These two beautiful people flew up especially from Orange County, CA to celebrate their San Francisco City Hall destination wedding. They brought with them a small handful of close family including Steph’s father, Minh’s mother, plus siblings and cousins.

Stephanie and Minh had been together for a year and a half before tying the knot. They are ‘pretty cheesy’ with one another, always goofing around.

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The wedding day itself

They chose the day before Valentine’s Day to celebrate, anticipating a less busy atmosphere than Valentine’s Day. It turned out to be a wise choice! The 9am ceremony meant we had the entire City Hall to ourselves to vogue on the Grand Staircase!

Stephanie had never seen SF City Hall in the flesh before her big day! She was so impressed especially as it was so empty!

Stephanie and Minh were keen to include their little 9-lb maltipoo Mouti (short for ‘Mouton’ – French for sheep!)

He is a comfort animal and so was able to be part of the ceremony! The couple said their vows in the iconic rotunda.

Side fact: the rotunda is made of Tennessee pink marble and gives off a pinkish gold hue at certain times of the day! This is definitely evident in the pics!

Simplicity at this wedding

Stephanie favored a simple approach to her and Minh’s nuptials but she also had a soft spot for cute little props and outfits that would make the day more memorable and fun.

She brought some heart-shaped rainbow confetti, two jumbo 36″ pink balloons with long sparkly tassels and a cute blush bow tie with white polka dots for Minh. She also changed outfits, opting for a big, magical-looking blush skirt for the portraits on Strawberry Hill and the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers.

Speaking of flowers, a real bouquet was super important to them. They enlisted Ampersand San Francisco for flower crowns, boutonnieres and a bouquet that really made the images sing.

San Francisco post-wedding portrait locations

As we had the luxury of time during this City Hall wedding, we headed to a couple of locations for couples and family portraits. Strawberry Hill is a beautiful secret spot tucked away down a small windy road in the Golden Gate Park. It affords lovely views and also hiking trails.

Next up was the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers which I love for the amazing light, alone! Steph and Minh thought it would be fun to set their huge pink balloons against the lush greenery of the Victorian glasshouse, which was a neat choice.

This exquisite though simple celebration with thoughtful details was thoroughly in keeping with the values of this couple. Weddings certainly don’t have to be elaborate to be intimate, meaningful and lovely! Such an honor to photograph this beautiful couple.

Thank you for checking out these photos! To conclude…

When you choose me as your San Francisco City Hall wedding photographer I will help you with everything you need to know about the process of getting married at City Hall as well as help preparing for your photos and with understanding the entire process of what happens before, during and after your SF City Hall wedding day. Whether you’re flying in from near or far, I can help you bring your wedding day vision to life!

Be sure to check out my ultimate guide to getting married at San Francisco City Hall! Always up to date, my guide takes you through it step by step and is the planning resource you’ve been looking for.

Be sure to pin this graphic to your City Hall wedding planning Pinterest board!