Stylish San Francisco Presidio Wedding: Nichole + Will

San Francisco Wedding

Sometimes the perfect wedding venue just so happens to be practically in your own backyard! Nichole + Will have spent countless weekends hiking through, near + around The Presidio (Golden Gate Club) in San Francisco with their Alaskan Malamute, Kaiyuh, and along the way have fallen in love with its charm + history – and just the fact that it’s a such a huge + beautiful park right in the middle of the city! They spent a lot of time looking at other venues around the Bay Area before realizing the perfect space for them was always right nearby. (Bonus points that it felt oh-so quintessentially SF!) Below N + W tell us more about how they personalized the space + designed a day that was totally reflective of the two of them:

We really didn’t have a theme, but just wanted to embrace and showcase the beauty of and our love for the Presidio. We mixed vintage style with modern design elements and we were really happy with the outcome when it was all put together. Our color palette was inspired by a bunch of dahlias I bought one day at our neighborhood farmers market. We found our florist, Tali of Thistle, through a friend and loved that their floral design is just so effortlessly beautiful. I really felt like my bouquet was just picked out of the park!

Thanks so much to A Fist Full of Bolts for the stunning images and to Satra Zarghami for the gorgeous event design. And, of course, big congrats to Nichole + Will on a perfect day!!

invitation

custom painting

For Will’s gift on the day of our wedding I commissioned a painting from an old friend/director, Randy Walker, that I used to work with during my Seattle days. He paints what he calls “Bad Wedding Portraits” over old oil paintings he finds at thrift stores and flea markets. The photos of Will opening that painting are so great and it now hangs right in the front hall of our house.

first look in the woods

San Francisco Wedding

San Francisco Wedding

bouquet

arrow tie bar

wedding party

bride

wooden wedding sign

hanging floral backdrop

So in love with ceremony site Thistle + Satra Zarghami created. That hanging piece of greenery + dahlias plus a vintage rug aisle…so up our alley!

pup ring bearer

San Francisco Wedding

San Francisco Wedding

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

There are really so many to count. But I think our vows were most definitely the most memorable of them all. Will and I chose to write our own. We sent them to our friend/officiant, Brian, separately. Brian looked over them to make sure ours was close to the same length, and to make sure one wasn’t too silly vs. too sentimental, etc. And when Brian told both of us not to change a single thing we were kind of surprised. Day of the wedding I went first and was relieved to make it through the entire thing with minimal “ugly crying.” But when Will read his to me I nearly lost it. There were at least 4 different things he said to me that was literally word for word what I had just said to him. That feeling of being so right for each other had never hit me harder. It was perfect. At the end of the ceremony too, Brian had surprised us by having each one of our bridesmaids and groomsmen read us a word that they had chose for us to remember and take with us into our marriage. It was so amazing having those closest to us be so involved in our ceremony too.

San Francisco Wedding

San Francisco Wedding

San Francisco Wedding

pup ring bearer

bridesmaids

San Francisco Wedding

San Francisco Wedding

bud vase centerpieces

wolf logo

For our wedding design, I illustrated a geometric “wolf” head with a diamond on the forehead. Our dog Kaiyuh has a heart shape on her forehead so the design was really inspired by her.

menu

bud vase centerpieces

bud vase centerpieces

custom program

reception

drink menu

entrance

chair banner

first dance

Our Musical Choices

Processional: Eyes Be Closed – Washed Out

Recessional: Love Never Felt So Good – Michael Jackson

First Dance: Hysteric – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

greenery cake backdrop

cake

stage

See even more from this beautiful day in the film below, captured by the couple’s friend, Ryan Leggett!

Our Advice To Those Planning Now

Make it personal and surprise each other (and even your guests). It really is a day of celebrating the love that you two share and the people you have there to share it with. Incorporate the things that are meaningful to you and represent you as a couple, it will really make the day that more special and memorable.

photography: A Fist Full of Bolts // venue name: Golden Gate Club, Presidio in San Francisco, California // event design: Satra Zarghami // planning: Satra Zarghami // florals: Thistle // hair stylist: Jennie Altman-Siewart // makeup artist: Anna Taylor (friend) // videography: Ryan Leggett (friend) // cake: Pretty Please Bakeshop // officiant: Brian Coate (friend) // lighting: Monique Albert of Just the Lights // photo booth: The Magnoilia Photo Booth Co.

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