My husband and I had an elopement wedding in San Francisco on July 8th, 2019. The city of San Francisco is a special place for us because it’s filled with so many memories. We met when my husband was a college student at the University of San Francisco.

Our early days of courtship were spent exploring the city and we eventually got an apartment together in Nob Hill. Getting married in San Francisco was perfectly fitting for us.

This comprehensive guide to eloping in San Francisco covers so many topics including budgeting, legal requirements to elope in San Francisco, selecting a location, reception and your honeymoon.

Timeline to Planning Your Elopement in San Francisco

Budgeting for an Elopement in San Francisco

San Francisco is a beautiful city in which to get married, but it’s also a very expensive city. You’ll need to budget for the following:

Hotel
Marriage license in San Francisco - $112
Civil Ceremony at City Hall fee - $93
City Hall Off-Site Ceremony Request - $304.00
Officiants can range between $200 - $500 (or even more if you want special add-ons).
Venue booking fees or city permits
Wedding dress and groom’s tuxedo or suit
Flower bouquet
Hair and makeup
Reception dinner
Transportation - Parking, toll fees, Uber or Lyft fees.

San FRancisco & California State Requirements for an Elopement

In order to get married in San Francisco you need to meet the following criteria:

Legal photo ID with your full legal name. You will be required to show a birth certificate if you don’t have your full legal name on the ID.
You must be a minimum of 18-years-old and currently unmarried.
To be legally married you must obtain a married license AND have a ceremony performed in California.
For a public marriage you need to have a minimum of one witness at your ceremony.
You DO NOT need to be a US Citizen to get married in San Francisco.
Same-sex couples can legally get married in San Francisco.

Marriage License

Before you head into City Hall to get your marriage license, you must have already made an appointment online. You can get your marriage license on the same day of your ceremony or you can schedule it prior. You must have the ceremony within 90 days of issuing your marriage license.

If either the groom or bride would like to change their middle or last names, they will have the opportunity to do that on the marriage license form.

Both parties (brides and grooms) must be present together at City Hall to get your marriage license.

How to Find an Elopement Officiant

If you are getting married inside San Francisco’s City Hall then you don’t need to hire an officiant. If you’re having an off-site civil ceremony you can pay the $304 cash fee to have an officiant from City Hall meet you at your ceremony location.

For elopement and marriage ceremonies which are not conducted by City Hall, you can hire your own desired person. Your officiant can be religious or non-religious, spiritual or secular. The benefits of hiring your own officiant means that you can customize your ceremony however you’d like. The cons could be that it’s more planning and possibly more cost.

You can also have a family member or friend get ordained as an officiant for your wedding. For San Francisco Civil Ceremonies a family member or friend can officiate if they become Deputy Marriage Commissioner for a Day.

Online resources to finding a wedding officiant in San Francisco:

Selecting the Perfect Location for Your Wedding Ceremony

First you should decide if you want your wedding ceremony to be indoors or outdoors. San Francisco weather is unpredictable and tends to be a bit chilly at any given time of the year. Between August and early October tends to be the sunniest and warmest time of year, but don’t bank on it. Everyone who attends the wedding should come prepared with layers of clothing.

When you decide on your wedding location, you need to do some research to see if a permit or booking fees are required. Many public places in San Francisco require a permit to use them for a wedding (even if it’s super small group of people).

The most popular locations for elopements in San Francisco are:

City Hall
Golden Gate Park
Coit Tower
Presidio Park
Fay Park
Crissy Field
Baker Beach
China Beach

Getting Married at San Francisco City Hall

Of all the elopement options in San Francisco, City Hall is probably the most popular. After having my own elopement wedding ceremony at City Hall, I can tell you that there are pros and cons.

Pros to Getting Married at San Francisco’s City Hall:

The interiors and architecture inside City Hall are really stunning! As you scroll through the photos in this blog post you can see that it makes a beautiful backdrop for photography.
It’s one of the cheapest ways to get married in San Francisco. You don’t have to pay extra costs for an officiant, permits or venues.
The least amount of planning is required - the officiant, the ceremony venue and the marriage license are all done together at the same time.

Cons to Getting Married at San Francisco’s City Hall:

Your wedding is not very private. There’s other wedding parties and people walking around City Hall while you have your ceremony.
They have very strict rules about how many people you can have present at your wedding ceremony. Only 6 people are allowed to stand with you at the top of the Grand Staircase of the Rotunda where the judge conducts the ceremony. You can have other friends and family waiting in the general areas of City Hall, but they won’t be able to hear or see the ceremony.
If you would like more than 6 people to attend your wedding at City Hall, then you would need to book a wedding with San Francisco City Hall Events. Rates start at $1,000 and can go up to $30,000.
The ceremony is very quick and standard, you can’t personalize it in any way (unless you book the wedding package). They have a tight schedule and they need to keep things moving quickly. You are allowed a maximum of 10 minutes per ceremony, and this includes time for photography.

Here’s the link to schedule your City Hall Civil Wedding Ceremony.

Booking Your Hotel

On the website Booking you can filter hotels by San Francisco neighborhoods, making it very easy to find the perfect hotel located close to your elopement site. Transportation with Uber can get expensive, so if you can book everything close together it can save you time and money.

Hiring a Photographer for Your Elopement

There’s multiple ways you can go about finding your wedding photographer. For me personally, finding a talented and reliable photographer is really important because you only get one chance to capture the moment.

Here’s some suggestions on how to find your elopement photographer:

Search #sanfranciscoweddingphotographer on Instagram.
The Knot
Wedding Wire
Yelp San Francisco Photographer

Hair and Makeup for the Bride

For my own elopement wedding in San Francisco I made a hair appointment at Drybar. They have multiple convenient locations throughout the city and you can choose from several types of hair styles. The total cost of my hair appointment was about $120 (including tip). My friend Brianna did an amazing job on my makeup, and we were able to do the makeup at the same time as the hair appointment.

You can search under “vendors” on Wedding Wire for hair and makeup artists in San Francisco.

Flower Bouquet

My bouquet and my daughter’s flower crown were made by family friends at Plaza Florists in San Carlos. Because their flower shop is located a bit outside the city, I had my parents pick it up for me in the morning.

To find inspiration for the type of flowers and style of bouquet I wanted, I created a board on Pinterest and started pinning photos. Once I decided on the color palette and flowers, I had my florist make a custom bouquet.

My favorite modern and trendy florists located in San Francisco are Ampersand and Farm Girl Flowers (they actually make speciality elopement bouquets!).

You can also browse San Francisco florists on Wedding Wire under “vendors.” Some tips when looking for your flower vendor, make sure to browse their online portfolios and social media accounts to see their work.

Wedding Invitations for Your Guests

Although elopements are generally smaller affairs than a traditional wedding, having tangible wedding invitations made is an awesome memento that you’ll treasure forever. It’s also a very practical way to provide your guests with all the pertinent information they’ll need to attend. You can opt between creating a custom wedding card design or selecting a simple basic invite.

Tips to Reducing the Cost of Your San Francisco Elopement

If you are a local to the Bay Area then you might be able to recruit friends and family to help with some wedding tasks. The following elopement expenses can be delegated to reduce cost:

A family member or friend officiate your wedding.
Photography - if you have a friend who’s talented with a camera.
Hair and makeup - Learn some DIY tutorials in advance (make sure to practice!).
DIY Flower Bouquet
Get married on private property of a friend or family member - no permit or vendor fees.
Have a friend or family host the reception dinner in their home.
Purchase your wedding dress and groom’s tuxedo from second hand clothing apps like Poshmark and Mercari.

The Day of Elopement in San Francisco

Transportation for Everyone Attending

One of the challenges of navigating through San Francisco is transportation and parking. Parking garages are not always available, street parking is challenging and Uber is pretty expense. I wouldn’t rely on public transportation on your wedding day (unless you’re already a pro), it’s pretty unreliable.

Your best plan of attack should be to park your car at the hotel and plan on taking an Uber to your ceremony and reception. If you’re able to walk then even better. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you’ve got it worked out in advance so you don’t have the added stress.

Reception After the Ceremony

One of the best things about San Francisco is there’s plenty of options for elegant restaurants in all types of global cuisine. We had a party of 11 people for our small reception and we had a late lunch at Nopalito in the Sunset District.

My favorite San Francisco restaurants are:

The Slanted Door - Vietnamese fine dinning inside the Ferry Building. $$$$
Petit Crenn - Modern and bright French cuisine bistro. $$$$
Che Fico - An Italian-Californian fusion restaurant with a modern and festive atmosphere. $$$
Delarosa - If you’re looking for something more casual, Delarosa is a modern pizza bar with locations all over the city. $$
Tacolicious - Another casual dining option with locations all over San Francisco. Tacolicious has Mexican-Californian food with modern atmosphere.

Plan Your California Honeymoon

California is both the perfect place to get married and to enjoy a honeymoon. You can decide to stay close to San Francisco and enjoy some daily excursions, or you can take a road trip south to explore Central and Southern California.