Today’s post is a personal one and a bit lengthy, but Adam and I celebrate our first anniversary! As generic of a saying it is, the year really did fly by. I want to share all of the details of our small, intimate wedding ceremony at San Francisco City Hall and relive my favorite day 365 days ago.
The Proposal
San Francisco has always been a special place for the both of us. As I have mentioned in an earlier blog post, we are huge fans of the San Jose Sharks and have been visiting the Bay Area for years to attend games. While we are there, we always spend a significant amount of time in San Francisco and have a developed a love for the city. One of my favorite spots in San Francisco is Alamo Square, which is a park across the street from the infamous Painted Ladies. Growing up, I had an obsession with the show Full House so going to Alamo Square is always nostalgic for me. If you aren’t aware, the opening credits of Full House feature the Tanners having a picnic in Alamo Square. In February of 2015, we were on a trip to the Bay Area and visited Alamo Square like we normally do. Our friend who lives in San Francisco joined us so he could take a good picture of us in the park. We took a series of pictures and then Adam said he wanted to take just one more picture, where he then got down on one knee and proposed! It was the perfect proposal for me.
Wedding Planning Begins
Soon after we returned from our trip, we started wedding planning and decided to have a traditional wedding here in Pittsburgh scheduled for a year and a half later. As time went on, we both started feeling that having a large traditional wedding wasn’t the best interest for two people who don’t enjoy being the center of attention. I always was excited to plan a wedding with color schemes, decor, and floral arrangements, but the actual act of participating in a large wedding gave me anxiety. We canceled our large wedding and even lost some money in deposits. The most important part of a wedding for me was having a nice dress, nice pictures, and it being memorable for the both of us. I realized that I didn’t have to go through with our plans in order for me to get what I truly wanted. Eventually, we decided the best option for us was to get married in San Francisco’s City Hall.
San Francisco’s City Hall is the most beautiful building I have ever stepped foot in. City Hall is so grand and exquisite and met all of the criteria I was looking for when I envisioned my wedding day. Weddings take place all day at City Hall and it is common that brides and grooms dress traditionally and hire a photographer despite it being a 5 minute City Hall ceremony. This was my chance to still wear a stunning gown and have stunning photos without all of the hoopla that comes with a larger wedding. Plus we were able to get married in our favorite city. We and a small crowd of 15 of our close friends and family committed to a March 6, 2018 wedding date in San Francisco.
The Dress
My style is very interesting because sometimes I like an outfit that can be a little more over the top, but other times I love simplicity. When it comes to wedding dresses, my preference is simple, chic, and a bit more modern. Since this was a City Hall wedding, I decided that the best way for me to get the dress that suited me and the setting was to look at prom dresses instead of wedding dresses. One day after work, I stopped at a gown shop alone and told the consultants I wanted to look at prom gowns. I looked through the white prom and pageant gown section and had quite a few to try on. I found an ivory two-piece gown from Sherri Hill that was off-the-shoulder and had a mermaid silhouette and I knew I found the one. Since I was alone, I had a co-worker come with me the following day just so I had a second opinion, and I ended up buying the dress. It turned out that there were only two of my size remaining in this dress through Sherri Hill, so I bought it at the perfect time. And, it was only $300!
The Details
Since we live in Pittsburgh but were getting married in San Francisco, the internet was my best friend when planning the logistics of the wedding. A few months earlier, I stumbled across Amanda Wei Photo on Instagram and followed ever since. Her wedding photos are beautiful and I had my heart set on her as my photographer. She offers weekday City Hall packages so I was able to book her and had one of her photographers, Rachel, photograph our wedding. Through Googling, I found Triple Twist as a hair and make-up artist that best suited my needs. Because City Hall is a public building, our photographer recommended we have a 9:00 AM ceremony time and start our photos at 8:00 AM when the building opened. The early start time avoided having bystanders in our pictures and just gave more privacy in general. Therefore, I needed a very early hair and make-up appointment and Mei at Triple Twist was able to start at 5:00 AM. She ended up doing a fabulous job! The last thing I needed was a bouquet, so Instagram came in handy again. I stumbled across Farm Girl Flowers on Instagram prior to the wedding and fell in love with their dreamy arrangements. I told them I wanted my bouquet to feature white flowers, plenty of greenery, and a pop of light blue to match my blue Badgley Mischka heels, and they created one with in-season flowers at an affordable rate. If you are in the Bay Area or are considering a destination wedding in San Francisco, I can’t recommend all of my vendors enough.
The Day
The day of our wedding had a very early start (4:00 AM to be exact), but we were able to have our ceremony and take our photos and the entire thing was wrapped up by 10:30 AM. We returned to our hotel afterwards and both fell asleep for a bit because we were so tired, and then went to get lunch at Super Duper because they have my favorite burgers ever. Later that night we went out to a few bars to celebrate with our close friends and family members that made the trip. The day was very casual but it was perfect because it was very “us.”
I always love to look back at our wedding photos and be reminded of that day. It was one day that I felt truly glamorous and the love between Adam and I that day is a feeling I will never forget. Our first year of marriage has consisted of us enjoying each other and traveling, and we have the same plans for the next 365 days.
