We worked with a great couple a few years ago And I wanted to revisit the shoot because I was recently thinking about it again. Yuan and Tracy chose our Golden Gate photography package which provided them with 1 additional San Francisco photography location after we finished up their SF City Hall wedding photography session. They choose to go to the Legion of Honor for their extra photography destination and we drove them there. One of the things I offer couples who choose this location is the chance to take a quick photo of the Golden Gate bridge in addition to the Legion of Honor. This is because it so close by and easy to access with just a short drive or even a walk. The process of walking there is actually another opportunity to take some candid photos of the couple as they make their way towards The Bridge. We often escort couples to the 17th hole at Lincoln Park golf course to get the bridge picture, but this time we went to Lands End. What a great place to capture a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge! Whenever we can provide extra value for our Brides and Grooms we don’t hesitate to do so. It’s great for us also, because we are able to present our newlyweds with more amazing wedding images and San Francisco memories.
Lands End allows our couples to walk around a little and also explore the surrounding areas. There is a nice walking trail that offers some amazing views of the ocean. There are also beautiful tall trees that have been around for decades. These backgrounds and scenery gives us many great opportunities to capture our city hall bride and groom in action. The Lands End location is not walking distance away from the Legion of Honor, but it is such a quick drive, that we are happy to include it in the package. The walking trails at Lands End eventually lead to the famous area by the Old Cliff House and Sutro Baths. We are always happy to take some great pictures of the bride and groom walking along this trail, though we wont be able to make it to Lands End final location close to Sutro Baths. It is a very long hike and not something you want want to do in a wedding dress! For more information including a History of Lands End, click the Link
San Francisco City Hall Photography Tour
Before we embarked upon our journey to the Legion of Honor we of course needed to complete our wedding photography tour at San Francisco City Hall. It was very important to Yuan and Tracy to get a shot of their entire wedding party in front of City Hall’s famed Grand Staircase. Fortunately, they booked a later ceremony (3:00 pm) and thus city hall was starting to clear out shortly after we were ready to start their professional wedding photography.
This is something to keep in mind when planning your wedding. If possible, choose a ceremony time NOT in the middle of the day when things are the most busy. We suggest before 9:30 am and after 3:00 pm for the least amount of crowds possible. Just please understand that booking these times do not guarantee small crowds. However, it definitely increases the odds of having less people to deal with! We photographed a 3:00 pm wedding recently and by the time the ceremony and family pictures were completed, San Francisco city hall was nearly empty. This obviously creates a unique and ideal situation to obtain many great photos without having to worry about strangers. Note: Included in our photography packages is free stranger and people removal from the backgrounds of your pictures whenever possible.
After completing some smaller family combinations, we took everyone down to the bottom of the Staircase including the Bride and Groom. We managed to have some moments where the staircase became relatively clear of tourists and other weddings. This actually allowed us to get a clear shot, which we always find exciting! See below to check out their image. Very lucky to capture an image like this with no other people in the background. Note: No Photoshop was used in this particular wedding image.
Once we recorded this all important photo, we took the couple around the building to provide them with some formal wedding photography. We always like to capture some fun shots with our brides and grooms to get them warmed up. We also wanted to figure out if they were interested in receiving some some more fun photos or preferred to keep it more simple. We ask our clients to let us know the style of wedding photography they want. We never push them into doing something they do not feel comfortable with.
Affordable SF City Hall Wedding Package
The package that Yuan and Tracy chose provided them with 2.5 hours of photographic coverage with one extra San Francisco location included. This is the least expensive of our 2 SF Tour Packages. Once we completed their city hall wedding photography we took them to the San Francisco location of the reception, Jardiniere. Note: Unfortunately Jardiniere is no longer in business. Fortunately, there are a number of good places to eat in the Hayes Valley area close to SF City Hall where Jardiniere once was. One of our favorites, Absinthe, is highly recommended and caters to wedding parties! It is also walking distance from your wedding at San Francisco City Hall. You can also consider heading to North Beach after your nuptials to sample some Italian food. North Beach is a another personal favorite. I love an excuse to go there for Italian food and wedding photography! North Beach is about 15 minutes away from SF City Hall.
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂