Every time I enter the City Hall and meet my couple, I think ‘how lucky I am to be here! I get paid to be in one of the prettiest places in San Francisco, be part of a special day, spend time with happy people, be creative and capture the moments as they unfold.
Sarmaya and Ekin were such a couple. Their officiant allowed them to speak their vows (officiants don’t always allow because of time). The officiant only gave them 1 minute each but they wrote over 2 minutes of vows. So we continued them after the actual ceremony.
The Christmas Tree in the background perfectly dates the photos and adds some nice light to normally darker Rotunda area (especially in the afternoon).
I sometimes get asked if the photo session should start after the ceremony and not during it. And my response is always the same - I love the real emotions during the ceremony. While I can stage that later, it's just not the same unless you’re an experienced actor. Here is an examples of some real unstaged ceremony moments.