Where do I even begin with Lauren & Patrick’s San Francisco City Hall elopement! These two were such a breath of fresh air – everything from their personalities to the way they planned their elopement was so uniquely them. And I was thrilled to travel from Joshua Tree to San Francisco to spend their big day with them!
Lauren & Patrick’s San Francisco City Hall Elopement
As you might already know, I’m based in Joshua Tree and photograph tons of weddings, elopements, and engagement sessions here. Whenever I have the chance to photograph couples in other parts of California, I’m all for it! Lauren and Patrick actually hired me to shoot their engagement session in Joshua Tree after a spontaneous camping trip out here. They rented a hotel room by the hour to get ready, and then we had the BEST time goofing off together and braving the infamous JT wind! After spending their engagement session with them, I was over the moon to photograph their San Francisco City Hall elopement.
When I say we traveled all around San Francisco, I mean it! Lauren and Patrick started their day getting ready together at The Hyatt in Downtown SF – they didn’t plan for a first look, but them spending the morning together was perfect. Lauren looked absolutely stunning in her black and white gown (that she bought secondhand!) and Gucci shoes. Her friends handmade her beautiful bouquet (how sweet, right?!) that completed her City Hall elopement look, and then we were off!
An intimate, fun-filled day in San Francisco
One of my favorite things about Lauren and Patrick was how happy they were to celebrate their marriage without anything elaborate. Truly all they wanted was to have their closest family and friends join them on such a special occasion and eat good food at their favorite restaurant! It was so sweet to see how excited and supportive their people were when we met them at City Hall. It just goes to show that you don’t need a high guest count to have the wedding of your dreams!
After their beautiful City Hall elopement, we took photos with a few family members & close friends and then headed to the gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts in SF. If you’ve never been here, it should absolutely be on your bucket list! The architecture is simply stunning – the perfect spot to take your elopement or engagement photos. We had 2-3 hours to take photos around the city before their intimate reception, so you bet we made the most of that time!
One of the questions I get from couples is “Do we need more than a couple hours of photo coverage for our elopement?” and my answer is usually “YES!” We were able to spend the day hiking around, walking the city, and even finding new & less-trafficked photo spots because we implemented so much space for photography in their timeline. So, if photos are a priority (which, they totally should be!), then I highly recommend booking around 6 hours of coverage (with both film and digital!) as Lauren and Patrick did! Just because you’re having a small elopement doesn’t mean you should sacrifice full documentation of it.
We ended our photo time by heading to Baker Beach to get the most sun-kissed golden hour photos with L + P. Once the sun set, we went to their favorite French fusion Vietnamese restaurant, Le Colonial! Their family and friends met us there to kick off the evening celebration. Their intimate reception was filled with so much love, laughter, and joy, and it was truly an honor to document these moments with such incredible humans.
Ready to elope at San Francisco City Hall?
I’m ready to meet you there! To inquire with me about photographing your SF City Hall elopement, you can get in touch with me via my contact form. Once you submit it, I’ll get back to you so soon with details! In the meantime, feel free to scroll through the rest of Lauren and Patrick’s photos and maybe even gain some inspo for your elopement.
