Oakland venue reviews
Have you heard of the new University Center in Oakland? Ok, this isn’t an ad, but this beautiful new venue prompted me to post a Oakland venue review as part of my Bride’s Guide. Oakland is a popular setting for many Pittsburgh weddings, with the surrounding college campuses, beautiful churches and parks. For a long time, this college town was more limited in reception venues, but the University Club is definitely a stand-out in my opinion. I photographed a corporate event there in the fall. However, I don’t have any photos that really show the beauty of this venue, because my assignment was mainly what we photographers call “grip and grins” or informal group shots of guests at the event. So you’ll have to check out their site to get a sense of what this place looks like.
It seems that lots of brides and grooms nowadays are planning for their ceremony and reception to be close-by to save time in their busy day and also to keep it simpler for guests.
Now there are a lot of gorgeous churches in this neighborhood: Heinz Chapel (photographed above), St. Paul’s Cathedral, Bellefield Presbyterian Church, just to name a few. Other reception venues include: The Twentieth Century Club, the Concordia Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, or St. Nick’s Cathedral Room, as well as the local hotels. These venues have the catering covered from linens through glassware. Other unique venues include Soilders and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, Carnegie Museum or Carnegie Music Hall, and Phipps Conservatory. These venues might require more planning, for instance, renting chairs and collaborating with outside caterers, etc.
Whew! There are more Oakland reception venues than I thought. And that’s just off the top of my head from my experience in photographing events at these locations.
One last consideration if you’re planning for an Oakland wedding: there are plenty of great locations for the photography within walking distance. Can you tell I’m a fan of Oakland weddings? Check out a few of the great Oakland locations in the photos below.
Captivating Imagery
I'd like to give a shout-out to the Twentieth Century Club – another fabulous Oakland venue. But, I might be biased because I got married there :0
Indeed! I guess it hardly does these venues justice to group them in one post, but your comment reminded me that places like the Twentieth Century Club, which is stunningly beautiful, are great because you can actually hold both the ceremony and reception there. Thanks Kelli!
Indeed! I guess it hardly does these venues justice to group them in one post, but your comment reminded me that places like the Twentieth Century Club, which is stunningly beautiful, are great because you can actually hold both the ceremony and reception there. Thanks Kelli!
Another beautiful place that I’ve known is at the Bigelow conference and reception center at 4338 Bigelow Blvd which does a lot of receptions.
Another beautiful place is the Bigelow Conference and Reception Center.