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Soldiers/ Sailors/ First Bapist Church Oakland

medicgirlhnvmedicgirlhnv member
in Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh
Hello everyone!
My name is Heather and I am newly engaged to the love of my life Jack!  He lives in Pittsburgh, while I'm in Philly for graduate school and the distance sucks. We're planning a 2014 wedding (I know..so far away!) and definitely want to book Soldiers and Sailors as our reception site. Jack really wants to use First Baptist Church for a ceremony, but they have a very strict time schedule. We were looking a 5:30 wedding and then a 6:30 reception, but I feel like this will be too tight, especially with photos. The other option is a 2:30 wedding and a 5:30 reception, but that leaves the guests with nothing to do for three hours. Has anyone used either of these sites? Can you give me some feedback on times and how you made it work? Thank you all so much!
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Re: Soldiers/ Sailors/ First Bapist Church Oakland

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    chelseyb412chelseyb412 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited May 2012
    Hi Heather!

    Keep in mind that your ceremony will probably last close to an hour!  So that would only leave 2 hours between the ceremony and the reception... Plus you might be able to move the reception times up a half our or so to only leave 2 hours between? 

    I'm having this same dilemma, and I was thinking I could make a welcome package for out of town guests giving them a few ideas for things to see in Pittsburgh between the ceremony and the reception... like the view from Mount Washington or the dinosaur outside the museum, etc.    I think that could be nice, so your guests from out of town get to see some of Pittsburgh instead of seeing ONLY your wedding... right?

    Congratulations on your engagement!  Good luck planning :)

    xx!
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    eddiesgirl11eddiesgirl11 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment
    I don't think this would be too tight. If you do all your photos beforehand with your groom and bridal party you could make it work.I'm planning a heinz chapel 630 ceremony( late I know!!!) then 730 7reception.my officiant has said that the Ceremony will only be 30. Mins so we wills definitely be a the reception which is a block away bh730. If you do something similar I don't see why it can't work.
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    jam+1231jam+1231
    First Comment First Anniversary
    hi! welcome and congratulations!

    i am not using either of these sites, but i can comment on the time between the ceremony and reception.  our ceremony is at 12:30 in oakland and reception starts at 5 on the north shore. the ceremony will end by 1:30 so our guests will have over 3 hours to kill.  we will be providing suggestions of things to do in oakland and on the north shore, and we are hoping a few of our guests will offer their hotel rooms as a gathering space to relax for those not staying in a hotel.  also many of our guests will have their own rooms so they will be able to go there as well.  the holiday inn university center is right between the two venues you want so if you are blocking rooms that would be most convenient and people could go their rooms if they have them.  if your wedding starts at 2:30, it would end around 3-330 right? so that only leaves about 2 hours, i think you could suggest a few things in oakland for people to do so that you are able to have some time between for photos and not have such a time crunch.  some suggestions for that:

    carnegie museums (art and natural history)
    carnegie library (a cool building to see even if not going for books)
    cathedral of learning of pitt's campus

    there are also coffee shops, bars, and restaurants both on craig street further into north oakland and then on fifth and forbes and the side streets further into south oakland.

    good luck!
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    erbear84erbear84 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    You could even rent a Molly's Trolley or two to show guests around Oakland/the city. 
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    laurlaur414laurlaur414
    First Comment
    Hello,
    I had my reception at Soldiers and Sailors last year. It's an AWESOME venue, and the people there are wonderful. One thing to keep in mind: they have a hard stop at 11pm... you can't go any later than that. My cocktail hour started at 5, reception at 6, and the night went so fast. Best to get your started at 5:30 rather than 6:30 I think. You will be amazed at how quickly 11pm comes, and you can't push past it.
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    acmiller83acmiller83 member
    First Comment
    I am using First Baptist and wanted the 2:30 slot but wound up getting the 5:30 time (we wanted Heniz Chapel but all of my franctic calling wound up with only the 6:30 time left which I decided was just too late). We are planning to do the majority of our pictures before hand that way we can just do a few at the church after the ceremony and then head to the reception (Pittsburgh Golf Club).

    First Baptist is really pretty and Pasor Denning has been great so far!

    I can keep you posted with how things go, our wedding is this October Smile
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