Good ole Heinz Chapel

ginny814

So my hubby to be and I would LOVE to get married at Heinz Chapel, but we're really concerned with getting the time we want and still be able to book our top reception venue choices in the year we have to plan.   Also, my mom was worried about the location and the way the ceremony is carried out... is it as crazy as people make it out to be?  Is traffic a problem?  Parking? 

I'm a Pitt grad and so is my fiance's father; we are obsessed with Pitt and feel this would be the perfect wedding ceremony location.  In addition, I'm catholic and he's presbyterian, so the fact that they do non-denominational weddings is KEY! (If there are other beautiful churches out there that do non-denominal weddings, please send the recommendations my way!)

morainemom

Ginny,
What month are you looking at to have your wedding at Heinz Chapel?

My daughter got married there last October 16th. 
I will admit that the booking process is VERY stressful.  We had about 10 people trying to get through and finally - after 2.5 hours, my SIL grabbed the last Saturday slot - 10:30 am!

My daughter was wanting either the 2:30 or 4:30 as her first choices.  We all live an hour North of the 'Burgh and soon realized that a morning wedding wasn't going to be easy - for us or our guests.

After much discussion, my daughter and her now husband moved the wedding up by one day to Friday and had the ceremony at 2:00 pm.  They checked with all of the vendors and friends and family and everyone said to do it.

It ended up working out beautifully!  Traffic was a little congested - but not bad. You can pay $100.00 to the City Police and they will send an Officer out to direct guests to park on the street beside the Chapel.  (They forgot to send the Officer for our wedding - we parked there anyways and they sent an email a couple of weeks later apologizing.)

We had already booked all of our vendors before reserving the date and time at Heinz.  We explained about the process at Heinz and no one had a problem with finding out the time later on. Thankfully when we had to move the wedding up a day, all of the vendors were open.

ginny814

Thanks for the quick reply!  We're hoping to do an April 2012 wedding; we just got engaged 2 weels agp and would have liked to do an October 2011 wedding, but my fiance and I are currently in the DC area, making it difficult to research/visit any Pittsburgh area venues to make a decision quickly enough.  We think April 2012 will give us the time we need to plan everything out perfectly.

pantherRN

I agree with pretty much everything morainemom said. We orginally wanted to get married in Heinz Chapel but aren't for some of the exact reasons she said. The time of year you're getting married is really important too. If you're planning on a "peak season" wedding, like June or July, you may just have to count on luck to get the time you want.

Not to be a downer, but of all the people I know who go married there, only one got the time she wanted and it was by fluke because someone else cancelled their wedding.

Good luck to you if you decide to go for it!

ginny814

So calling at 8:30am on the dot on the first business day of the month still doesn't make any difference in getting your ideal time? haha.  Since yesterday was Sept. 1, I kept checking the Heinz Chapel calendarr to see how often it would update; wouldn't you know it, most of the times were already taken by 11am...  I'm hoping an April wedding won't be as sought-over, but with that venue, who knows..

cathrynlehman

I am getting married at Heinz next August andwas at a wedding there last October.  We didn't have any trouble parking when we attended the wedding, but I would recommend paying the 100 dollar fee to make parking available right there on the street.  The initial reservation process is stressful for booking the chapel, but I have to say they are super easy to work with.  Once you have a time slot, they send you a letter with very straight forward instructions with what you need to do by when.  You can bring in whoever you want to marry you, which is really nice.  I would recommend it highly. 

CLW102409

I was a HC bride and did not get the time that I wanted which was 2:30.  I ended up with the 12:30 slot on October 24, 09.  It worked out perfectly.  Our reception was at soliders & sailors and our hotel was at the wyndham.  We paid for the parking outside of HC because of our limo bus and we knew there were going to be local people that were going to come to the ceremony and then go home because our reception didn't start until 4:30 or something like that (i forget when it actually started).  I put in our invitations about parking under soliders & sailors and informed our guest who were not going home after the ceremony to take the opportunity to visit the exhibits at soliders & sailors and that there will be beverages and food prior to the actual starting time of our cocktail party. 

The process of getting HC was very stressful and it took about 5 people calling for 2 straight hours until I finally got through.  At first I was worried about having the time so early but like I said above, it worked out perfectly.  I got to take so many pictures, spend time in my dress longer, and be with my husband longer that day which was so important.  I also made it to our cocktail hour so that I can spend even more time with our guests. 

I would take the chance if I were you.  The chapel is so beautiful and was totally worth it in my opinion.

morainemom

Ginny,
What time slot are you really, really hoping to get?
I just checked the calendar for April 2011 and they actually have time slots open for each Saturday - of course the 2:30 and 4:30 slots are gone on all of those days but there are some 6:30, 12:30 and the old dreaded 10:30 open!  Hopefully when you go to book next April for 2012, you can get your date and time.

My daughter wanted October 17th -- but actually was very happy that they moved the date to October 16th - that was their 9 year anniversary of dating - so they got married exactly nine years after her husband asked her out for their first date.

I forgot to mention that I was really sweating it with how little time they give you before the ceremony and then afterwards -- but we had more than enough time for everything!

My daughter and her bridesmaids actually got dressed downstairs.  We had a Methodist ceremony and she didn't have a lot of extras thrown in -- but she did have a lot of Irish traditions added.  We had plenty of time for the bubble exit and even a group shot of everyone outside.  We also had lots of photo taken in the Chapel afterwards.

The staff at Heinz were wonderful!  They are pros and really coordinated the rehearsal and the wedding.  We didn't have a lot of decorations - just an altar centerpiece, an aisle runner and wheat sheaves on 6 of the pew.

pantherRN

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-pittsburgh_good-ole-heinz-chapel?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:116Discussion:1e27d8f4-f9cb-4e91-b7e9-a9d33d95fcedPost:6c3c8009-f6ed-45d0-a8ad-a62c2b04d338">Re: Good ole Heinz Chapel</a>:
[QUOTE]So calling at 8:30am on the dot on the first business day of the month still doesn't make any difference in getting your ideal time? haha.
Posted by ginny814[/QUOTE]

Probably not a whole lot, but you may be ok with April. 

cgyvhu

Hi Ginny!

I dont have any HC advice, but wanted to say hi to another potential April 2012 bride!  One idea is you could book a reception location that also hosts ceremonies.  That way, in case you dont get HC, you have an automatic backup plan!

As for other area churches, First Unitarian in Shadyside will host a non-denominational wedding.

ginny814

Wow, thanks gals for all your advice and HC expertise!  Obviously the 2:30 slot is ideal, then 4:30 would be our second choice;  we really want to keep the wedding on a Saturday, and we know better not to have the wedding on graduation weekend... that would be a nightmare!

kbielak17

I'm the same as CLW - we wanted the 2:30 time slot, ended up with 12:30 (I was a week earlier than her, on Oct. 17). At first I was bummed but then I realized that it actually would work out well and give us plenty of time afterwards. I loved getting married in HC and I think that it's worth dealing with a less than perfect time to make it work. GL!

LaFemmeRousse

No extra help on HC, but the Old Stone Church will do non-denominational weddings.  It's actually a historic site and not an active church now, so that makes it really easy!

phillychica85

The ladies have obviously already answered your question but I still thought I'd add my personal experiences.

We got engaged July 31st which was a Saturday and called the Heinz Chapel office the morning of August 2. I received a call back by early afternoon. We didn't have a particular date in mind, just that we wanted it to be a Saturday in August. We would have preferred a 2:30 or 4:30 time but all they had left was 12:30 or 10:30 so we took the 12:30 slot. I was a bit disappointed but then as the planning went on and on the actual day itself, I'm really glad we had the 12:30 slot.

It def. is not as crazy or "factory churning" as people make it out to be. I feel that the people who say it's crazy are the ones who have never been invovled in a wedding there, etc. The rehearsal was the only thing that felt "go go go" but I didn't care about that. The weddings there are run with the utmost organization, etc. Nothing is fly by night and no one felt rushed.

Unless your wedding would be on Pitt's graduation, move in/move out, homecoming weekends, parking is a not an issue. We paid the $100 to have the reserved spots on Bellefield but there is still tons of parking (metered, garage, etc) right around the chapel.

I'm actually Presbyterian and DH is Catholic. We had a Presbyterian minister officiate. After the ceremony was over, we still had PLENTY of time to take pictures.

Having our ceremony at Heinz was def. a beyond incredible experience and something we'll always remember. It is such a gorgeous and stunning building not to mention the organist!

Good luck!