Another gorgeous City Hall wedding...

Yesterday I had the huge honor of being photographer and witness for a couple I had never met before (although instantly adored!). Nate and Edina were married at the San Francisco Civic Center, which, if you don't know, is basically the most gorgeous building in the whole city. I am extra partial to weddings there because my husband and I got married there last December!

Anyway, if you haven't been in to see the Civic Center for any reason, you really need to find an excuse. Need to research some ancestors, or just want to admire the elegant architecture? Go now, you won't regret it! The architecture is just amazing. It's a nice place to get things like marriage licenses, too!
'






I kind of find the bureacracy of waiting for them to call your number in the County Clerk's office romantic. Then the ceremony takes place at the top of the rotunda, a tall, marble stairway beneath the building's light filled dome. The ceremony is short but very sweet - besides the basic legality of the vows, they stress the emotional and personal importance of the committment you're making. Aside from just the law marrying you, you are making this choice and it is very admirable.



Then, before you know it, the ceremony is over and you're married!






Nate and Edina were thrilled to be newly married, and we wandered out of the Civic Center into a cab which took us over to the De Young and the Japanese Tea Garden, back in good old Golden Gate Park. We had a great time getting shots (without tourists in them) throughout the old fashioned, retro-futuristic scenes of the gardens, and then enjoyed sipping jasmine tea and eating little Americanized Japanese treats. My favorite part was when they opened their fortune cookies - of course they were good fortunes!



Even better, instead of waiting around for a cab, Edina took the lead in finding us a bus back to the Civic Center, where we had all parked. So we got some fun shots of the newlyweds riding around on Muni as well.

Please check out their slideshow here!
You can also view the first SF City Hall wedding I did here!


(edited 9/07 - I've taken the slideshows down to make more server room. Let me know if you're interested in seeing any particular one and I will gladly repost it!)

Here are a few more slideshows:

Melissa and Justin - fun portraits for no particular reason. I love couples who like to laugh! Check it out.



Elisha and Tom - had a gorgeous wedding in a huge private ranch outside of Ukiah. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and as it was a totally private affair with just immediate family, I was able to focus on the family and the couple. We had a lot of fun trekking out into the wilderness, shooting underneath oak trees and overlooking more rolling hills and meadows.

>Here is their slideshow:


edited 1.2.08 - the slideshow has been taken down for server tidiness. Please let me know if you're interested in seeing it.