Pittsburgh St Patrick’s Day Wedding

If you’re looking for a holiday-themed wedding full of festivity, how could you do any better than one inspired by St. Patrick’s Day? Jocelyn and Matt took the St. Patty’s theme and ran with it, introducing green bridesmaids’ dresses, green beer, and hints of shamrocks throughout the wedding day. Thanks to Caitlin Thomas and Missy Martz of Occasion Creation for creating such beauty and sharing it with us today!

From the bride, Jocelyn: We absolutely wanted the style of our wedding to be in the same vein of St. Patty’s day frivolity. We did not want things to be super formal or boring at any point in time. The wedding was in Pittsburgh, which has an industrial feel superimposed with amazing culture and history, so we got married at the historic Allegheny County Courthouse (in their main grand foyer) right outside of my dad’s office (he is the Chief Executive of Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is). The party was at the Pittsburgh Opera House, which is a warehouse turned rehearsal space for the Pittsburgh Opera that has a very industrial turned modern feel. We had multiple stations of Pittsburgh themed food throughout the room and my mothers titanic sized Pittsburgh Cookie Table, which is an old Italian tradition, open at all times to the guests. She baked 250 dozen cookies (over 50 types!) for the wedding, which were piled on a massive table. People ate at their leisure and we started the dance party almost immediately, complete with video screens for all of the music videos to go along with the songs and club lighting. We also served green beer!

Bouquet recipe: Ornamental kale and white hydrangeas, to keep things green and white! We also had some lilies and other assorted white flowers.

We definitely had a green St. Patty’s theme going on, but not so much that it was tacky. We had some subtle nods to shamrocks on our paper goods and my five sisters and two brothers were my bridesmaids and bridesmen, and they all chose their own green dresses. The boys had green ties and shamrock socks. The groomsmen all had their own different green ties as well. We served green beer and had shamrock shakes! We accented the green with blacks, whites, stripes, burlap, and copper tones. I DIYed TONS of upcycled cans and vessels with copper paint to fill with flowers and be our centerpieces. We also sprayed probably a tree’s worth of branches copper to make towering displays for the tables. It was truly amazing because the entire city was celebrating St. Patty’s day and my family marched in the St. Patty’s parade earlier in the day. It was like the entire city was a part of our wedding party and all of the pictures look great!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Planning a wedding is a LOT of work and you have to stay organized and flexible. Everything will cost more than you think it will, even if you are doing it yourself. But it is so worth it to stand up for the parts of the wedding that are important to you. I wanted party music the entire time, and the DJ came around to that. I had to advocate for the playlist a couple of times, but there were hundreds of people on the dance floor for the entire night, not wanting to stop because the music was so good and everyone knew all of the words to the songs. We also didn’t want to waste a minute of party time on dinner, so we left guests to their own devices and started the music!

From the photographer, Caitlin Thomas: Jocelyn and Matt’s wedding day was a dream come true. Beautiful people, fantastic colors, personal elements, heartfelt toasts, a packed dance floor, guests playing green beer pong. Their wedding took place on Pittsburgh’s “Parade Day”. Every year the streets are lined with thousands decked out in their St. Patrick’s Day best. It was one of the most fun weddings I have had the opportunity to photograph. I can only hope all of Jocelyn’s siblings will hire me for their weddings so we can do it again!

Wedding Music:
The amazing Giambelli String Quartet (who by day is a part of the Pittsburgh Symphony) arranged Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” to be mashed up with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” in an instrumental version. It was so amazing I can’t even tell you. I had chills as I was coming down the grand staircase (and didn’t trip!) with both of my parents at my side. Matt came down the aisle with both of his parents as well, to the instrumental version of “Sweet Child of Mine”.
Newlywed Entrance: “It’s a Beautiful Life,” Ace of Base
First Dance: “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” REO Speedwagon
Father/Daughter Dance: “The Twist”
Mother/Daughter Dance: “More Today than Yesterday,” Spiral Staircase

Wedding Location: Pittsburgh, PA / Photographer: Caitlin Thomas / Event Coordination and Design: Missy Martz of Occasion Creation / Florist: Bride’s Aunt and Lea’s Floral Shop / Ceremony Venue: Allegheny County Courthouse / Reception Venue: Pittsburgh Opera / Wedding Dress: Calvin Klein evening gown via 6PM.com / Alterations: Alterations by Rina / Makeup: Beauty by Joy / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Mostly J. Crew / Groom’s Suit: Vera Wang for Men’s Wearhouse / Wedding Caterer: Yes We Cater / Wedding Cake and Cookies: Cathy Fitzgerald, bride’s mother / DJ: Big Day Entertainment / Officiant: The Honorable Hugh McGough