Budget: San Francisco Elopement

We normally don't post a lot of personal information about ourselves, but we had some life-changing news; we're taking this opportunity to burst through the 4th wall.
This past week E and I got married; we actually flew to San Francisco to elope.
This was the right decision for us. We didn't want the stress or expense of a big wedding, so we decided to do something classy and special, for the two of us, without spending a lot of money.
We had always considered moving to San Francisco, so it seemed like the perfect place to elope. Plus, they perform civil ceremonies at City Hall: an amazingly beautiful domed building occupying over 2 city blocks.
Every inch of this building is absolutely beautiful. You don't even need to be a California resident to get married here; just bring your documents and reserve a time to get a marriage license and have a civil ceremony. They perform the civil ceremony at the top of a great flight of stairs in the rotunda.
We wanted to wear something nice, but not too formal, and we were able to take advantage of JCrew's 30% off holiday discount to get amazing deals on E's suit and my dress: I wore the silk tricotine Gracie gown. Plus, we got free shipping by going to the store and ordering from the red phone.
We wanted to get some fun pictures "on location" around San Francisco, so I posted an ad on Craigslist to find a non-wedding photographer. We chose a photographer specializing in natural light, so he was a perfect fit to take some candid shots around the city. We ventured allover the city: The Mission Dolores, Petrillo Hill, The Golden Gate Bridge, and various parks and buses in-between. We looked at murals, ate ice-cream, and shopped at fruit stands. It's amazing how friendly people become when you're running around town in wedding clothes.Overall, our photographer only cost about one-third of the typical "City Hall Photographers" rate. Plus, we received a disc of all the photographs only two hours later. With these digital rights we can now share the photos online and print out as many copies as we needed. We're also able to use the digital images to make our own hardcover photo books to give to our families.
We also had a ton of fun around the city, and it wasn't too expensive. We were able to use our free tickets to fly to San Francisco, and we stayed at The Chancellor Hotel right in the heart of downtown's Union Square.
Our hotel was a great deal; it was only $100/per night for a boutique, European-feeling hotel. Our room even came with its own rubber duck.
We spent a memorable weekend riding tandems across the Golden Gate Bridge, eating Dim Sum, and meeting skateboarding pitbulls in Haight-Ashbury.
Our only regret is our parents were disappointed that we didn't ask them to come. We didn't really think about that when we planned it. We just wanted to do something inexpensive without having people spend a lot of time or money. Knowing this, we probably would have invited them to come. I guess we will also be having some kind of celebration in the near future.