Neatfreak- SF questions!

[shigidigi]

Hey Neatfreak, did you need a permit of some sort to get married outside in SF? I cant find anything online about potentially needing a permit if we get married in a public place.

My mom works for the city of Tampa and I always hear about how people need permits for public weddings so I figured SF would be the same way!

Also- how did you decide where to have your reception? We won''t have enough people to warrant renting out a private room but I definitely want us to find a great place to eat with good food and ambience!!

I know it is so lame that I live here and cant answer these questions myself (in all fairness I have only been here 18 months!) but I know how obsessive we brides get and I am hoping you are a wealth of knowledge!

 

[neatfreak]

Yes, you do need a permit for most places, and the person to call for locations within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (which covers places like Fort Mason, Crissy Field, etc. is James Marks. Here is the website for more info:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/goga/spug/weddings/outside/index.htm

Other places have different fees and procedures, so if you find an outdoor space you like the best thing to do is to find out who "owns" it and call them. Most places have a person on staff who handles private events that you can just call.

As for the reception, many restaurants require that you rent out their private space if say you are over 25 or 30 people. BUT many places don''t charge you much to do so, or they just have a food minimum. For example, Greens charged us I think $225 for the room, and then a minimum for food of $1,000, which for 30 people we easily hit. The great thing about that was that we had our own waitstaff attending to us and the room was private so there were no gawkers or anything and we could be as loud as we liked.

Otherwise I would just call around to places you like, most places are very accommodating (we also had a brunch the next day, so I called a lot of places!). Just let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[shigidigi]

Thank you dear- I knew you''d have all the info!! I owe you one (or three at this point!)