WE LIVE IN USA
Racco My checklist
All guides ＋

Marrying at San Francisco City Hall: up to 6 guests, a US$113 ceremony fee

To marry at San Francisco City Hall, the Marriage License and the ceremony are two separate appointments, and the County Clerk's office does not sell licenses on the day of the ceremony. From July 1, 2026, the license fee is US$129 and a City Hall ceremony during business hours is US$113; the ceremony allows no more than 6 guests, and walk-ins are not accepted.

If you have more than 6 guests or want a weekend or holiday date, you need to book a space through City Hall Events instead, or arrange your own location elsewhere in San Francisco. Neither kind of appointment can be rescheduled, and cancellations are not refunded. If you need to register the marriage in Taiwan, a certificate issued in San Francisco goes to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco for authentication.

What a City Hall ceremony is

The US has no legal term like Taiwan's "notarized marriage." A ceremony at City Hall performed by a Marriage Commissioner from the County Clerk's office is called a civil ceremony, and is often called a courthouse wedding. It has the same legal effect as a ceremony in a church or a restaurant; the only differences are the officiant and the venue. Whether the marriage is valid depends on whether the license was properly signed and returned for recording within the deadline.

San Francisco's City Hall ceremonies take place at the County Clerk's office in Room 160 of City Hall, Monday to Friday, 8:00–16:00, with none on federal holidays. Book a ceremony slot in the County Clerk's online appointment system, and arrive 15 minutes early.

Get the license first, then book the ceremony

  1. Book a license appointment: reserve a slot in the County Clerk's appointment system and submit the marriage license application at the same time. Both of you must attend; it takes about 20 minutes to an hour.
  2. Choose the type of license: a public license needs at least 1 witness at the ceremony, and the record is public; a confidential license needs no witness, but the two of you must already live together, and the record is released only to the two of you. Both cost US$129.
  3. Book the ceremony: reserve a separate City Hall ceremony slot. On the day of the ceremony, bring the original, unexpired license issued by any California county; copies are not accepted.
  4. Hold it within 90 days: the license is valid for 90 days from the date of issue, and the ceremony can take place anywhere in California.

The documents to bring for the license, proof that a previous marriage ended, and the rules for translating foreign-language documents are covered in getting married in California. For English translations of Taiwanese documents, San Francisco County requires a court-certified translator or an American Translators Association (ATA) certified translator; see translating the marriage certificate into Chinese.

6 guests, 1 witness, and what to bring on the day

Does the witness count toward the 6 guests? The sf.gov page doesn't say, so call the County Clerk's office at 415-554-4950 before you book.

Fees (from July 1, 2026)

On site you can pay by cash, check, money order, cashier's check, major credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay; make checks payable to SF County Clerk, and foreign checks are not accepted.

More than 6 people: book a one-hour space

The one-hour package from City Hall Events (checked 2026-10-26):

During this package, City Hall stays open to the public, and the ceremony area is only roped off. For an officiant, you can bring in a County Clerk Marriage Commissioner (the US$336 item above) or have a One-Day Deputy Marriage Commissioner officiate.

Recording and certified copies after the ceremony

Authentication uses up one copy, so order several at once (item 10 of the checklist); check that recording is complete a week or two after the ceremony (item 9 of the checklist). For how to request copies, see certified copies of the marriage certificate.

Authentication at TECO in San Francisco

The TECO office in San Francisco authenticates only documents issued in Northern California, Nevada and Utah; its marriage certificate authentication instructions (September 2026 version, checked 2026-10-14) state:

For the full steps to register in Taiwan, see registering a US marriage in Taiwan in five steps; for the rules at other offices, see which TECO office to send your marriage certificate to.

Common questions

Can we get the license and marry on the same day at San Francisco City Hall?

No. sf.gov states that licenses are not sold on the day of the ceremony; you must bring an original California license that has already been issued.

How much does it cost to marry at San Francisco City Hall?

From July 1, 2026, the marriage license is US$129 and a City Hall ceremony during business hours is US$113, for a total of US$242.

How many guests can we bring to a San Francisco City Hall wedding?

The County Clerk's City Hall ceremony is limited to 6 guests; for more than 6, book a space through City Hall Events, where the one-hour package starts at US$1,200 for up to 100 guests.

Can appointments be rescheduled or refunded?

No. Neither license nor ceremony appointments can be rescheduled, and cancellations are not refunded.

The license, ceremony, recording, certified copies and TECO San Francisco authentication are all put in order on the My Wedding Plan checklist: confirming the recording is item 9, certified copies item 10, and registering in Taiwan item 15. The checklist has a free version, and you can start without giving an email address.

Sources (checked 2026-10-26)

Fees, appointments and ceremony rules in this article follow the official City and County of San Francisco pages on sf.gov; the TECO San Francisco rules follow its September 2026 authentication instructions.

← Back to the checklist