Soldiers and Sailors Wedding in Pittsburgh, PA | Brian + Elizabeth

With it’s incredible architecture and dynamic, flippable rooms for large groups, Soldiers and Salior’s Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh truly was one of the best wedding venues I had the pleasure of working in! Brian and Liz’s elegant wedding offered some of the most stress-free and accommodating benefits that an upscale wedding couple could hope for. The wedding coordinators made everything effortless for not only the vendors but the bridal party and guests as well. .

The day started with the girls getting ready in the Board Room on the 3rd floor, right next to the ballroom where the reception was. The big benefit of this was that the bridal party could leave their things in this room for the day and easily retrieve them when they were ready to leave for the night because it was right beside the reception area. The Board room was also stunning in itself for some great portraits. The rich browns and leather furniture gave everything a painterly look, and the stained glass made for a great backdrop against Liz’a beautiful dress. Besides her exceptional strapless lace ball gown, Liz also wore pearl earrings that her husband-to-be bought her, her grandmother’s pearl necklace, and a very special bracelet. A few months into Brian and Liz’s relationship, he bought each of them matching anchor bracelets when they knew things were getting serious. Functioning as a promise ring of sorts, the anchors symbolized their loyalty to one another as well as their foundation in their faith and their God that anchored their journey from the beginning.

Their beautiful ceremony, held in the first floor auditorium, featured meaningful scripture readings, the sweetest hand-written vows to one another, and a special time of worship songs. From the very first time I met Brian and Liz, I knew their faith played a very important role in their lives, their relationship with each other, and happily, also played an important in their wedding ceremony.

Other than their steadfast faith in the Lord, when first meeting Brian and Liz, the interesting fact that Brian is Canadian is sure to come up shortly after! Brian was born in Canada and Liz grew up in Pittsburgh. Brian ended up moving to Pittsburgh just as Liz was leaving for college, so it would still be some time before they met. Liz had dreams of teaching internationally, but God had other plans. After some time traveling, Liz eventually moved back to Pittsburgh and started teaching at a local school, where one day her coworker told her about “this cute, kind Canadian” she needed to meet. So it ended up the international came to her, instead!

When I asked them about the early days of their relationship, Liz shared that for Brian, it was love at first sight. For her, though, it took a little longer. Brian was certain she was going to fall in love with him, and after a while into our relationship he even told her so! She told him she'd just have to wait and see... but then about 6 months in, told him he was right. :) Since then, Brian and Liz enjoy time together between their busy schedules and always tend to end up grocery shopping when they are together. Or eating chips and salsa, Liz says!

I hope you enjoy the highlights of this amazing day at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial hall!