Rachelle
& Scot A San Francisco City Hall wedding, Legion of Honor portraits, and dinner in Sonoma

We started at 10am, a full ninety minutes before the ceremony. Doing portraits first meant that once they said their vows, they could walk straight out to lunch with their family.

We moved through the Grand Staircase, the third and fourth floors, the side stairs, and the elevators. The Mayor's Balcony and half of the fourth floor were booked for private ceremonies that morning, so we worked around them. City Hall has more corners than most people use.

The direction that worked best was the simplest one: side bump each other while you walk. They laughed, and once they were laughing, they stopped thinking about the camera.

At 11am we wrapped portraits and gave them a breather. At 11:30 sharp, I met them in the Rotunda, where the officiant married them in about five minutes. Then they walked out through the front doors of City Hall with their arms in the air and went to lunch with their family.

I met them at the Legion of Honor at 2pm. The fog had rolled in and the Golden Gate Bridge had disappeared completely.

We started in the colonnade, then moved through the Court of Honor and onto the lawn just outside it. By the time we walked over to the bridge view, the sun had broken through and the fog pulled back. Having the bridge in their photos was important to them, and it showed up right on time.

At the end, they told me I'd made it easy. For two people who don't like having their picture taken, that's the best thing I could hear. And they looked incredible.

Three days later, the celebration moved an hour north to Sonoma for dinner in the Fireplace Lounge at El Dorado Hotel & Kitchen.

I arrived before the guests to photograph the finished room while it was still quiet. The space is intimate, the kind of room where every seat feels close to the couple. It also leaves very little room for a photographer to move, so the wide lens did most of the work.

Guests arrived at 6pm. A lot of hugs. Friends and family catching up across the room, about forty people in all. Then toasts, dinner, and dessert, and to close the night, photos with their guests on the hotel stairs.

Two days, three places, and none of it felt like a production. A wedding can be small on purpose and still hold everything that matters.

My focus is on couples who want something intimate and real, whether that's five minutes at City Hall or dinner for forty in wine country. If that sounds like you, tell me what you're planning.