You’ve Never Seen a City Hall Wedding This Beautiful

Forget everything you know about City Hall weddings and feast your eyes on this magic captured by Elizabeth Messina. It takes city chic to a whole new level of glamour and elegance designed by Simone Lennon Events, with florals by Kathleen Deery Design and the stunning backdrop of San Francisco City Hall. From Monique Lhuillier gown to Rolls Royce getaway, you won’t want to miss a single second of this gorgeous black-tie affair.

Ethereal, utterly romantic and completely city chic is how I would describe Christine and Scott’s stunning San Francisco City Hall fall wedding. As a planner and designer who has planned many weddings at this iconic venue, I’ve found that it’s a very specific bride that fits an affair suited for City Hall. She has to have grand vision, love drama and ultimately a desire to embody the princess bride on a stately scale. Not all brides want or can handle it, but those who can, really take my breath away. Our event vision was elevated but not over the top yet completely elegant and refined. To achieve the look of this black tie, modern and glamourous affair, we used a color palette of ivory, deep red, chocolate and accents of gold that played off the existing color base in City Hall’s iconic Rotunda. Our ceremony featured modern gold chairs with satin ivory cushions set in a half circle facing the staircase with lush floral arrangements flanking the altar space. We softened the venue with ivory draping in each of the surrounding arches and enhanced each line of architecture with amber lighting. For dinner service, we configured dramatic king’s tables to seat one hundred and eighty guests. The understated tablescapes were draped in ivory velvet linens, set with glass gold rimmed chargers each featuring a custom handmade letter press menu personalized with each guest’s name in whimsical calligraphy and dappled heavily with abundant floral. Guests dined on a three course dinner with wine pairings and enjoyed a perfect sweet ending of a multi-tiered butter cream cake and then danced the night away.

Photography: Elizabeth Messina | Videography : Forward Motion Production | Floral Design : Kathleen Deery Design | Wedding Gown: Monique Lhuillier | Wedding Cake: Perfect Endings | Hair & Makeup: The Glamourist | Calligraphy: Plume Calligraphy | Lighting : Got Light | String Quartet: Synchronicity Strings | Catering & Production: Paula LeDuc Fine Catering & Events | Ceremony & Reception Venue: San Francisco City Hall | DJ - Josh Dukes: Boutique DJs | Invitations & Paper Goods: Yonder Design | Lounge & Furnishings : Urban Parlor | Photo Booth: Tom Foolery Photobooth | Planning & Design: Simone Lennon Events | Specialty Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Specialty Rentals: Classic Party Rentals | Specialty Rentals: Standard Party Rentals | Specialty Tabletop Rentals: Casa de Perrin | building: city hall san francisco