My only is getting married, at a city hall. Her schedule is packed this summer. She didn’t want a big wedding and her fiancé didn’t mind going along. Is there a way to make a city hall wedding a little special?
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Can you host a small luncheon afterward, e.g. at a nearby restaurant with a private room? Find out what kind of clothes she’s wearing so you can also dress appropriately… Bring her a nice bouquet?
My middle was considering this but cancelled at the last moment and just postponed the wedding.
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Dress nicely, and hire a photographer!
One of mine married at SF city hall - a stunning building. She wore a short white dress, he was in a suit. Both Moms attended, too. We took them for lunch afterward.
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I am revving my engine! I love this kind of thing.
What’s your idea of “a little special”? One idea is the hire a photog so that they get some lovely pics. Not some crazy expensive hours-long package. I’m talking a local photographer for an hour who will have great ideas for nearby shots – interesting architecture, tucked-away garden. You can Google this info and find someone. Airbnb has these kind of side add-ons sometimes.
Along those lines, I’d a get a small bouquet for your daughter and maybe a boutonniere for him for a pop of color if she’s wearing white.
I’ve mentioned before that my mom couldn’t attend ds1’s wedding and my dad had died the year before so I framed a B&W pic of their wedding day and ds and DIL held it in photos. Was an easy way to include family that couldn’t be there.
Champagne and bubbles on the City Hall steps. I was part of a celebration like that in Denmark at City Hall.
Host a lunch afterward? Brewery party that night for friends?
ETA: Buy them a night in a fancy hotel!
Also, do they have a dog? Outfit him/her in something like this!
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A few ideas:
–Find out what flowers she likes and get your D a small bouquet for the wedding.
–Ask if they would like a photographer.
–Offer to host a small luncheon/dinner the day of the event (or a different day if they prefer).
Most importantly, enjoy the day whatever they choose to do.
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Photographer, flowers and dresses are taken care of. Groom’s parents are doing dinner the night before. Bride’s parents will take them out to dinner after the wedding. It will be a small group. Two sets of parents and a pair of best friends. Nobody lives in the city where the wedding is held. Do you reserve a suite in a hotel to house the bride?
DS1 and his wife had two weddings – the Covid one with just the two immediate families, and then the "real’ wedding the next year. They got themselves a fancy room in a downtown hotel for the night before and the night of the real wedding, but they got ready at the venue. If they aren’t making a big deal of seeing each other the day of the wedding, I’d book the honeymoon suite for just the night. Or you could do it for two nights and the bride could use the room to get ready with you and maybe the friends and then the married couple have it the evening of the wedding.
Gosh, this is bringing back happy memories. DS and DIL invited the moms to the room at the fancy hotel, and we had champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries with them, and ds told me that if they had a girl they would name it after my mom. 
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My kid had 2 weddings. One was local to them and the other a destination wedding.
For the local wedding, they hosted family for charcuterie and drinks at their home. Had some trays made up at Wegman’s. They had beer and wine but I don’t remember any one having much or any.
We were going to a local park to exchange wedding vows but that got scuttled by rain (phew because we were transporting 3 octogenarians!) Vows were made in their home and it was perfect.
They rented a local restaurant that has a tasting menu and we had a feast!
Other than transporting the octogenarians, it was pretty great!
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It’s special already 
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Get a photographer that is experienced with photos at the City Hall.
A friend had kid get married at SF City Hall–a beautiful venue. Her photog had shot many, many weddings there and knew the best angles, best sunlight, best spots. Just gorgeous.
Another friend’s son got married at same place, but with inexperienced photographer…and it showed. Captured none of the magic of the building, the lighting on the couple was marginal, basic locations, etc. I could have done a better job!
Spend the money and get a pro…
Champagne is nice touch.
Guessing that the couple has already planned where they are spending wedding night–paying for it a nice touch!
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I saw a guy on a keyboard recently outside City Hall playing “The wedding March” as the couple came down the steps. Strangers were crying, it was so beautiful. I wouldn’t describe him as the world’s greatest musician, but he used enough of the background options to make it sound like a quintet and it was perfect!
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I second hiring a good photographer. My son also got married at SF City Hall which is stunning. The photographer got some stunning pictures at City Hall and some really cool pictures around San Francisco.
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Another vote for having a photographer. H and I were both married before we married each other. We had a very small wedding–eight people–a few close relatives and the couple who were our best friends. The wedding was at a local chapel on the campus where H taught. The couple who came to the wedding had a relative who was a photographer and they asked him to photograph the wedding. (A surprise for us.) Neither H nor I thought it was something we wanted, but today (many, many years later) I am so happy to have these photos.
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I think having nice photos is always a good idea.
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