If you want to get married at San Francisco City Hall on a Saturday, you need to pay $5,000 for 2 hours of time. Since City Hall is closed on Weekends you end up having the whole building to yourself with no worries about others getting in the way of your photos and ceremony. Only your guests and your professional helpers can be there. This also includes security staff which you have to pay for yourself. The City Hall event staff allow you to have access to nearly the whole building for professional wedding photography. The only floor they normally don't allow you to access is the 4th floor. Although on occasion if you are willing to be escorted to the various floors by a security officer, you may be able to hit the 4th floor North Gallery or the Mayor's Balcony. I have found that all we need to do on Saturdays is ask and they are pretty accomodating. As you can see from the photo above, Saturday weddings are always on the Grand Staircase and they allow a pretty large crowd to attend. One thing to realize is that if you do want to have your wedding on a Saturday, you have to coordinate with the City Hall Event Department to choose your vendors. Any potential wedding vendor must have met the insurance requirements that the City of San Francisco requires and also must name city hall on their insurance policy. They also want any vendors you use to be preapproved and to have gone through the Events department approval process. The Events Department can also provide referrals, to make choosing your vendors much easier. If needed, they also have a list of professional San Francisco city hall wedding photographers for you to choose from. Do not make the mistake of hiring a wedding vendor on your own without involving the Events Department in the process. Many vendors will not qualify and do not hold the appropriate insurance coverage. They have a very large list of practically any type of wedding vendor you and your future spouse could possibly need.
The City Hall Events department offers 2 starting times for these weddings. One can start at 9:00 am and the other at 12:00 noon. Very nice portable wooden chairs are provided and can seat up to 200 guests with no additional charge. If you go over 200, you will need to inquire about extra costs. As mentioned above, the use of outside vendors requires advance approval before booking. You should also inquire in advance regarding security for your event. It is highly recommended and San Francisco city hall can provide this for you at a cost. Equipment rental is also available depending upon what you need. I know that many couples rent sound equipment for their wedding celebration. This might be important if you have a large group. The important thing is to work closely with the Events Department. They are incredibly helpful and on top of things. I would also personally suggest that you hire a city hall wedding photographer who is familiar with Saturday weddings. It is a bit different and you will be happy to have that Saturday-specific experienced photographer to take your pictures. Other considerations include making sure your guests arrive on time and are ready to go. The 2 hours goes by fast and I recently photographed one wedding where we barely had the time to take pictures because everyone was late. You don't want to pay $5,000 and miss out on the photo tour or other fun parts of the celebration. Warn your guests in advance about potential San Francisco traffic problems and getting through security. If possible ask everyone to arrive early with a different starting time.
