My husband and I were married at the Legion of Honor and it the day was near perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a lovelier location to exchange vows.

The museum (along with most of the museums in San Francisco) uses an amazing caterer, which we were required to use for our ceremony. We couldn’t have been happier with the meal and the service, and the fact that it held in the museum cafe made no difference. They transformed the space into the perfect wedding venue.

Aside from the wedding, the museum itself is quite a hidden little gem in the city. Most attention goes to the Modern Art Museum or the DeYoung in Golden Gate Park. The Legion is often overlooked, I’m guessing because of the off-the-beaten-path location.

However, if you can find your way to this landmark, do it. Be warned: The weekends are pretty brutal. You may have to fight your way through a gaggle of brides and their limos. Photographers LOVE the lighting in the courtyard and often bring their subjects here for a quick photo shoot…which is incredibly annoying for brides (like me) who are actually booked to be married at the museum.

On the most perfect January day I’ve ever seen in SF, I came here with one of my favorite native San Franciscans. The initial draw was the Marie-Antoinette exhibit, which was pretty amazing in and of itself, but I love just about everything about this place. In fact, it’s my favorite museum in the SF Bay Area.

The architecture of the building reminds me of museums I’ve been to in Europe (for some reason, it reminds me of the Picasso Museum, which is my favorite museum in Paris). Big and cavernous and a little dark and dank, especially in some of the medieval art rooms at the very back. And you don’t have to be a sculpture buff to appreciate the fact that this place has THE THINKER -- not the original, which is at the Rodin Museum, but one of the 20 casts made of it -- as well as an impressive collection of other Rodin sculptures. I love the fact that the Thinker represents Dante in front of the gates of hell, I suppose that would give anyone pause for thought.

They also have nice, big rooms that are generally uncrowded, so you can sit and ponder the meaning of life just like Kim Novak did in Vertigo. And then there is “The Broken Pitcher” by Bouguereau, the poster I hung in my college dorm room, which is still as hauntingly beautiful to me now as it was 25 years ago. In January, I sat in that room on a fairly empty week day, pondering her sorrowful gaze (there are many interpretations, some form of lost innocence being the most predominant). This is not my favorite Bouguereau -- that one is The Birth of Venus at the Musee d’Orsay, one of the many interpretations that pays homage to Botticelli -- but it is a close second.

There is also a small Holocaust memorial just to the left of the fountain outside if you are standing facing the city with your back to the museum. I wandered over there and sat in front of it for a few moments and found it very moving.

Finally, there are the stunning city views from everywhere outside and the beautiful grounds of Lincoln Park, where the Legion is located. If you are lucky enough to be here on a clear day, the view is simply spectacular. I cannot think of a more lovely setting for a wedding, except maybe Laguna Beach, California.