Linda & Allan: San Francisco City Hall Civil Ceremony
One of my favorite places in the entire world is San Francisco City Hall. It's so beautiful, romantic and grand! So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when I was asked to photograph Linda & Allan's civil ceremony there! I mean, come on, an incredible venue and an even more beautiful couple! I couldn't wait!
Traffic on the 101 can be a nightmare in the afternoon, so I left a little early to make sure I would get there on time. You could say I might have been too paranoid, because I arrived 2 hours early!
BTW, I'm a lot more active on Instagram than any other social media site, so go follow for all the updates :)
When Linda & Allan arrived, they looked stunning! I'm so excited to share this session with you guys. Hope you enjoy the images and their beautiful story <3
How did the two of you meet?
Allan and I went to a whiskey tasting event with separate groups when I ran into one of our mutual friends. I was talking with her and noticed a guy had joined us. I had no interest in making new friends at the time and only said "Hi". I did not expect to see Allan again after that.
As time went on, Allan would come to group events and eventually, I started inviting him to hang out altogether since he seemed like a fun person. We had one night where we shared a lot about our childhoods and home lives, realizing that we were cut from the same cloth.
Being with Allan is like finding my soulmate and knowing that I'll always have someone who understands, loves, and supports me. I have never been more happy in my life.
Linda, what's your favorite thing about Allan?
Allan is so easy-going and open to doing what I want when it comes to social events, restaurants to try, and places to explore. It doesn't take much convincing for him to go along with what I suggest whenever we have free time and it makes planning/organizing much simpler for me. He always tells me that he's happy as long as I am happy.
Allan, what's your favorite thing about Linda?
Linda has the ability to make laugh whenever we get the chance. Everyday is filled with all kinds of laughter. Whether its sarcasm to acting out, there's always something the laugh about. (In a close second was her ability to make me do things I normally wouldn't dare do myself!)
What is your favorite memory together?
Our favorite memory together is when we rescued our dog Emmie and became a family once we got her. Allan and I learned a lot about each other by adopting and raising Emmie. We hold her very near and dear to our hearts because of this.
How did Allan propose?
Allan told me his friend needed help with a Kickstarter campaign which required photography of a couple and their dog. I dressed like a "hipster" at his suggestion and he drove us over to Jack London Square in Oakland. He didn't seem to know many of the campaign details when prompted for more information and he drove us around in some loopy way despite me having worked in the area for two years.
It started out pretty simple and did seem like a real Kickstarter campaign about a couples app. It came time to watch the campaign's video and I thought it was a personalized ad when I saw my name flash across the screen. Our favorite quote was next ("Love arrives exactly when it's supposed to") and I immediately burst into tears.
As an even bigger surprise, Allan asked our close friends to come to celebrate our proposal afterwards which made our day that more special.
It's a typical
Saturday
afternoon. What are the two of you doing?
We will be out and about doing anything other than sitting around. We'll be hanging out with friends, going out and running errands, or walking our dog.
Was there a particular moment when you realized that they were "the one?"
We were on vacation, road tripping to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Mount Zion. Filled with nothing but deserts and pavement, we had a lot of driving ahead of us to get to all these places. Allan suggested we take this couples questionnaire while we drove. It asked us some pretty deep questions and by the end of it, we could confidently say we took things to another level. I think that's when we realized we were made for each other.
Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?
Somewhere most likely in the suburbs, but close enough to the city where we can take our children site-seeing but not have to deal with all that city drama. Hopefully, we'll have another Schnauzer in the family as well.
