An Elegant Architectural Elopement

San Francisco is an incredible city to choose for your wedding. We have so much history and fine vintage architecture from the early 1900s that it’s hard to decide on the perfect wedding venue. In today’s blog, we will explore two of our couple’s favorite locations. They took wedding pictures at The Legion of Honor Museum and eloped at San Francisco City Hall.

For a tiny wedding, this couple wanted a lot of standard traditions, and I love to see that in their edited portfolio. We start with some getting ready pictures of the bride and groom, and a nice lay flat photograph showing all of their carefully chosen wedding day details, including a darling custom cake topper.

Next, we see them arriving at San Francisco City Hall, constructed in 1915, and our photographer set up a first look for them on the second floor. As you can see, our bride had a lovely time getting ready for their big day, surrounded by her hair and makeup artist and family members to help her get ready to meet her soon-to-be husband. He’d had a handwritten card delivered to her hotel room and sent over a wedding gift box that contained a beautiful diamond necklace.

I can’t think of a lovelier way for her to start her wedding day. Handwritten love letters to your intended spouse on the morning of your wedding are a thoughtful tradition. Don’t be shy about expressing your deep love and specific qualities you cherish. You can write your hopes and dreams of married life with them, and share your excitement and expectations for the years ahead. Inside jokes and funny stories are icebreakers on a very intense day and should be included. In your love letter, you may want to include personal and private details that you might not add to your wedding vows during your family ceremony.

Receiving a love letter from your intended is a perfect boding and heart-centering ritual, that will calm down your wedding day jitters and remind you why you chose each other. Presentation is everything! Purchase some lovely stationery and a special pen to share your innermost feelings. A written note is more personal than a letter typed on computer paper,  if you truly want something special and aren’t confident in your handwriting, you can hire companies to handwrite your love note for you in beautiful script and deliver it within 48 hours. You can leave it on their bedside table, share your letters during your “first look” or have a trusted friend deliver the note during their getting ready hour. We love all of these ideas!

You may consider the bride and groom gift exchange. Traditional gifts include flowers, jewelry, and love letters to accompany them. Don’t feel you need to stick to tradition though, you know what your fiance would like best. A silly gift like donuts from their favorite bakery, the newest graphic novel that keeps popping up on their feed, or perhaps a monogrammed flask to carry during the wedding day, filled with their favorite whisky would be a welcomed gift.

After their wedding and elopement photography at SF City Hall, they drove to the equally vintage and iconic Legion Of Honor Museum. This French neoclassical building opened in 1924 and replicates the Palais de la Legion d’Honneur in Paris. SF City Hall is French Beaux-Arts design, so they complement each other well in a wedding photography portfolio. (you can pretend you’re in Paris the whole time, we won’t tell!) The columned porticos that flank the large arch in the center face of the museum are the most beautiful place for couples photography, and a perfect elopement location if you want to get married and it’s sprinkling outside on your wedding day.

One tradition we love to share with our newlyweds is cake cutting and popping something sparkling. Prosecco or sparkling apple cider is available for you to toast your brand-new husband or wife, and status on “Married!”