride to put the flowers straight above her in the air. This makes more of a celebratory San Francisco city hall wedding picture. There are many fun variations of this particular pose.
This casual wedding picture features our newlyweds near the popular 3rd floor window. Wedding Photographers at San Francisco city hall love this window for 3 reasons:
- This north window is beautifully ornate and makes a wonderful background
- The North side of the building has some of the best light at San Francisco city hall
- The 3rd floor offers some of the best privacy in the building
- We can always obtain wedding photos on the 3rd floor without others in the picture
We took this picture using a super wide angles lens. Just about as close to a fish-eye lens as you can get but without the distortion. Its a striking rendition of the San Francisco city hall dome and reveals a not well known fact. The dome from the inside is actually 2 domes. There is an inner dome which is quite visible, but then inside of that is a smaller dome. Many people think that it is just a design, but is is actually a separate dome which makes it very unique to San Francisco city hall and a great background for wedding photography.
A favorite photo we like to do of the couple leaving SF City Hall. It is always a nice way to end the couple’s fantastic day at San Francisco city hall! This beautiful venue also offers other opportunities for great photography other than weddings. We have recently begun to offer Quinceanera photography at city hall. Check out this link to learn more and consider booking us for this traditional photoshoot.