April and Michael posing at SF City Hall
I thought it would be fun to do an ongoing series of blog posts regarding some of our favorite past weddings and couples. We have had so many great experiences in our 900 plus San Francisco city hall weddings that it is really hard to focus on just a few, but some do stand out due to the fun time we had. We have stayed in touch with both of the couples featured below and continue to enjoy keeping up with them. We will feature 2 weddings with each blog post. I often think what sets certain couples apart is the relationship we build with them after the photoshoot. To see more wedding photography portfolio pictures, please go to our CITY HALL HOME PAGE.
San Francisco City Hall Staircase
Waving Goodbye after their ceremony
Tracy and James – San Francisco City Hall 2013
This couple was among our first 10 San Francisco city hall weddings and was really one of our best to that point. We were just starting to learn some of the secrets to finding the best wedding photography spots at city hall and what time of the day to shoot at particular locations. Tracy especially was up for anything and wanted to try lots of new poses and ideas. We did extreme dip poses, window shots and some new Grand Staircase angles and ideas. A bonus for this wedding is that Tracy submitted some of our shots to the J. Crew catalog and got our wedding featured on that publication for a few years. This ended up being a great marketing feature for us and we were very appreciative for her efforts. she had nothing personally to gain by doing this, but was just trying to help us out. We were honored that the J. Crew catalog thought enough of our city hall photos to feature them.
Here are a few shots from this great San Francisco city hall wedding. This photo below is one of the ones that made the J. Crew Catalog and also happens to be a favorite of ours. We often give our couples some pretty detailed instructions on how to pull this pose off but Tracy and James pretty much did this one on their own. They seemed natural at doing this wedding dance pose and this made the photo look very authentic. It is also important to note that they are not straining and seem to be genuinely having a great time.
The window photo below this one is no longer allowed at city hall, but used to be one we always loved doing. Due to safety reasons and wear and tear on San Francisco city hall, this particular location was banned by building management. The light was perfect that day with not too much coming through the window. The lack of back light makes it a bit easier to pull off. Backlight is always a concern when you’re shooting into a window because it can cause lack of contrast or silhouettes. More importantly, it can cause the primary subjects to go sort of gray and look like ghosts. I have seen this on many other City Hall wedding photography websites.
Deep Dance Dip Post at San Francisco City Hall
Leg Kick on the Mayors Balcony
April and Michael – City Hall Wedding Photography 2014
This wedding was one of our first marriages where the couple asked us to provide them with extensive yet affordable wedding photography coverage that also included taking pictures at their Reception. We provided April and Michael with a special package that included full city hall wedding coverage and 3 locations around San Francisco. We finished up in Downtown SF at their wedding reception site for a short time.
Throughout this extensive wedding photography tour they were always a delight to work with and so much fun. We love upbeat couples like April and Michael and they really represent some of the major reasons we enjoy shooting weddings at this incredible venue. They paid the extra money to have a reserved wedding on the 4th floor of San Francisco city hall. The Event Department charges $1,000 for this type of reserved wedding. This allowed them invite a large number of guests to attend their San Francisco city hall wedding. Couples also need to hire their own officiant when utilizing this option.
Everyone really seemed to enjoy watching this great bride and groom get hitched. As you can see from the photos below, we ended up the shoot at Michael Mina restaurant in San Francisco. As you can also see, they had some luck outside of San Francisco city hall when this Cable Car bus showed up out of the blue. This allowed them to take an iconic Cable Car shot! It wasn’t planned it just happened. We chose to do a front angle of the cable car to make it look more authentic. A side view would have shown the tires on the trolley which would have made it obvious that it wasn’t a true cable car. For more information about San Francisco’s iconic cable car system please click the link. Imagine that, the cable car line now goes right past San Francisco city hall!
Ring Exchange at City Hall ceremony
