Georgie and Keron traveled clear across the world just to get married at beautiful San Francisco City Hall. They had no friends or relatives in town, nor had they ever been here before. They just noticed online what a beautiful wedding venue SF city hall is and decided to elope here. This really shows what a great Wedding Venue San Francisco city hall really is. It attracts people from all over the world to come here just to get married. It is probably one of the ultimate elopement venues on the west coast, especially if photography is considered as a rating factor. It is reasonably priced, convenient and beautiful. Here is an interesting article that lists the Top Wedding Venues in San Francisco and City Hall unsurprisingly comes in at number 2. However, it’s still number one for elopements in my opinion. It is actually an honor to be one of the primary city hall wedding photographers at this exciting and well known wedding venue.
This couple loved the idea of getting married at San Francisco city hall so much that they rented out the entire Mayor’s Balcony so they would have privacy and not have to worry about tourists wandering through their ceremony. It is rare that couples do this, but we have seen it before and it can be a great idea. Even at $1,000 (the cost to reserve the Mayor’s Balcony for 1 hour) having your wedding at San Francisco City Hall for an elopement is a bargain! For more information about renting out the Mayor’s Balcony check out our article on the subject. We talk extensively about the advantages both from a cost standpoint and beauty. Where else can you have access to this amazing historic building; choose from some of the best city hall wedding photographers in the San Francisco area and also have your own intimate wedding ceremony? Pretty tough to find, especially in the Bay Area. It is hard to emphasize enough what a great place this is for weddings and of course photography. Our clients are often amazed when they walk in to the building and see all of the beauty and history.
SF City Hall Photography Tour Begins
After the ceremony we took Georgie and Keron throughout the SF city hall building to make sure we made their trip from Australia a memorable one. We felt a bit more pressure, because they had come so far. We were not about to let them down. They booked our Golden Gate Package so we had plenty of time to tour around the building and capture some great wedding photos. One of our first stops was the 3rd floor on the north side of the building. The light there at mid-day is amazing, it’s like having your own photo studio at San Francisco city hall. Artists understand that northern light is preferable for due to its softness and mild intensity. Many artists studios have North Facing windows for this same reason. We took the photo above with minimal lighting, just mostly using window light. San Francisco city hall weddings photographers frequently bring their couples to this area to take advantage of the great light here. We know this because we often have to wait our turn to take pictures in this amazing studio-like area. This is just one of the many great areas we took this couple before venturing out into other parts of San Francisco for more wedding photos outdoors.
Golden Gate Bridge Wedding Photography
After spending more time in the building, our newlyweds wanted to go to the Golden Gate Bridge (who doesn’t?) for more wedding pictures. We drove them there in our comfortable car and the weather was amazing. We chose Crissy Field on this particular day since the air was relatively clear and the bridge was in plain site with no fog getting in the way. Crissy Field is a favorite of ours because it offers so many backgrounds and views for exceptional San Francisco wedding photography. For the photo below, we put them on top of one of the little mounds of grass and got this amazing shot of the Bridge with blue sky behind it. Different angles are available from up on top of this hill with all of them spectacular. Note: Crissy Field now charges for parking, so make sure you are ready to pay.
The other thing we really like about the Crissy field location for San Francisco wedding photography is the multitude of available camera angles. You can face the Golden Gate bridge, the water and SF Downtown all from one convenient location. Where else can you capture views of these iconic areas without having to move the couple one inch. There is also a very nice shoreline for walking along the water for additional wedding pictures. This has made this San Francisco destination one of our favorites to take our newlyweds for extended coverage wedding photography. Here is a great site that will give you even more useful information about Crissy Field in San Francisco. Definitely our favorite location for Golden Gate Bridge photos because so much else is offered. The only exception to this is if it is hazy or foggy. When the weather isnt perfect, we often venture closer to the bridge for wedding photography.
Not Just About Wedding Photography
Having spent considerable time in this article discussing all of the details of our wedding photography session with this great couple it is important to mention one other very important issue. When a couple makes the decision to get married in a particular place, there are many reasons. The most obvious of these, we have discussed at length above. Yes, San Francisco city hall offers amazing architecture as a backdrop to create great wedding pictures. However, there is more to a wedding day then just the photography. This couple came all the way here because they wanted to enjoy their day and make memories. The combination of their time spent at San Francisco city hall, coupled with going out to Crissy Field on such a beautiful day, made their wedding experience incredible. As your San Francisco city hall wedding photographer, we make sure that the couple has the time to relax and enjoy all that the city has to offer.
Wedding Photography at Crissy Field with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background