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.