Tag Archives: Nicole Blumberg Photography

How to get married at San Francisco City Hall. A Travelers Guide

Being that is it Valentine’s day, there is no doubt that many many people will be getting engaged today. After the engagement comes the planning and since The SF City Hall is a popular wedding location for people across the world I thought I would write up a post that would make getting married or elopeing there much easier!

San Francisco City Hall is stunning from the outside to every single detail inside. It’s ornate, has charm and gives you the option to have an elopement that is small and casual or a longer wedding where you can rent the mayors balcony or even the entire hall for a few hours on a Saturday. Regardless what you decide to do for your wedding, you can guarantee that your wedding will have personality and you will be surrounded by beautiful architecture and light. Oh the light! From mornings to evenings. Light and airy or a little more dramatic.

Sometimes the steps to get married can be confusing but I’m here to help! How to get married at San Francisco City Hall

First, you will need to get your marriage license. A marriage license is a permit to get married. It is valid for 90 days after applying. Meaning you will need to get another one if you do not have your elopement or wedding within the 90 days of signing. The permit cost $103.00 (cash, money order and/or debit card)

You will need to go to:

  • San Francisco County Clerk
    City Hall, Suite 168
    1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
    San Francisco, CA 94102-4678
    Phone: (415) 554-4950

You’ll need to call to make your appointment first between the hours of 8am and 4pm Monday -Friday.

You do not need to be a legal resident of California to apply either. So if you are visiting from out of state and want to get married here you are welcome to.  Both parties need to be 18 and older and both be present. Don’t forget to have a legal I.D. card with you. Find out more here . To get to the city hall you can get there by BART and get off at Civic Center Bart station. Walk up the staircase to Market street and literately just walk straight, you’ll come to a split in the street, take the slight right on Hayes St. keep walking straight and then make a right on Polk. You won’t miss it. It’s huge. If you are driving There is a parking lot underneath Civic center plaza and you can enter on McAllister Street, between Polk and Larkin. There is a ton of street parking as well.

Once you have your license signed and paid for you will want to reserve your time slot for your wedding. Reservations for your ceremony costs $76 and need to be paid when booked. You can do it online (must have a credit card visa/master card) or in person up to 90 days in advance. If you go in person make sure you are both there and have your I.D.’s as well as a payment form of cash, money order and/or debit. Make sure it’s the date you want because you can’t change it or get a refund. You’ll have to pay again.

Ceremonies are available Monday-Friday at 9:30 a.m through 3:30 p.m. Every half hour. There are three reservation slots available during each time period. A very popular option for a more privet and larger event is renting the North or South 4th floor or the Mayors Balcony for your ceremony. You get a longer allotted time frame and can have up to 100 guests. It cost $1,002.00 and you’ll want to contact the Events Office at City Hall for more info (room 495, 415-554-6086

If you plan to purchase your marriage license on the same day as your ceremony reservation, you must make and pay for a marriage license reservation for the same day at least 30 minutes PRIOR to your ceremony reservation time. For example, if your ceremony reservation is 10:00 a.m., your marriage license reservation should be scheduled no later than 9:30 a.m.

The day of your wedding you will want to go to the information desk at City Hall, Room 168 to check in 10 minutes before your appointment time. (Don’t forget you have to go through the security line. Normally the line moves pretty fast but you should give yourself at least 30 minutes before you need to check in) You can bring up to two witnesses with you.  There’s a waiting area outside of the room for your other guests. This where everyone signs the marriage license. =) (You can bring photographers with you as well. I’ve gone in with addition to the two witnesses and haven’t been told to leave yet. =) How to get married at San Francisco City Hall Nicole Blumberg Photography

Make sure to have your valid marriage license, both of your I.D’s and your witnesses. You need at least one witness. If you would like me (your photographer) to sign as your witness I would be honored to.

During the ceremony, they say the rule is no more than 6 guests and that includes a photographer. Because the hall itself is open to the public, I have seen people have more guests standing around. =) People have never been turned away. Which also means you may have standby-ers and tourists watching as you marry =) unless you have a more privet wedding in the mayor’s balcony. People may peek in but normally they will stay back and you won’t even notice them.

 

 

The ceremonies are from 9am to 3:30 pm Monday through Friday and held mostly in the Rotunda on the second floor above the large staircase and are about 10 minutes long.  Where you will be having your ceremony is really up to the judge that will be marrying you and how many other weddings are happening. If it’s slow and not many people are getting married before or after you, it’s always worth it to ask and see if you can get married on the 4th floor or the mayor’s balcony.  You get to meet your judge when you sign your marriage license.

 

Fridays are the busiest days to get married at the city hall. While Mondays-Wednesdays in the early part of the day is the slowest at the hall.  If it’s possible to get married on one of those days I always suggest it. This gives you and me better photo opportunities around the hall. Often times when it is very busy It’s much harder to get photos without people in the background. And tourists don’t think about the weddings that will be going on before they plan to come visit the hall. So they come in the dreaded neon green shirt and stand around oblivious to everything around them. Also, there is more waiting for areas while another photographer is using the space. For more information on ceremonies at city hall, you can read that here

You might want to spend a separate day just walking around the city hall to familiarize yourself with it. Figure out where certain places are in the building and the bathrooms =) The bathrooms are on the first floor on both sides in large room’s. If possible apply for your wedding license before the day you are going to get married. It can get really hot in the city hall. It’s a very old building and not insulated well. Don’t be shy to wear a fun shorter wedding dress other than a long heavy one.

If you plan on doing something after your wedding for your guests, there is an abundance of great food and restaurants around the city! Don’t forget to make your reservations before. You can also rent trolleys to give your guests a tour of the city! It’s very fun! You will get ton’s of love from all of the city natives and if your guests are from out of town they will love all the sightseeing that comes along with it! Don’t forget to have me document whatever celebration you have planned after! You will want the memories!

 

I hope you have found this article helpful and valuable in your planning. Please let me know if there is anything you have found helpful to add as well! Helping one another in this thing called life is by far one of the most important things we can do for each other!

Email me to find out more details and booking options for your day!

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  • Alicia Yarrish - The architecture at San Francisco City Hall is stunning! What an amazing place to get married at!ReplyCancel

  • Sarah - Oh my word! These images from San Francisco city hall are stunning! What a lovely place! ReplyCancel

  • Twinspirational - Our older sister got married on Valentine’s Day! We loved all of your wedding planning tips for getting married at San Francisco City Hall. You are such a talented photographer. ReplyCancel

  • Cierra - This is such a great guide on how to get married at the San Francisco City Hall! I’ve seen quite a few elopements and weddings there and it’s absolutely gorgeous! If I lived in the area I’d definitely love to get married there!ReplyCancel

  • Jennifer Blume - San Francisco City Hall will forever be one of my favorite venues ever!  It is so incredibly stunning!  And you have put together an incredible How-To guide for couples who want to get married there!ReplyCancel

  • Sarah Holladay - Whoa, I never realized how absolutely gorgeous San Francisco City Hall is!!  It feels like an elegant, elaborate wedding! Your tips are perfect for anyone looking into this option- and if they do- they should absolutely book you as their wedding photographer!ReplyCancel

  • Laura P - What a great idea to put all the pertinent information about getting married at city hall in one place. Every city is different and I’m sure San Fran has a few more rules than maybe a small town in middle America. ReplyCancel

  • Marie Rood - What a gorgeous San Francisco city hall wedding. Your work is stunning, I wish our city hall looked this good!ReplyCancel

  • Jennifer M. Outlaw - Wow!  San Francisco City Hall is the most gorgeous place to get married!!  I love all the architecture and it looks like there are so many different spots for beautiful pictures.  Thank you for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Michele - This is the best post ever, with so much information. My fiance and I were just looking for all the tips on how to get married at San Francisco hall, and ways to make it easier. You have all the info right here! I wish everything was this easy, and these images…. Amazing!!! ReplyCancel

  • Sarah - This is such great information on how to get married at San Francisco city hall! Thank you for sharing! ReplyCancel

  • Hilary - What a helpful and well thought out post! You made it simple and easy to understand. It might just be a city hall but it is absolutely stunning there!  ReplyCancel

  • Kristin - What a gorgeous place to get married! This is such a great guide on how to get married at San Francisco City Hall and full of helpful information.ReplyCancel

  • Andrea - Such great tips!  San Francisco’s city hall is hands down the most beautiful municipal building anyone could get married in, so gorgeous. I wouldn’t have a clue where to even start if I wanted to get married there, great post very helpful!ReplyCancel

  • Kara - I never new the San Francisco City Hall was such a beautiful place! Where I’m from the courthouses are small dingy places, but this is such a lovely guide for people wanting to get married here. ReplyCancel

  • Joshua - This is a great blog! It is very informative blog about getting the marriage licenses. I did learn a several things about it since I haven’t done it before. Thank you for sharing the tips. :)I hope you don’t mind if I make a suggestion for this blog – San Francisco is a diverse city but I only see all couples on these pictures are white heterosexuals. It would be great if you include same-sex couples and people of colors too to best represent the City of San Francisco. ReplyCancel

  • Brittany Slaughter - the san francisco city hall is on my list of places to shoot a wedding! such a beautiful space ReplyCancel

San Francisco Commercial Photography

Most of the time I shoot weddings and portraits. once in a while I get hired to do commercial photography . During these shoots I get to stylize and take photos of their products for their sites or their catalogs. Still life photography has always been one of my favorite types of photography. It reminds me the mornings of wedding days when I get to start with doing the details in the bridal suite. Not to mention I get to often go home with amazing products to use and share with friends.

 

These shots are for Jane Inc’s new catalog. She wanted  colorful, happy and Spring inspired.  I think we accomplished that goal! Her products smell amazing too by the way! each one is made with all natural ingredients here in the Bay Area. You can find her products in stores like Anthropology, Urban Outfitters and  even see them on the Today show!

 

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San Francisco Commercial Photography

Marines Memorial Club Wedding Photography| San Francisco| Megan and Jason

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Megan and Jason are charming, sweet and such a bubbly couple. I adored photographing their wedding and getting to know their family and friends. Everyone was so warm and welcoming . They had a gorgeous Marines Memorial Club Wedding in San Francisco. Just check it out for yourself!

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Venue- Marines Memorial Club

Floral Design- Fiori Designs

Cake- Branching out cakes

DJ- The Spinheads

Caterer- Marines Memorial Club

Hair Stylist- Camellia  Bertteridge 

 

 

 

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St Dominics Cathedral Wedding | Georgia and Colin

If there was ever a St Dominic’s Cathedral wedding to go to, it would have been this one.  Georgia and Colin held a intimate ceremony and then moved to the Presidio Golf Course celebrate with close family and friends. And not a single drop of rain could ruin this beautiful affair. In fact I think the fog made it that much more beautiful.

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San Francisco | Grace Cathedral Wedding | Andrea And Patrick

 

Andrea and Patrick had a beautiful day full of lots of love and TONS of fun. They know how to throw a party for sure! We started off with our prep at the Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel on California Street. The ceremony was held at Grace Cathedral; one of the largest and most beautiful landmarks in the city. It really was an honor to be a part of their day. Congratulations Andrea and Patrick!These next three photos need a little back story. If you’re not familiar with S.F. we have cable cars that travel around the city for transportation. Andrea and Patrick are all about fun and wanted to hit up a cable car for some photos. We decided to stop a massively packed cable car in the middle of the city streets to get some photos. Leave it to us to just step in and say, “We’re taking over…”. Hey, I’m Nicole Blumberg and I get what my couples want. After the car stops Andrea and Patrick jump on the car for some cute shots. Granted there’s tons of people (and tourists who I don’t even know if they speak English that were kicked off the car for us) but in the midst of the city on short notice we can’t do “staged”. I love how this picture is just so … S.F. These are two proud papas. This is a perfect photo as two families celebrate the joining into one. A little game for Patrick, blindfolded he had to pick Andrea’s hand out of a line of outstretched arms.
And he picked her mom!! Close but no cigar! I love their cake cutting faces. Patrick looks like he’s on the front lines, storming the cake! Great expressions. LOVE IT!

And a few from the Nicole Blumberg Photobooth =) Such a fun wedding! 
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