When Daria slipped into a vintage Mark Ingham gown, everything suddenly made sense. The dress fit as if it had been made for her, and with that, all the uncertainty about how and where to celebrate their wedding disappeared. She and Kaleb had considered everything from a formal church ceremony to an elopement in the mountains, but none of it had felt quite right. The dress, however, made the decision for them. They would marry at San Francisco City Hall and end the night in their own way at the Phoenix Hotel.

“We still just feel like two kids in love,” Daria says. “We’ve always been pretty spontaneous, so I just had this vision of us running away from a big traditional wedding. ‘Runaway couple’ was the only direction we wanted to go!”

The city itself played a starring role in their day. They allowed San Francisco’s character to shape the experience, from its grand architecture to its unexpected quirks. “The Phoenix Hotel did a lot of the work for us with its unique decor”, she continued, “but even the smallest details seemed to align. For example, we had no idea there would be this amazing yellow velvet curtain in our room, and the florist didn’t know either, but she made this stunning yellow bouquet that matched perfectly! We also had portraits done in front of the red and white striped pool cabana that was a spot on match to our stationery.”

Their wedding day stripped back all expectations to the essentials, and moments that felt natural. “We really started with the question, ‘What do we actually want?’ and the answer was simple. We wanted to be married. We took the whole wedding day itinerary and threw it out the window. The only thing I really wanted was a dedicated first look. Kaleb has always been so open with how he feels that I knew I wanted a dedicated moment to photograph that.”

Their ceremony at City Hall was surrounded by a quiet hum of life moving around them—other couples celebrating, families passing through, the city continuing on. “You can hear cheers from other weddings, conversations echoing through the halls. It felt like we were part of something bigger, it’s really invigorating to exchange vows in a place that has witnessed so much love.”

Afterwards, they did what felt natural. “We partied the way we do at home,” Daria says. “Pizza in bed, forks straight into the cake, and chasing our son on a sugar high. It felt like a big sleepover. No pressure, just us.”

Their advice to other couples planning a non-traditional wedding? “The ‘rules’ are completely arbitrary. There’s no law that says you have to do things a certain way. If we could change one thing about the wedding industry, it would be the pressure to achieve perfection. There’s such a huge emphasis on making everything look picture-perfect that it often overshadows the real purpose of the day. The focus should be on creating a day that feels unique and authentic to each couple. Shifting the industry’s focus from perfection to celebrating individuality and joy would make weddings so much more personal and stress-free.”