A Delightful San Francisco Destination Wedding Adventure

When John and Richard met twenty years ago at Pride weekend in London, they immediately knew they had something special. After a year of long-distance dating, they decided to live together, and twenty years flew by in the blink of an eye. When they reached out to me from England to plan their destination elopement for their twentieth anniversary (plus one long-time friend as their witness!), I was so excited to show them the best of everything for their San Francisco Destination Wedding Adventure. They knew they wanted a San Francisco elopement planning company that knew SF City Hall inside and out, and we did all of the wedding planning for the two of them.

Many couples are prone to more minor guest counts and more personalized experiences post-pandemic. They don’t feel so much pressure to get married in their hometowns or the same country clubs or houses of worship that past generations might have automatically chosen. Many couples have already traveled to far-off lands together, so a destination elopement feels like a natural extension of the life they’ve already been living and enjoying.

They both had many ideas for making their day the most meaningful, so we planned a more extended elopement day. They chose five hours of wedding photography, starting with their elopement wedding ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. They had a beautiful ceremony with our wedding officiant, Tracy, up on the 4th floor while their friend looked on, and we all cheered when they kissed at the end! They loved the building and the incredible architecture that SF City Hall offers. They asked for images with as many intricate details as possible in the Belle Époque style design. Initially, the artistic element for the building was created by twelve stone masons from France in 1913, so there’s plenty of eye candy everywhere you look.

After the elopement ceremony, pictures on all four floors, and the grand staircase at SF City Hall, we headed outside to meet their incredible vintage blue VW Bus that belongs to the Painted Ladies Tour Company, owned by Josh and Vergine. This bus is named Sky, and Alan was our driver and tour guide. We all piled in, and Alan put on his incredible groovy 1960s SF Rock Band greatest hits playlist, featuring The Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. We laughed and smiled as we drove down winding Lombard Street, feeling like we were in a time machine. Shortly after that, the bus turned west, and we drove across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and down into the incredible local redwood forest, Muir Woods National Monument. Richard was having a blast taking his cell phone pictures, and John just smiled and let him do his thing. They were having a wonderful time. This park is filled with many places for photo opportunities, and they wanted their wedding pictures to show off how massive the ancient redwoods are. That was my task as their photographer, and they were thrilled with the results.

Throughout their wedding day, they carried around a portrait of their English Bulldog named Teddy, and we took pictures of them holding Teddy’s portrait at each stop we made. He’s their baby, but he was safe at home in England with his grandmother while his two dads were on their adventure elopement. Bringing fun and personal props to your wedding makes it even more fun, and we encourage you to be silly and bring whatever would be meaningful or make the day much more fun for the two of you.

What did they need to do to make all of this happen?

If you are getting married in California, you’ll need a California State Marriage License. You can obtain that at any County Clerk in California 90 days before your wedding. The license works for 90 days, so ensure it hasn’t expired by the day you get married. If you don’t hire our wedding officiant to marry you, you’ll want to book an appointment for a civil ceremony at San Francisco City Hall here.

We can arrange everything else for you, specializing in all-inclusive wedding and elopement packages. Some items we traditionally handle for you are the bridal or groom’s personal bouquet or boutonniere, wedding hair and makeup, wedding officiant, and, of course, your wedding photography and videography. In John and Richard’s event, we created a luxury picnic for them at the Palace Of Fine Arts, with Shawn serving as their host. They specifically asked us for a vegetarian picnic, and we happily created a beautiful grazing board for them that included pita and hummus, celery and carrots for dipping in ranch dressing, and several varieties of cheeses, nuts, and dried fruits with dark chocolate. We also served them a Chantilly Berry white cake and bottles of bubbly. We can customize all of our picnics to meet your dietary needs, such as gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan. We also have couples that ask for extra meat and cheese, and that’s fine, too. Specialty boards such as our famous S’Mores board are available with a fruit and chocolate option to pair them with.

We even have specific packages for hopping on the VW Buses and going directly to Muir Woods for your ceremony and couples’ pictures.

How much does a destination elopement cost?

The average destination elopement typically runs $2,500-$15,000, including flights and hotels. The wedding package in this blog came in at around $3,000, not including their hotel and travel. With traditional wedding venues starting at around $8,000 and going up to $80,000 for the venue alone, we think elopements are the way to go, especially for couples with other things they’d like to spend their money on. If you’d like us to help you plan your destination elopement, please get in touch with us through our website’s contact page. We’d love to create a magical elopement day for you both.

Continue reading to see what these clients had to say about their experience with Rachel Levine Photography:

“We had an incredible experience booking our micro-wedding with Rachel and her team. We booked an elopement package with a vintage VW camper and a wedding picnic. From start to finish, the process was seamless, even though we were booking a wedding in San Francisco from the UK.

Rachel and her team quickly responded to any queries with all communications via her great platform, keeping everything in one place. On the day itself, we were met by Rachel and the wedding officiant she had arranged, Tracy, at the beautiful city hall. Both put us immediately at ease; before we knew it, we were married! We took Rachel’s advice and married early to get great photos in the building. Immediately after, Josh and the vintage VW met us to whizz us to Muir Woods and other locations. Rachel was flexible. She switched locations as we went to ensure we got the best photos according to the weather. She was responsive to us as a couple and made our time together fun. The day was topped off with a fantastic picnic prepared and served by Shawn at the stunning Palace of Fine Arts. The whole day was perfect, giving us memories that will last a lifetime.

Just a day after returning from our honeymoon and two weeks after our wedding, we received a link to a fabulous set of photos that captured the day. For two reserved Brits who aren’t keen on having our pictures taken, we can’t stop looking at them and are thrilled!

Thank you, Rachel, for your great service and energy. We loved spending our special day with you and wholeheartedly recommend that anyone else do the same.”

Very best wishes,

John & Rich