Magical San Francisco Elopement

When I first spoke with Victoria and Brian, they presented me with what I fondly think of as “The Great San Francisco Elopement Caper!” They planned to leave Southern California on November 27, immediately after finishing their Thanksgiving dinner with family, and drive all night to San Francisco. Change into their wedding clothes wherever they could, and get married! And that’s exactly how we started planning their San Francisco elopement wedding.

These two met at work, and both handle sound and lighting for a well-known amusement park, so the popular holiday time wasn’t a time they could take vacation days. That meant that they had a whirlwind 48 hours to drive to the city, get married, make it magical, and drive back home! After many years as a wedding planner and photographer, I told them I was up to the challenge, and we set out to create an incredible wedding-day itinerary that would include every special place they’d been dreaming of for their elopement photography session.

They had a concrete wedding-day photography wish list, which helped with planning. Many couples reach out to us and need a wide range of options presented. After that, there’s usually a lot of back-and-forth discussion about the pros and cons of each location, until we finally whittle it down to the final elopement locations for their wedding day. For example, many brides and grooms envision their wedding taking place on a stunning cliff or atop a mountain at sunrise in one of California’s famous state parks. Because not all guests can navigate every location, we’ve learned to ask them up front whether they have any guests with mobility issues or other reasons this might not be the best location for them. Victoria and Brian brought their dear friend with them to serve as their witness and celebrate the big day with them. In this case, we had no barriers whatsoever!

As record enthusiasts and collectors, they were most excited about the first location. The world-famous Amoeba Records.If they could have said their “I do’s” there, they probably would have! It’s located at 1855 Haight St, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. For the last 36 years, the world’s largest independent record store has been a sought-after destination by many, but Victoria and Brian had more than one reason to stop by on their wedding day. Ooey Chewy thin and chewy cookies, created by San Francisco’s Batter Up Cakery, were their “wedding cake” of choice! The bakery has a pop-up event inside the record store, and the timing was perfect. This was a wedding treat that fit their budget and their timeline.

We offer all-inclusive wedding packages, and they chose to have our wedding officiant, Diego, perform their marriage ceremony. The rings were exchanged, the event sealed with a kiss, and big hugs from their best friend were given! They obtained their California State marriage license at home in Southern California and brought it with them for him to sign, along with their witness, after their elopement ceremony. Every couple getting married in California must carry the license to their ceremony, and most counties charge around $100 to issue it. The permit is valid for 90 days and can be used anywhere in the state during that period. After that, it expires, and you’ll have to get another one.

If I had to make a short list of what our city is best known for, Chinatown, the Italian district in North Beach, and our Cable Cars would all be on my short list! Since we had only 3 hours to capture everything you’re seeing on this wedding blog, you can be sure we made a very detailed timeline down to the minute. Laura was their photographer that day, and she captured an impressive amount of the color and joy in our fantastic city for these two newlyweds. The last leg of their wedding journey started at the famous Lion Gates of Chinatown, located at 36 Spofford St. It was a very short walk to take pictures with the newly upgraded red lanterns. A short fifteen-minute walk, and they could cross Columbus Street and enter the Italian District for even more color and vibrant charm. More often than not, our weddings end the way they should, with a proper slice of hot pizza from Tony’s! Because local legend says, those who eat Tony’s pizza on their wedding day live happily ever after.