San Francisco Engagement Shoots on Muni


Photo: Sarah Dawson Photography

Almost as much as they love trashing it, people love taking pictures of Muni. Exhibit A: our Muni Photos Flickr pool. Exhibit B: the couples who deemed it romantic enough for engagement and wedding photos. Reader Erin pointed us to these photos, starring love and Muni, by Sarah Dawson Photography. Pictured below are Katie and Shadi, and Bryan and Michelle, respectively.

We curse it to hell during commute hours, but any San Francisco photo shoot just isn’t complete without it. In 2009, Jeff and I couldn’t resist, either. We met in San Francisco and get all marshmallowy over neat stuff on public transit, so there you go.


Photo: Right Angle Images


Photo: Right Angle Images

Snuggle up on Muni (with permission from your snugglee, that is), and send us your photos and stories today. Why’s Muni your backdrop for more than getting to and fro?

Be Mime: Lost Wallet on Muni Leads to Love

33 - Stanyan
Photo by Michela

Muni rider Elyse has a story that proves: You never know when or where (ahem, Muni) you’re gonna meet that person who has a way of changing your life.

As a recent transplant to San Francisco, I was naturally intrigued when the SF Weekly’s “Best Of” issue hit the stands. While flipping through it one Friday morning, the picture alongside an article about the city’s Best One Man Band caught my attention, because she was a ridiculously good looking and hot lady, who also looked like a mime. She caught my eye for a few moments before I moved on in my reading.

Late that night, while on my way out to the Mission on the 33 bus line from Twin Peaks, with my housemate and a friend from out of town, the one-woman band of my dreams from SF Weekly boards the bus, Beat-Feet and all. Joking, my friends and I discuss which one of us was going to write the Missed Connection on
Craigslist later that night.

I make eyes her way and depart the bus shortly thereafter to go to the bar. Upon arriving at the bar I find that I have lost my wallet, and cannot even go into the bar with my friends. Going back to the bus route I check all the buses coming back and spend the rest of the night worrying about my lost belongings.

Three weeks later, all cards cancelled and renewed, I am spending a quiet evening going through Facebook random requests and see one from a name I do not know, but who does reside in San Francisco. It says she was in a clown college but the profile picture didn’t let me see her face. I decided to friend this person and just check it out, and upon realizing who the girl was I simultaneously realized that she must have found my wallet to have known my name and find me. I then found a message sent roughly three weeks prior with the friend request with her number. Quickly I called and left a voicemail, but didn’t hear back from her for the rest of the day.

Later that night, another housemate of mine, who obviously knew the entire story of just who found my wallet, runs into the cutely dressed mime, busking on a street corner, and she gets on a bus with him and decides to come to my house to explain what has since happened to my wallet.

I at the time am getting ready to go out in the Mission, and have been drinking for roughly two hours, with a friend from college. My roommate texts me and tells me not to leave until he gets home, thinking he is sick or something I obviously stay.

When he gets to the house with my surprise, my friends realize it is the Mime musician from the bus and from the magazine. She had come to my front door to explain that she had taken the twenty dollars and BART card in my wallet, and given the wallet itself to a friend, and also had cut up my cards. My addresses on all my cards were, at that time, San Diego and she hadn’t thought I really lived in San Francisco. She offered to play me a song with her Beat-Feet, and as I graciously accept she plays “Kiss” by Prince and my heart melts. And slowly but surely after months of easing into this magical experience we are deeply in love and laugh and play every day on the streets of San Francisco together.

We love Muni stories of all stripes. Got a Muni story? Share it here on Muni Diaries.

The Best Muni-Themed Wedding Ever?

When Jen F. and her husband Kevin told their friends that they were going to have a Muni-themed wedding, they were ridiculed to no end. I’m sure there were jokes about urine and body odor. But hey, if you’re reading this, you know that Muni is a big part of the life we love in San Francisco. Jen and Kevin really showed off their love for our city with their wedding. Jen tells us how and why they made Muni such a big part of their big day. There was even Muni-shaped chocolate!!!

I met Kevin on his front stoop through some mutual friends. Since we lived a stop away from each other on the 1 line, we bumped into each other all the time on our way to work. What I like to say is that we fake dated on the bus. For nearly six months, we rode the bus to work almost every day, he used the time as a way for me to get to know him, and for him to get to know me.

Muni was a huge aid in our falling in love. It gave us 30-40 minutes a day to talk to each other, which is why I call it fake dating.

On the way home from our engagement weekend we both came up with the idea that our table names could be the name of stops along the 1 route. And from there we decided that we were going to have a Muni-themed wedding.

We took our engagement pictures on Muni. Both of our save the date and wedding invitation stationery were custom-made for us with a Muni theme.

The table names were bus stops on the 1 route between California and Divisadero and Clay and Grant.

We gave our guests bus-shaped chocolate inside a box. On top of the box were Muni Fast Passes.

We even incorporated the Muni logo and graphics on the photobooth photo strips as well as our welcome brochures.

We were really happy how both the stationery and pictures on the bus turned out, and how they worked together. We got a lot of people really excited about our story and really excited about the city.

When I told everyone here in San Francisco that we were having a Muni-themed wedding, I got made fun of, or not taken seriously, and they couldn’t wrap their head around it or even fathom the idea. It was awesome to prove that a dirty, stinky bus (that is often times the bane of our existence) could be really classy and romantic.

Invitation Designer: Jack’s Master Design
Photographer: Quan D. Nguyen

Thanks, Jen! Bask in this couple’s happiness for a while before we return with more Muni stories, hopefully one from you!

I met you on the bus. Will you marry me?

Christina (she of tweetsweet fame) alerted us to Cameron’s charming proposal story. Cameron proposed to “bus girl” via the rad paper book you see up there, which was made by Hello!Lucky. Here’s his story.

A few years ago I was waiting to catch the 1-California home from work when I saw a girl with glasses who immediately stood out in my mind. Looking back I have memories of thinking something like, “That’s a girl I could see standing next to me for the rest of my life.” Soon after that I noticed she also rode the same Golden Gate Transit bus I rode to San Rafael for work. Quite a few times we’d stand next to each other waiting for the 1, me trying to appear like I wasn’t paying attention to her. This tandem bus ride schedule went on for a couple weeks, but eventually I stopped seeing her on the bus.

A number of months and a relationship came and went. From time to time I’d wonder what happened to the bus girl. One day she appeared on my Golden Gate Transit bus. We began to smile at each other every now and then, but still we generally acted like we didn’t know the other was there. This game went on for a while, but eventually I decided it was time that I actually said hello to the bus girl. One day I sat down next to her on the bus. In my best I’m-not-trying-to-hit-on-you voice said, “Hi, I’m Cameron. I feel like we should know each other.”

I later learned that for that year and a half of talking about the “bus girl” with my friends, her friends had been calling me “bus boyfriend.” People like to give us a hard time for taking so long to say hello to one another, but we agree that we’re glad it took that long. We both changed a lot in that year and a half, every bit of it getting our personalities in just the right place for when we finally did meet.

I’ve run out of ways to say “rad.” Congrats, Cameron and fiancée!

Missed Connection at Muni Diaries Live

drink at the elbo room
Photo by Caitlin Burke

Hey Muni Diaries readers: Are you a burly, bearded man who was wearing plaid last Wednesday night at our open mic show at the Elbo Room? (I’m imagining at least 100 dudes with hands shot up in the air) If so, I have something for you.

Caught each other’s gaze at Muni Diaries – w4m – 27 (mission district)

I arrived late and found a spot near stage left. I turned around to talk to my friends and our eyes met for what seemed like 3 or 4 seconds.

You: burly, bearded, and beflanneled. Me: dark hair, dark eyes, and dark clothes.

I’ve seen you around and would like to know more. Can I buy you a drink?

Reader Jim tipped us off to this Missed Connection ad, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Ok, the description of our Juliet is a little vague, but I can add that she has excellent taste in blogs and spoken word events, as does our Romeo.

Flannel Guy, won’t you write her back?

Oh, and invite us to the wedding. You’re welcome.

p.s. Check out this Muni missed connection note. Wonder whatever happened to those two lovebirds.

Getting hitched? Let Muni be your limo


Photo by Stacy Horner

Gretchen sent in a sweet email about her friends Robbie and Kristin, both scientists at UCSF, who got married two weeks ago and took Muni to their wedding at City Hall. Gretchen told us that these two even took Muni to their engagement dinner…at Gary Danko, no less. Classy!


Photo by Stacy Horne

We’ve seen our share of sweet wedding moments on Muni. Did you meet a special someone on the bus? Let us know.

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