This story begins at Christmas time at San Francisco city hall and there were no reservations available for civil ceremonies at that time. In fact, City Hall weddings were so booked up in December of 2024 that the County Clerk made the decision to temporarily increase the number of weddings scheduled per hour. This was helpful, but even these new time slots disappeared quickly. So what do you do if you are an engaged couple and want to get married at City Hall during this busy time of the year? Note: This blog post relates to anytime you are unable to not book a wedding date at San Francisco city hall, not just during the Christmas season.
Fortunately, there is an alternative way to have your wedding in this historic building if you are unable to book a time and wedding date. Keep reading to learn how this works. My website for SF city hall wedding pictures also talks about this scenario as well and so you can also go there for more general information.
Book Your Own Officiant and Get Married at SF City Hall
The couple displayed all through this blog post were determined to have their wedding at City Hall during the Christmas season. They contacted me to be their SF City Hall Wedding Photographer and asked me for suggestions. I mentioned a few options which included trying to book a Reserved city hall wedding Ceremony at the Mayor’s Balcony or 4th Floor North Gallery. Also suggested was the possibility of having their marriage elsewhere, but coming back to San Francisco city hall for wedding pictures only. Of course, this option costs over $1,000 if you include the price of an officiant and music.
However, the suggestion they liked the most was hiring a private officiant and getting married in a quiet location within the actual city hall building. We let the couple know that we were happy to help plan this and even suggest some experienced Officiants. We recommended hiring an officiant who had done private ceremonies in the past at San Francisco city hall and gave them a list of qualified ones. This, we explained to them, was preferred because it really does make a difference to have an experienced officiant for your SF city hall wedding celebration. Many of the officiants we will refer to you actually wear the judges robes that you see at SF city hall all of the time. At the very least, we know that our officiant referrals will be professionally dressed like the one pictured here was. This helps keep strangers and other tourists out of the area of the wedding ceremony because people recognize the officiant as being official.
Starting the Photography Coverage at the Grand Staircase
Our original plan was to start our wedding photography coverage with the private ceremony. We were to meet the officiant by the Grand Staircase and then together find a suitable place in the building for ceremony. Fortunately, the couple happened to arrive early and we noticed that the Staircase was clear of foot traffic. This gave us the opportunity to start taking photos right at that moment. We always try to take advantage of an uncrowded Grand Staircase when we see it. The couple arrived 10 minutes early, which was just enough time to obtain some amazing wedding pictures before the San Francisco city hall ceremony was to start. Once this mini wedding photography session was complete, it was time for the ceremony. This also meant it was time to pick a good spot for it.
Finding the Best City Hall Ceremony Location
Our usual focus when it comes to San Francisco city hall private ceremony locations is finding a private area. Yes, beauty in the background is also essential if possible, but it takes a back seat to providing the couple with a nice quiet location to celebrate their nuptials with no interuptions. If we can do both, all the better, but there is always the time after the ceremony to capture great wedding pictures around the building. We ended up choosing the 3rd floor on the south side of the building for our ceremony and it worked out great. The couple did not have a huge number of guests and so that area accommodated them with no problem.
Once the ceremony was complete, we captured the family photos and group shots with everyone in attendance. The 3rd floor on that side of the building is often our first choice for private ceremonies due to the lack of traffic in that area. Our experience at City Hall showed us that this was the least travelled location in the building.
SF City Hall Wedding Photography Tour
With all of the wedding essentials out of the way, it was time for our formal wedding photography session around San Francisco city hall. We like to call this our City Hall Photo Tour. We take the newlyweds to various places around this beautiful building and capture some great memories in pictures. We usually do this with just the couple alone, but they have the option of bringing some people along for more photos if they so desire.
With this particular couple, we had already captured images of them on the Grand Staircase, so we proceeded to go to many of SF City Hall’s most desirable locations such as the Mayor’s Balcony, The Rotunda and the 4th floor North Gallery. We completed the photoshoot as we always do, with photos of the happy newlyweds by the City Hall entrance sign. Below are some of the pictures we captured on their San Francisco city hall wedding photography tour around the building.
