Leah & Greg: Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh Wedding Photos

It’s hard to know where to start with these two, and hard to explain what an honor being a part of this day was for us. The first time I met Leah and Greg at their initial meeting over two years before their wedding date, I knew that I had stumbled upon a gem of a couple. We spent the evening - two and a half hours, to be exact - at a coffee shop, talking about all things wedding, marriage, and DISNEY related (for those of you who might not know, my husband and I are huge Disney fans!), only to learn that Leah used to live in California within easy driving distance of a Disney Land (not to be confused with Disney World in Florida!).

Of course, our mutual love of Disney, along with their incredible kindness and hospitality, built the foundation for not just an amazing business to client relationship, but a friendship! 💛 And I’m so thankful that showing up on their wedding day felt like showing up to photograph a friend’s day (as many of our wedding days tend to feel like with couples we get to know beforehand - it’s such a blessing!).

Leah and Greg’s entire wedding day took place, from start to finish, at the Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh, which has quickly become one of my favorite wedding venues in Pittsburgh! It’s fairly easy to get to, right across from Mellon Square, and in the heart of downtown.

As a true-blue (or should I say… black and gold?) Pittsburgh couple, Leah and Greg incorporated so many Pittsburgh-themed details into their wedding day, along with lots of details representative of the two of them! A few of my personal favorites included: Pittsburgh themed welcome bags for guests, mini Heinz Ketchup bottles as favors (big ketchup fan over here!!), a surprise visit from Iceburgh (the Pittsburgh Penguins mascot), Pittsburgh Popcorn at the reception, pierogies as a late night snack, and a mini remote control firetruck that acted as the “ring bearer” for the ceremony (totally adorable!).

Our evening with Leah and Greg ended with a walk to the Roberto Clemente bridge for some epic night photos in their most favorite city! And, truly - we couldn’t have asked for a better day! Leah and Greg, we are SO honored to know you both - it was such an honor to be a part of your day! We love you guys!

And without further ado - here are Leah and Greg’s wedding photos! 🎉

VENDORS:

Ceremony & Reception: Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh

Bride & Bridesmaid Bouquets: Sapphire and Lace

Floral Centerpieces & Cake Flowers: Alex’s Floral Shoppe

Cake: Bethel Bakery

DJ: John Wiggins

Hair & Makeup: Hannah Conrad Beauty

Bride’s Dress: MB Bride

Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie

Invitation: Minted

Photo Booth: Lux Photobooth

Harpist: Marissa Knaub Avon

Calligraphy: Victoria Fiaretti

Elizabeth + Jason: The Pennsylvanian Wedding Photos

We arrived at the Pennsylvanian early the day of Elizabeth and Jason’s wedding to drop off our equipment. As we gathered our light stands and sandbags, I looked up into the rotunda of the Pennsylvanian and felt a familiar sense of wonder at it’s unique beauty. Built in 1900 as Pittsburgh’s Union Station, this building has remained a place that draws all types of people from all walks of life - then, as a train station, now, as an event venue (and apartment!). And, of course, this venue was THE perfect fit for Elizabeth and Jason, who currently live in Chicago, and had people from lots of different areas joining them to celebrate their marriage.

One of my absolute favorite touches from Elizabeth and Jason’s ceremony was the location of their ceremony. Right under the front rotunda in the photo you see below, there’s a pillar with the word “Chicago” written over top. To the left of the Chicago pillar, there’s a pillar that says “Pittsburgh” overtop, and to the right of the Chicago pillar, one that says “New York.” Elizabeth and Jason are from Chicago (as I mentioned before), both went to the same school (NYU) in New York (they didn’t know each other at the time - but what an amazing coincidence!), and tied the knot in Pittsburgh. So, of course, it was perfectly fitting to have their ceremony right under the Chicago pillar! It seems like that venue was made JUST for them! And it’s not only where they had their ceremony that paid homage to their journey - but the colors they chose for their wedding, too! Purple and silver are NYU’s colors, perfectly symbolizing a large point of connection in their relationship!

We had an absolute blast photographing these two (even in the crazy Pittsburgh heat and humidity!) and are so thankful to have been a part of their day! Congratulations, Elizabeth and Jason! 💛

Vendors:

Ceremony & Reception: The Pennsylvanian

Hotel Accommodations: The Westin Hotel

Catering: Rania’s Catering

Invitations: Minted

Bride’s Dress: Honey Bridal in Chicago; gown designed by Rebecca Shoneveld

Hair: Elisha Evans Styling

Makeup: Mock Makeup (Danielle Mock)

DJ: Jeremy Ganss Productions

Florist: Bloomer’s Floral

Videographer: Dorosh Documentaries

Pennsylvanian Wedding Photos provided by Jenna Hidinger Photography

What Disney's Boardwalk Taught Me About Grace

Shortly after our honeymoon in Disney, Nick and I started waking up and asking each other “do you want to go to Disney today?” It’s a little inside joke we have – every day feels like a good day to go to Disney, but one day in February of 2018, the answer was finally a “yes” – we were actually going to Disney!

Nick had surprised me with my first stay ever on Disney property for our honeymoon at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn. We stayed in a corner room and could see fireworks from both Hollywood Studios AND Epcot from our balcony. It was stinking EPIC.

Honestly, I thought we would never stay at the Boardwalk again. A friend of ours who worked for Disney had been incredibly kind to help Nick get an amazing discount on our room for our honeymoon. But, low and behold, since our honeymoon we’ve stayed there twice more, but our third visit is what brings these words to you today.

After spending some time with family and friends at a house in Orlando, Nick and I decided we wanted to stay at the Boardwalk for a couple of nights, just the two of us, as a birthday/Christmas/Valentine’s/anniversary gift (gotta do what you gotta do to get back to Disney!). We decided a few years into our relationship that we’d rather gift each other experiences with one another than objects, so this was one of those experiences we couldn’t wait to share (again)! I think, out of the two, experiences tend to build a stronger relational foundation than any sort of gift might.

We chose the smallest, most inexpensive room – we just love the experience of being on Disney property (and being within walking distance to the parks was a bonus, too!!), and checked in on Nick’s birthday, which, for Nick, was probably one of the best birthday gifts he’s ever received.

We checked in a couple of hours before our “official” 3PM check in (well – actually 5 hours before!), so we had a LOT of time to kill. We hadn’t really planned anything special for Nick’s birthday (besides checking into the Boardwalk!), so while Nick went to grab a drink, I slyly made my way to concierge service desk to ask if they could help. I explained that it was my husband’s birthday, that his favorite place ever is the Boardwalk, and asked if she might be able to give me some ideas for things around the Boardwalk we could do for his birthday while we wait.

The woman smiled, gave me a couple of suggestions, and said that she would have someone send a birthday card to his room – which I knew he would absolutely love! She also took our name and reservation number - so she knew where to send the card, I assumed.

About an hour later, we received a message that our room was ready. We were both confused – we had stayed at the Boardwalk before, and never had we ever been able to check into our room so early. Regardless, we went, picked up our luggage, and headed off to our room. At first – we couldn’t find it. We went through one hall of rooms, down a set of stairs, and outdoors, wondering if they had made a mistake.

After a few more steps, we spotted a little mailbox that had our number on it. Behind the mailbox was an archway with a fence and a little courtyard with some of the most beautifully manicured flower gardens I’d ever seen. We exchanged a glance of confusion and excitement, muttering that “there must be some mistake!” but when we got to the French doors, past the garden, and tried our keys – the most insane thing happened. They worked. The door opened.

We swung open the door to find a beautiful, two story room – Disney music softly playing in the background, natural light pouring in through the large windows hanging above our heads. My first thought was that they had gotten something wrong. We had stayed in the cheapest room at the Boardwalk before and it in NO WAY resembled this masterpiece, with a living room, kitchenette, staircase, master bedroom, and master bathroom with a Jacuzzi. Concerned that there had a been a mistake and that we would somehow have to pay full price for this immaculate suite, Nick called the front desk to confirm that we had the correct room number.

The kind voice on the other line assured us that while we had payed for the smallest, cheapest room – but somehow we had been given this suite and were meant to enjoy it. While Nick was on the phone, I started looking up how much this type of suite usually costs. The answer: about four to five times (per night) what we actually paid for it. We were both FLOORED. We had heard of “Disney magic” before and of cast members doing incredibly kind things for random guests, but we had never ever expected to experience this sort of kindness. My mind immediately went back to the woman in concierge who had taken our names and reservation number, and I knew it must’ve been her – it couldn’t have been anyone else! I tried multiple times during our trip to go back and find her to thank her, but I couldn’t find her. She just seemed to have disappeared.

To make things even crazier, we found out that with this room came something called “club level service,” which basically means that we were able to visit and utilize a particular room in the hotel that served complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner, wine, beer, espresso, and dessert – all for free. Like, are you kidding me?!

As we filled up our plates that first night, it dawned on me: we don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve any of this. We haven’t paid for it, we hadn’t planned for it, and we were able to tell pretty quickly that we were certainly of a much different crowd than those who normally frequented “the club.” Someone had gifted a youth pastor and a photographer from Pittsburgh one of the best, most undeserved vacations that we had ever had – for nothing. There’s nothing we could’ve done to earn it, and there’s no price we could’ve paid for it. And then it dawned on me – this is exactly what God’s grace is like.

It’s undeserved. There’s nothing we can do to earn it, and the price has already been paid for it. And it doesn’t have anything with who we are. It has everything to do with who God is. Truthfully, there’s no way we could’ve upgraded ourselves with money or with position, because in the eyes of Disney, we didn’t have either (haha!). But because of grace – because someone gave us something we in no way deserved – we were able to experience an amazing gift that cost us nothing.

That’s what Jesus calls us to every day. All he wants is for us to accept the gift he’s already laid before us. That’s why we celebrate Easter, for Pete’s sake – because Jesus died a death he didn’t deserve, so we could live a life we don’t deserve. But only because Jesus makes us worthy, because of the grace he’s given to us.

As I started to eat my free dinner, tears started streaming down my face. I felt so humbled in and by the face of grace of the woman who had been so kind, but so much moreso by the God who has given me this life – this gift – no strings attached.