San Francisco elopement

The flowers never stop blooming in Golden Gate Park, and the Gardeners never stop working..... Although Golden Gate Park has beautiful destination gardens, the park was designed for folks to "get lost." There are interesting features, surprising plants, magnificent tree groves and sunny glades around the next bend on any trail. And did you know that there are ten lakes in Golden Gate Park? There are endless out of the way places for you to find your own romantic spot to elope where no permit is required. Be forewarned, however, that their popular "high profile" locations do require a fee and permit no matter how small your wedding.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco's largest, is bigger than New York's Central Park. About 3 miles long and 1/2-mile wide it covers 1,013 acres. GGP has over one million trees, nine lakes, several fly casting pools and a lily pond within its borders. Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers and several museums are among its many attractions.

Interested in what will be blooming at the park on your anticipated wedding date? Click here.

From quiet nooks to gorgeous gardens to restful water sites, this park has it all and is very accessible if you will be staying in San Francisco. Spectacular Golden Gate Park has so many treasured places to hold a ceremony that they are nearly too numerous to list there. Here are some of our favorites:

Japanese Tea Garden

Note: the Japanese Tea garden is NOT available for wedding ceremonies. We include it here because you may have your wedding photos taken here. Suggestion: exchange your vows in a lesser-known part of the park and then come to the Japanese Gardens for spectacular wedding photos.

Shakespeare Garden

Designed in 1928 by the California Spring Blossom and Wildflower Association, this garden honors the plants and flowers mentioned in the Bard's poems and plays. Elizabethan literature buffs can roam around the garden naming the works that reference these exotic flora; enter the iron-wrought gate for a real Midsummer Night's Dream-esque pageant of lady-smocks, hemlock, violets, and other florid representations of Shakespeare's works.

Fee and Permit Required.

Stow Lake

This beautiful lake, the largest in the park, is popular with fly fishers and amateur boaters. It also serves as the park's principal reservoir. Strawberry Hill is a naturally formed island that sits in the middle of the lake and is reachable by the Roman bridge, the rustic bridge or paddle boat.

The Chinese Pavilions, located on Strawberry Hill, does require a permit and fee. However, there are other locations around the lake that would accommodate a no-fuss elopement without a permit.

A much-visited favorite part of the park, this was originally built as part of the sprawling Midwinter Fair. This intricate and private (depending on the season) complex of paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also hidden throughout its five acres are beautiful sculptures and bridges.

Please note that Golden Gate Park requires permits with varying amounts of fees to be paid depending on the area of the park you select. In addition, weddings (even small elopements) are not allowed in all areas of the park. We've listed a few of these requirements and fees below, but you should always confirm with Golden Gate Park staff before selecting your GGP elopement location.

The general guideline that we received in talking to the supervisor at GGP is that if a wedding is less than 25 people and is a simple gathering (i.e. no wedding processional, stretch limousine, hoards of paparazzi, etc.) a couple can get by without a permit if it is not held in a "high profile area" of the park.

High profile means every well known spot in the Park (like Shakespeare Gardens, etc.) including all the places listed in the permit flier.

Click here for a map of Golden Gate Park.