Few cities let a couple choose between a marble rotunda, a 1915 exposition palace, a former military post and an ocean cliff, all within city limits. San Francisco does. Each of its landmark venues has a different booking path, though, and the rules matter as much as the setting. Here is a planner's tour of the classics.
San Francisco City Hall
City Hall is a Beaux-Arts building designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. that opened in 1915. Its Rotunda is famed for a grand staircase, pink marble floors and a 306-foot dome. The City Hall Events Office books the Rotunda, the Mayor's Balcony, the Fourth Floor Gallery and the North and South Light Courts.
As of October 2026, the starting prices are:
- One-hour weekday weddings for up to 100 guests, 9 am to 3 pm, from $1,200. This is private use of the Mayor's Balcony or a Fourth Floor Gallery, and couples bring their own officiant (details).
- Two-hour Saturday weddings in the Rotunda for up to 200 guests, at 9 am or 12 pm, from $6,000.
- Evening weddings for up to 499 guests (not Tuesdays), from $12,000.
Under Ordinance 125-25, passed by the Board of Supervisors in July 2025, the one-hour and two-hour wedding fees adjust each year for inflation starting in fiscal year 2026-27, so always confirm the current figure with the Events Office.
For the smallest weddings, the County Clerk offers a civil ceremony for 6 or fewer guests in Room 160, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, by appointment only. A County Clerk commissioner performs it, and couples must bring their original license. As of October 2026 the fee is $113 (effective July 1, 2026).
A building full of wedding history
Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe married in a judge's chambers here on January 14, 1954, while about 300 onlookers gathered outside (KQED). During the 2004 "Winter of Love," Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were the first couple married, and the city issued over 4,000 licenses to same-sex couples in a month (SF.gov). In 2013, Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier married on the Mayor's balcony, with Attorney General Kamala Harris officiating (WTVR). Today about 8,000 weddings happen at City Hall each year (KTVU).
Palace of Fine Arts
Built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, the Palace of Fine Arts is known for its Greco-Roman grandeur and Golden Gate Bridge views. The indoor hall is a large event space aimed at corporate events and galas, but the City notes the Palace is available for weddings with a permit. The Rotunda appears on the SF Park Code wedding fee table: as of October 2026, a $350 reservation fee plus $100 an hour, with a two-hour minimum.
The Presidio
The Presidio Trust lists a range of wedding venues: the historic Chapel of Our Lady, where generations of military personnel married; the Presidio Chapel; the Golden Gate Club, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the bay, the bridge, Alcatraz and the Presidio forest; the Log Cabin and its skyline-view lawn; and the Presidio Golf Course Clubhouse.
Outdoor weddings of any size need a Special Use Permit, and ceremonies of up to 25 people can get one for approved spots through Recreation.gov. Lawns scale from the Graham Street Lawn (up to 150) and the Tunnel Tops Western Lawn (up to 200) to the Main Parade Lawn (up to 6,000). Decor rules ban balloons, confetti, glitter, inflatables and staking into grass. Crissy Field, Baker Beach, East Beach and West Bluff are permitted by a different office, so call (415) 561-4300 for those.
Golden Gate Park
SF Recreation and Parks permits park sites including the Rose Garden, Shakespeare Garden and Chinese Pavilion. The permittee must be 21 or older, bookings open up to a year ahead, outdoor sites need at least 10 business days of notice, and a random lottery settles requests for the same date. As of October 2026, the Park Code lists the Shakespeare Garden at $350 plus $100 an hour and the Rose Garden at $200 plus $50 an hour, both with a two-hour minimum, and hourly fees are waived for veterans.
The Shakespeare Garden holds about 200 flowers and plants mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, with a bust of the playwright, a sundial and bronze quotation plaques. Book April if a couple wants the crabapples in bloom.
The Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America according to its operator, hosts weddings daily after public closing: micro-ceremonies for up to 50 in the West Gallery and up to 200 on the outdoor Palm Terrace (no tenting).
Lands End and Sutro
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Lands End sits at the northwestern corner of the city, with trails on rocky cliffs above the ocean and views of the headlands and the Golden Gate. Guests can wander the ruins of Sutro Baths. It is national park land, so the GGNRA rule applies: a permit is required for any size wedding. As of October 2026 the application fee is $60, total permit costs range from free to over $40,000, no area can be reserved for exclusive use, and drones are not allowed.
Classic add-ons for a city wedding
- Cable car or streetcar charter. SFMTA charters carry up to 40 people. As of October 2026, a cable car is $958 for two hours plus $479 an hour. Requests go in 14 to 90 days out, and availability notes on the page were out of date, so confirm with SFMTA.
- Golden Gate Bridge portraits. The Marin Headlands vistas include Hawk Hill and Battery Spencer. NPS warns that Saturdays and Sundays are very crowded.
- A friend as officiant. San Francisco's one-day deputy marriage commissioner fee is $186 as of October 2026. The deputy appears in person, walk-in only, Monday to Thursday mornings (rules).
Don't sleep on the coast
The southwest corner of the city has its own kind of landmark. Ocean View Stables is a working horse ranch on the coastal bluffs of Daly City, and one of the closest horse ranches to San Francisco with views of the Pacific, about 15 minutes from downtown. It is next to Fort Funston and the beach and minutes from the San Francisco Zoo.
Couples can pair the two: a short civil ceremony at City Hall in the morning, then a ranch reception by the ocean. The ceremony site on the bluff faces the Pacific, the reception lawn and hay barn hold up to 150 guests, and horses can join in with a horseback entrance (with a handler), pony rides or beach rides on the coast. There is a beer and wine bar (licensing and insurance requirements apply), and eight pods on the bluff for an overnight wedding party. A full-day booking gives you the ranch to yourselves for the day.
Book a site visit to see it. Planners, our trade rates are here; couples, start with packages.
Sources
- SF City Hall Events Office
- SF.gov: one-hour wedding package
- SF Board of Supervisors: Ordinance 125-25
- SF.gov: civil ceremony at City Hall
- SF.gov: County Clerk fees
- SF.gov: deputy marriage commissioner for a day
- KQED: the DiMaggio and Monroe wedding
- SF.gov: Winter of Love anniversary
- WTVR: Perry and Stier marry
- KTVU: City Hall weddings, February 2026
- Palace of Fine Arts
- SF.gov: wedding venue options
- SF Park Code wedding fees
- Presidio Trust: weddings
- Presidio Trust: lawn rentals and permits
- SF Recreation and Parks: weddings
- Time Out: Shakespeare Garden
- Gardens of Golden Gate Park: Conservatory of Flowers
- NPS: Lands End
- NPS GGNRA: special park uses
- SFMTA: charters
- NPS: Marin Headlands scenic vistas