National Aviary Wedding Pittsburgh, PA

“It’s got good bones”…that’s how I’d describe this wedding. It was “framed” so well…I could use all kinds of analogies. Basically…the planning of this wedding plus an amazing couple then add in an amazing vendor team and sprinkle THAT with genuine love and support from all their family and friends in attendance and wellllllllll…you’ve got an amazing wedding day ahead of you! That is JUST how Katie and David’s National Aviary wedding last weekend was for us…for all of us attendees….yep…including us vendors! We can’t do it again but we sure can read and see it all again!

So, let’s do this! Ready to see it? Katie and David’s absolutely beautiful wedding heavily packed with couple portraits is on the blog right now! ENJOY! Happy Friday!

Lacey and I started our long (Katie and David booked my 10 hour package) day with coffee in hand heading into the city. HOW it didn’t feel 10 hours at the end of the day is beyond me…10k plus steps and soooOoOOO many photos later…we were still rockin’! But I’m getting ahead of myself…so, let’s go back! We arrived at the hotel last Saturday morning and found the ladies getting ready. Shortly after…JT and Buddy (Penderville Wedding Films) arrived and it was like a vendor reunion. I got to meet the ladies of Glam to Go (who I have heard rave reviews about…and now can confirm said reviews are true). Basically, it was a whole wonderful vibe! Stay with me…this blog is going to wonderfully chaotic in all the Hannah ways! The glam to go ladies mean business!

The details were delicate and beautiful and sooOoOOo matched Katie and the feel of this wedding.

Groom details too! David’s ring was his late dad’s ring…engraved with his parents’ wedding date and intiails AND now his and Katie’s wedding date and initials! I DID get both sides…but for blog sake…I shared his parent’s.

While the ladies were finishing up, we went upstairs a few floors.

Then, we went back downstairs to finish with bridal prep so we could head off to the first look(s)!

After Katie had a moment with her dad, we left with David. Lacey got in the car with Emily (Lead Planner and Owner of Simply Bold Events) and I walked the streets of Pittsburgh with JT, Buddy and David. In true Hannah fashion, I called it a field trip. Who would have thought we’d find this beautiful area right down by the river?! They wanted to do something different for first look and some of their couple portraits…and little did I know…we’d get SooOOoOo many more couple portraits even after this! I took a ton here because I didn’t know how many more we’d actually get later!

Then, down by the river we went! Taking the country girl into the city and I was HERE for it this day – just like their engagement session that was over a year and a half ago (crazy to me). They had a fall session then to contrast their summer wedding…you can see it HERE.

These two really do have the most perfect dip! You’re going to keep seeing more and more and MORE of that…you just wait!

And then…just like that…off to the National Aviary we went! I’d never been here before. I also knew Katie and David had planned their wedding to have shades of blue…I’ve photographed blue before but NOT like this! All hail a GREAT and fun bridal party who were up for anything JT or I asked them to do!

The men!

The ladies. Gosh…they’re beautiful, aren’t they?! (You were lookin’ good too, guys!)

…and because they deserve it…MORE bridal party photos!! I can’t say it enough. Give me lots of time and you’ll get lots and lots of photos! Give me an even greater group of people and we’ll take photo upon photo upon photo (and really…it was less than an hour for all these and this is just a sample).

We got right down to some more bride and groom portraits! Working alongside JT and Buddy is always easy and we always have such a great time! I wish we did it more often!

To the bridge!

Then, we went and did family formals. I know…I know…I’m usually a stickler for family after the ceremony but the couple wanted to enjoy their cocktail hour and they assured me family would be present prior and boy were they right! I took a moment to acknowledge David’s late father on the fly by having his family look down at his tie. We had to make it quick because the tears did surface. I showed the photo earlier but thought it’d be nice to make sure he was a part of the blog too because he was most certainly a big part of this wedding even though he wasn’t present in person. I heard nothing but great things about him over and over all day long.

Ok! Whewww…put the tissues away…because MORE couple portraits!

We couldn’t stop! You couldn’t stop us!

We had time to sneak into the reception and enjoy the creativeness of these table “numbers”! FIND YOUR LOCATION…love it!

After photographing the reception, which had so many creative elements, we were off to the ceremony!

You guessed it…some more couple portraits! The dip though…perfection! Ironically, my attempt at a dip photo during the ceremony didn’t turn out BUT JT’s did and he was kind enough to sent me some to edit so there are dips for everyone in the couple’s gallery!

After a few more family formals, everyone was off to cocktail hour and then DJ Keith Shreve (Hey, Keith!) introduced the bridal party with amazingly unique and fun entrances!

People are hitting it out of the park with speeches this year!! Just like past weddings, I thoroughly enjoyed these speeches!

Let’s get this party started!

THEN, we went out for golden hour photos. Katie and David got a full show of what happens when photographers and videographers are super excited about the light and literally racing it! I’m sure the walkers and passerby thought we had lost our minds. We were racing and screaming and cheering and ALLLLLLLL the things!

They were soaking it all in!

CUE THE MUSIC! I’m so sappy and loving this…I wish you all could have been there!

Lacey always kills it with the second angles for me BUT these champagne popping photos are ALL hers!

We had two bottles! I mean…they had two bottles…you know what I mean!

Let’s make it “night”! Lacey snapped that last one…I love it! Katie and David were genuinely enjoying it allllll!

Back to the party!

THEN, impromptu couple portraits with that new last name!

AND…a sparkler send off! AND ONE LAST DIP!

This kind of timeline, wedding…the people (most importantly)…are the kind of weddings us vendors absolutely love. 10 hours FLEW by…the gallery and film (have only seen a few teasers and I am already obsessed) are 10/10…Katie and David and Simply Bold Events could teach a class on laid back weddings where we still have alllll the time to get things done and enjoy every second! This is probably one of my biggest wedding galleries delivered…TO DATE! And that’s what happens when it’s all grand! Thanks for reading everyone! Happy Friday!

CONGRATS TO THE NEW MR. & MRS HAROUSE!

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Disclaimer: Hannah Barlow Photography blogs only represent a small portion of photos the couple actually receives in their private gallery.  The blogs are meant to highlight favorite photos and favorite moments of the wedding day and do not represent an entire gallery.

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Vendors

Planner – Simply Bold Events (Emily Vandergift and Assistants Abby and Molly)

Venue – National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA

Catering – Atrias

Video/Film – Penderville Wedding Films, JT Penderville (And Buddy)

DJ – DJ Keith Shreve

Bride’s Gown – Bridal Beginning of Pittsburgh (Elysee)

Bridesmaid Attire – Show Me Your Mumu in Steel Blue

Groomsmen Attire – Generation Tux

Groom’s Attire – Boglioli

Florist – David’s Aunt

Hair/Makeup – Glam to Go

Transportation – Elite

Photo Booth – Joshua Castelluci

Stationary – Minted