More than ever it seems like our clients have been asking us about how the 6 guest limit rule is being enforced. Even other San Francisco city hall photographers have been asking us. It is a valid question because for years, the County Clerk, SF city hall security and the officiants did not enforce it and basically looked the other way even if a couple brought 20 guests in tow. It’s sudden enforcement back in 2019 took many by surprise not only because of its newness, but also because of the inconsistency of how the rule was applied.
To summarize, on May, 2019 San Francisco city hall started not allowing civil ceremonies with over 6 guests attendance. More importantly, they started enforcing it closely. This rule was always there ass stated on the San Francisco city hall website. However, even as I say this, there is inconsistency among the various officiants. My honest feeling is that if you stay close to the 6, but go slightly over, you should be ok. I recently confirmed this fact with one of the longest tenured officiants at city hall. He told me that if couples come close to the limit and are behaving well, he will allow the extras. If opposite is true, he will ask that some people go up to the 3rd floor to watch the ceremony. This seems like common sense to me and I tend to agree with this approach.
What Happens if you Bring More Than 6 Guests?
So of course, that has been the question. Let’s say you walk into the County Clerk’s office with your 12 guests. The first question that is now asked when you check in is: “How many guests do you have today?” You let them know that you have 12 and that’s when the discussions start. Depending upon the officiant you have or the time of the day there are a number of things that may happen. With all of the uncertainty, I decided to go to the top person I know in the County Clerks office and asked them. What IS the rule? The answer came back swiftly and strong. If you have more than 6, you will be forced to have your ceremony in the Private room. They will no longer allow you to have that large of a ceremony in the Rotunda. Period. I went further and asked what happens if they have so many guests that they will not fit in the private room (fits about 20, but very crowded). UPDATE: The private room seems to be no longer the solution to multiple guests.
In practice, we have seen other ways of handling larger crowds, but it’s probably because they were still trying to figure out how to fairly treat brides and groom getting married at city hall. It seems now that the rules are going to be strictly enforced. Here again, this rule has probably been slightly altered by the Pandemic. I think we all know that stuffing people in rooms is no longer a good or safe practice. So what happens now?
What are the Options for Our City Hall Wedding?
You have showed up to your San Francisco city hall wedding with too many people, what can you do? One option that some people are doing is to just bring 6 people into the Rotunda and the others will have to watch from afar. You can also use the Private room, but then do your own celebration later in other parts of SF city hall. If you have the time and the money, you can book a reserved ceremony at the Mayors Balcony or 4th Floor North Gallery for the price of $1,000 for 1 hour. But this would have to be set up well in advance of your wedding date by making a reservation with the City Hall Events department. We can help you arrange for any of these options, just let us know in advance. We strongly advise you to be honest with San Francisco city hall officials regarding guest count to avoid potential embarrassment and inconvenience on your wedding day.