city hall ceremony + la mar peruvian waterfront reception (50 guests), Jessa & Adorante at La Mar Cocina Peruana — City Room

Real Weddings · San Francisco, CA

A City Hall Ceremony, Then a Waterfront La Mar Reception for 50

Jessa & AdoranteJune 2026La Mar Cocina Peruana — City Room · San Francisco

Jessa and AJ's City Hall ceremony and La Mar Peruvian waterfront reception was fifty guests across two San Francisco landmarks in June 2026, vows under the rotunda in the morning, then lunch on the Embarcadero in the afternoon. They kept it to the two things that mattered to them: the people in the front row and a long, unhurried table by the water.

The day ran in two halves. First the marble and light of City Hall, family walking them both down the aisle, a reveal saved for the last second. Then a break, a drive to Pier 1½, and an afternoon of Peruvian food and dancing with the bay going by outside the windows.

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Morning

Vows Under the Rotunda

Jessa walked in with both her parents on either arm, and AJ came down with his, a small break from tradition they had both wanted. Their parents and sisters filled the front row, with the rest of the fifty in the chairs behind them and the grand staircase rising at the end of the aisle.

Rather than watch her make the long walk, AJ turned toward the balcony as the processional began and stayed that way until Jessa reached the center of the aisle. Then he turned around, and the first look happened right there at the altar, in front of everyone. Their officiant married them under the rotunda, and afterward the whole group spilled onto the marble staircase for portraits.

city hall ceremony + la mar peruvian waterfront reception (50 guests), Vows Under the Rotunda

“He turned toward the balcony and stayed that way until she reached the aisle. The first look happened right there at the altar, in front of everyone.”

After the ceremony

Portraits on the Embarcadero

After the family groupings on the staircase, the couple used the gap between ceremony and reception to arrive early at La Mar Cocina Peruana, which sits out on Pier 1½ on the Embarcadero. The restaurant looks straight across the water at the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island, so the couple took portraits along the docks and the railing before their guests arrived, classic San Francisco waterfront, the bay doing the rest of the work.

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