Elopement - what to do when San Francisco City Hall is closed for wedding

San Francisco City Hall has closed its doors on March 17 and hasn’t reopened since. Unfortunately there’s no sign of it reopening to host numerous weddings. On average 30-40 weddings were officiated in San Francisco City Hall. I was told around 90 weddings were held on popular dates like Valentines day or 7-7-2017, If we do the math a large number of weddings got cancelled this year.

In case you didn’t know all San Francisco City Hall officiants are volunteers. Even when City Hall reopens for wedding I imagine the number of these weddings per day will be a lot smaller.

So what do you do?! The beauty of the SF City Hall is that it provided an intimate, budget wedding in a one of a kind location. Add a photographer who knows the City Hall in and out, and you get memories and photos preserved for the rest of your life. But let’s not divert. This is in no way about me :)

It’s about couples that would like to get married, planned on getting married in San Francisco City Hall but got their wedding canceled or unable to book in the near time future. What do you do!?

While i love San Francisco City Hall, there are options.

  1. While San Francisco County offers “deputy commissioner for the day” program where you can marry specific couple, it needs to be obtained in the City Hall which is currently closed. So unfortunately this is not an option at this time

  2. You can hire a officiant. Formal officiant cost varies, but typically is around $300-$500

  3. Anyone can be an officiant. The process is relatively simple and you can have your friend or family member officiate your wedding. It has to be someone you trust to take care of the paperwork and not lose it while celebrating your wedding. As a matter of fact i often recommend this option because it ends up being more personal. I have officiated several weddings for close friend. While it’s nerve wrecking (oh that pressure) it makes your wedding even more special in my opinion.

Here are few resources to consider to become an ordained minister:

  • https://www.ulc.org/

  • https://theamm.org/

There are several other institutions that provide these services but it’s basically the same concept. Make sure all your paperwork submitted in timely fashion after the wedding is officiated.

Now that you have an officiant, you need a place. That is the easy part if your wedding party is small. Remember San Francisco City Hall enforced rules of having 6 guests only at the Rotunda. If you were looking for Rotunda wedding, you probably had handful of guests. You can get married on the beach - San Francisco, beaches like Bakers beach, Half Moon Bay, Stinson Beach are all great places to tie the knot.

There are plenty of other locations to consider including doing it in your own back. The point that if you’d like to get married nothing should stop! No viruses or lockdowns. Of course you have be safe and smart when planning your wedding Make sue you stick with current restrictions and regulations.

And of course we would love to photograph your wedding. A few photos from non City Hall locations that we shot recently

Boris Polisskysfcityhallphotography, sfcityhallphotographer, sanfrancisco, sanfranciscogoldengatebridge, goldengatebridge, palaceoffinearts, sanfranciscowedding, sanfranciscoelopement, elopement, elopementsf, sfwedding, sfcityhallwedding, sfcityhallphotoComment