At the end of September Elizabeth & Rafael were married in downtown Pittsburgh, the city that had brought them together. Since I travel for most of my weddings, it’s very rare for me to shoot in the same place twice in a row but my first two weddings back after the Camino just so happened to be in St. Paul’s Cathedral with photos across the street at the Mellon Institute. However, I am not complaining at all because this Cathedral is absolutely gorgeous and each wedding is so beautifully unique so it was actually just so cool to see how different Elizabeth & Rafael’s wedding was from Teresa & Andrew’s wedding the week before. It was also a fun challenge for me to try and use the space slightly differently!

Elizabeth and Rafael chose to start their coverage time at the church with enough time to take some individual portraits of the two of them and capture a few moments with Elizabeth and her mom in the side chapel where the bride stays hidden before the Ceremony. Elizabeth also still wanted me to capture her details. However, I ran out of time before the Ceremony, so believe it or not, these detail photos were actually taken at the reception as dinner was going on WITH FLASH. I am a natural light girl all the way but I am so happy with how these detail photos turned out!

And speaking of details, let me take a moment for Elizabeth’s dress. Oh my goodness. Her train was one of the longest I’ve photographed and was covered in sparkling details that sparkled in the sun with every movement. It was absolutely perfect for Elizabeth and also perfect for the location!

Rafael’s family is Venezeual and this meant that the final hour of the reception was the hora loca “the crazy hour”. All sorts of fun props came out, light-up glasses, masks, hats, glow sticks, boas, etc. And everyone went wild on the dance floor for that final hour before sending Elizabeth & Rafael off with a sparkler exit.

Elizabeth and Rafael, it was such an honor to photograph your wedding and get to know you both!

Xoxo,
Mary Kate

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A huge thank you to all the other vendors who came together to make this day possible!

CHURCH  // St Paul Cathedral

VENUE  // Georgetown Centre

DJ // Lethal DJ Services

VIDEOGRAPHER // Lars Gruber

FLOWERS // Gidas Flowers

CAKE // Pastries A-la-carte

DRESS // Olivia Bottega

HAIR & MUA // Alexis Vince

BRIDESMAIDS // Shop Revelry

GROOMSMEN // Men’s Wearhouse

TRANSPORTATION // Star Limoisine