Meet Mimi and Kim and check out their City Hall Vietnamese wedding! San Francisco dwellers & all-around sweet and practical people!

Close family and chosen family attended the wedding.

Mimi and Kim will have a larger wedding reception in the South of France the following year!

It made sense to do a City Hall wedding before that event so that the legal side of things is taken care of at home before their international wedding.

Kim’s parents flew in from their home in Paris, France to attend their son’s wedding. Kim’s sister attended via Facetime!

Mimi wore a stunning white Ted Baker Polly structured bow dress and blue stilettos as her ‘something blue’. It really popped against the pink hues of the Tennessee marble.

The couple got married at San Francisco City Hall in January 2019 – an awesome time to get married as it’s one of the quieter times of the year! Christmas is over and New Year has died down, and we’re not into Valentine’s season!

Congratulations, Mimi & Kim! This sweet Vietnamese American couple have my heart!!

Table of Contents

Last-minute City Hall booking!

They booked their City Hall wedding photography with me just 2 days before their wedding.

Last-minute bookings are rare, with most couples booking anything from 1 – 2 months out.

In fact, many couples book their ceremony with City Hall the maximum 90 days out and their photographer soon after.

But I’m always there for last-minute couples if I’m not already booked!

I couldn’t have been happier to photograph their intimate City Hall wedding, surrounded by so much love and laughter.

Fully present for this City Hall Vietnamese wedding

Mimi emphasized how important it was for everyone to be fully present and really feel part of the afternoon’s proceedings, rather than snapping pictures.

Knowing that the group would feel compelled to get their smartphones out every chance they got, it was a good call to insist on an unplugged ceremony.

When the City Hall ceremony lasts only 4 minutes (less if you aren’t exchanging rings!), presence is something you can ask for!

I made sure I got lots of coverage of the group interacting in the corridor outside room 168 of San Francisco City Hall – the County Clerk’s office.

So bring on all the City Hall Vietnamese weddings!

Vietnamese-American wedding couple on 4th Floor of San Francisco City Hall by Zoe Larkin Photography

Candid wedding photography at City Hall

With a group that’s larger than just 2 or 3 guests, it allows us more opportunities for candid photography.

Folks laugh, hug, chat, catch up and soon forget there’s a photographer there. The Vietnamese families

A common reaction I get is ‘wow, I couldn’t remember all those moments happening – even the ones I was part of!’

Though only accounted for about 15 minutes, a skilled candid photographer can capture so many little interactions.

We are limited in our time at City Hall. The process is a fast-moving well-oiled machine. They have a lot of couples to marry every single day – actually up to 60 on Fridays.

I’m experienced in condensing the excitement, anticipation, joy, tears, elation and ALL THE FEELS!

We may only have just 2 or 3 hours for photography. Having shot dozens of weddings there, I’ve realized every wedding celebration is unique.

There’s a little of everything in your finished wedding gallery! Candids, details, formals, posed portraits…

Practical and fun!

I find it’s fairly common for couples to marry at City Hall for very good and practical reasons! Green Cards, buying a house, filing jointly at tax time, spontaneous elopements, or ahead of a destination wedding abroad.

We always recommend marrying for practical reasons! And that does not negate the romantic reasons one bit.

I had the simplest City Hall myself! It was a couple of days after my arrival in the states with my K1 fiance visa, the first step to getting a Green Card!

I list on vendor directory A Practical Wedding, which is a great resource for super practical couples. They help people who want to keep their weddings down-to-earth.

Weddings can get a little crazy and have a tendency to spiral! There’s something about City Hall weddings that calms my soul.

City Hall weddings are basically the antidote to the wedding-industrial complex. Fun, simple, joyful, quick and beautiful.

________________________________________________

Looking for an experienced City Hall photographer that will also guide you through timelines, locations and the whole process?

When you book me as your San Francisco City Hall wedding photographer, you’ll also receive oodles of personalized help crafting the City Hall wedding day that’s perfect for you. I pride myself on getting to know my couples so we can create some customized each time.

And that’s sometimes available at the last minute? I love a good City Hall Vietnamese wedding and have worked with couples from different backgrounds.

Be sure to check out my guide linked below.

Always up to date, my guide takes you through it step by step and is the planning resource you’ve been looking for.

Pin this graphic to your City Hall wedding planning board!