Jenny and Randy - San Francisco City Hall Civil Ceremony

Jenny and Randy did a small civil ceremony at the San Francisco City Hall. They brought their families, including their adorable pup. The civil ceremony at SF City Hall is the perfect option for celebrating more intimately with just your close group of loved ones, ahead of a larger wedding or celebration. We spent roughly 2 hours at City Hall, dividing our time between the license appointment and official ceremony, family pictures at all of the most popular photo spots, then taking just the couple around to some of the sneakier spots like the marbled staircase and the elevators. It was a busy Thursday morning at City Hall, but we did it all!

Photography Schedule

If. you’re looking to plan a civil ceremony at the San Francisco City Hall, the below can be helpful guidance.

The first step will be checking in with the Clerk’s office ahead of your ceremony (and license appointment if you’re doing it on the same day). Depending on the day and time, there may be lines, so plan accordingly. I always offer to meet my couples at City Hall 20 minutes before their appointment, and I show them to the Clerk’s office. There’s no photography allowed, so my official coverage won’t start until the ceremony itself. However, checking in as a group and making sure that I’m with the couple exactly when and where the ceremony begins is important.

When it’s your turn, either the commissioner will lead you to the ceremony location or you will be instructed to wait for your commissioner at the ceremony location. Jenny and Randy had their ceremony at the rotunda, which only has 2 couples every hour. So there’s actually plenty of time to take family / group photos here after the ceremony. The civil ceremony itself is always super quick, and we always stay in the rotunda area afterwards for more photos with the family / couple photos showing off their new wedding bands.

We then went around to various spots around City Hall - the grand staircase, second floor area just in front of the rotunda, the fourth floor balcony, and the iconic City Hall doors at the front of the building. We spent the most amount of time waiting for photos at the staircase (it was pretty busy that day) and organizing different family group photos on the fourth floor balcony. While we also took some couple photos while their family was there, we got more focused photos after we dismissed the family (Jenny and Randy were going to meet up with them for a dinner party after). If you feel that you might feel shy taking couple photos in front of your family and new in laws, I especially recommend dedicating time with just the two of you to take couple photos.

Huge congratulations to this sweet couple on starting off their new journey as husband and wife. I’m so honored to have been there to witness and capture a milestone for your life together.

Vendors that Jenny & Randy booked:
Florals: La Olivia
Hair & Make Up: Urban Beauty Loft
Photographer: sustudio photography