Wedding ceremonies at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Pittsburgh, PA are absolutely gorgeous!
Where is First Presbyterian Church in downtown Pittsburgh?
This church is situated on Sixth Avenue, across from the Duquesne Club. The church itself is beautiful both inside and out! It’s the perfect place for a beautiful wedding – they have a few photo rules to know about – but it’s very pretty!
Outside of the church, there are some stairs up the front and a large area for guests to gather before or after the ceremony. I also like to take family photos in in this area because it’s not on the street and has nice light.
First Presbyterian Church Arch
There is a beautiful architectural detail of a large archway in front of the church that is wonderful for photos. It’s really something unique to First Presbyterian Church and I love it’s gothic style – very Pittsburgh!
Inside First Presbyterian Church Pittsburgh
Once you’ve enjoyed the outside of the church, the inside does not disappoint either! One of the most spectacular things about First Presby is the set of doors in the back of the church. This may not sound all that exciting, but once you see the doors you’ll understand! These are huge wooden doors that are directly at the altar area. When wedding guests first arrive, the doors are closed. However, at the beginning of the ceremony, they slowly open up to reveal the rest of the altar and beautiful windows. It’s really something to see!
The church itself both interior and exterior is gorgeous, and I love photography at this church. It’s just stunning! However, maybe you have heard a bit about the photography rules and have questions….
Obeying Church Rules for Wedding Photography
One of the first things that to mention is that photography, in my opinion, does not take precedence over a religious ceremony. The church rules should always be adhered to, and any photographer who blatantly disregards church rules and interrupts a wedding ceremony is rude. That’s my personal opinion! I truly believe it is respectful to follow the politely requested church rules and to make the best of any situation for photography. My job is to ALWAYS create beautiful images with any limitations placed. If I didn’t do that for my clients, I wouldn’t be a professional!
Photography at First Presbyterian Church Pittsburgh
How does this apply to photography for ceremonies at First Presbyterian? They ask that their wedding photographers stay at the back of the church behind the last seated guest. Of course, I always hope that the ushers seat guests as close to the front as possible 🙂 Given this, there is a not a lot of options for different ‘angles’ on a wedding ceremony at First Presby. In that case, I work with lenses on my cameras that allow me to get ‘up close’, without physically being close to the guests and my couple. I work with different crops for images, and shoot both wide-angle and telephoto images to create coverage of the wedding ceremony that is visually interesting despite being photographed from one location!
