Wedding and Reception at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum
Tayler & Brad’s love story began a little over a year ago, and you can read about it here.
If I had to use two words to describe their wedding, they would be classy and romantic.
After their engagement session, I can remember Tayler saying to me “We need to start praying now that the weather will be good, because we want to get married outside!”
Unfortunately, the week of their wedding came and the forecast was 90% chance of rain all day. And sure enough that morning we were greeted by a lot of rain clouds.
But nothing could get them down. The people at the hall said they’d wait until the last minute to set up the chairs outside if they could. And if not, they’d move everything indoors to the ballroom.
It wasn’t just the ceremony they were worried about, they had also planned a spectacular sparkler exit for the end of the evening. So we decided to plan for everything indoors. Just to be safe.
So they carried on getting ready, and I took all their detail photos beforehand. I love how they incorporated so many engagement photos into the decorations!
Everything was either wooden or burlap. Even the flowers on the tables were made of burlap! It was so simple and everything went together so well.
Someone had made them these adorable Mr. & Mrs. cookies on a stick.
When we walked in, we found Tayler getting ready in the hallway! Her Matron of Honor, Brigid, who had done her makeup for her engagement session, was doing her makeup again. And the hallway had better lighting than the bathroom! 🙂
Tayler’s mom helped her get into her dress and laced her up. I must say, she has had a lot of practice! She was laced up in less than 5 minutes! I told her I wanted to take her along to every wedding with me. Most people get shown how to do it once, usually months before the wedding, and then forget how to do it on the day of. But no worries, if that ever happens, “Professional Wedding Dress Lacer Up’er” is on my resume.
Tayler’s dress from MB Bride was absolutely stunning!!
Brad’s best man, Tim had been a lifelong friend and support for him. They both wore tan tux’s.
Brad & Tayler had decided to do a first look. Since their ceremony and reception were at the same location, they didn’t want their guests to have to wait very long for food when they didn’t have any driving time in between.
Soldier’s & Sailors has this beautiful balcony that wraps around the ballroom. It has a staircase that goes up two sides. So Brad went up one side, and Tayler went up the other.
I always love this moment when the groom sees his bride for the first time.
And then…THE RAIN STOPPED! So we went outside because we didn’t know how long it would last! 🙂
It’s very relaxing when you can get all your pictures out of the way before your ceremony. Especially when you have wonderful family and friends who take care of everything, ensuring your day is perfect.
We walked across the street to the Pitt Student Union Building. They have a beautiful lawn full of flowers in front of the building.
Now is the time when I have to tell you how very important it is to be aware and safe when crossing the streets of Pittsburgh. You see, right when we reached the other side, a driver sitting at the light, got a green light, but he slowed down to take a look at how beautiful Tayler was, and ended up being rear ended by the car behind him (who also was distracted by her beauty!) I decided that was quite enough excitement for one day and very thankful that we were not still in the crosswalk when it happened! So we moved AWAY from the intersection. It was very scary, and I really hope the people in both cars were okay, because they didn’t stop. But now Tayler and Brad will have a story to tell to their children one day, about how their mom was so beautiful that she caused a car accident.
There was a yoga class going on inside this building. Pretty sure they got distracted as well. 🙂
If you read their engagement story, and remember how they met, these are the missionaries, and Tayler’s grandmother Nona (who introduced them when theses missionaries were speaking at his church.) They hold a very special place in their hearts.
The rain stayed away for the rest of the day, and they were able to have their outdoor ceremony on the steps of the museum as planned.
This is Chrissy and Martin. They have these really adorable puppies that I’ve photographed before, who may appear in a blog post someday soon. 🙂
It was really nice just having their two closes friends in their bridal party.
And these two adorable ring bearers.
High five yeah!
Their little flower girl wasn’t too thrilled to have so much attention on her.
And even already having seen Tayler before the ceremony, Brad still teared up as she walked down the aisle toward him.
And then as her dad gave her away, he lifted her veil to give her a kiss and it fell out of her hair! But Brigid came to the rescue!
And now they are husband and wife. 🙂
Exciting story number 2: This lovely gentlemen in the green shirt here walked up to me and my assistant Sarah before the ceremony, and asked us what was going on (because the white dress, veil, and tux weren’t a giveaway. hmm..) He then said he was going to go change and would come back in time for the ceremony! And he did! He stood in the back and watched and afterwards we had to get a few photos with this “wedding crasher” college student. I can’t even remember what his name was, but he was very entertaining. And Tayler and Brad just went with it like he was one of their guests. It was great!
Brigid has been Tayler’s life long best friend. Just a few months before, she and her husband were married at the beach and Tayler got to be her maid of honor. They were very excited when they got to switch roles.
Look how classy they all are!
And silly too. 🙂
Tayler’s veil ended up falling out again. So she just took it out for the rest of the photos. 🙂
They were introduced and went straight into their first dance, Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, that was played on the piano and performed by Tayler’s little sister.
The reception was very simple and filled with so much laughter and conversations amongst all of their friends.
Their wedding cake and flowers were from Barton’s Flowers and Bake Shop in Elizabeth. They did a wonderful job!
I have to say, I was very impressed by their pianist! He played some very good songs for everyone to dance to, and was very skilled!
And then, the end of the night came, and they were able to have their grand sparkler exit as they had planned. It was a beautiful evening!
And they live happily ever after. <3
