City Hall Thursday

Sunlight streams in through the domed roof of city hall. On Thursday afternoons, betrothed couples in wedding attire congregate in the circular lobby, posing for professional photographs among towering Grecian pillars and columns. Here, two couples have slipped away from the throngs ringing the rotunda for a private moment on the third-floor balcony. Beyond the balustrade’s gilded scrollwork, a bride in white stands with her groom, framed by a stained-glass window’s amber and jade geometric lattice. Another young bride solemnly enters a private antechamber. Bubbles of laughter and conversation drift up from below, while footsteps echo on the grand staircase.