Birds of a feather flock together! Mary and Josh’s bird-inspired wedding at the National Aviary is one of a kind. The creative design came together with help from Functions Pittsburgh who implemented creative details and made the look pop with flying colors. Rich jewel tones were utilized throughout the day and on the couple’s stationery, mimicking the unique hues of our feathered friends. Tables named after different kinds of species were displayed on the seating chart sign with sketches of each bird placed above the modern fonts. The abundance of flowers and leafy greens from The Blooming Dahlia brought in another aspect of nature with candlelight and black chairs from The 1978 Collection keeping the look romantic, fancy, and chic. Speaking of chic, Mary looked absolutely stunning in her Jenny Yoo wedding dress with Glam to Go bringing out her inner beauty with a touch of drama and a simple yet sleek hairstyle. From this duo’s first look on the rooftop of Hotel Monaco to their last dance with jams from Pittsburgh DJ Company, there is plenty of inspiration to take in. Prepare for these images from Kaitlin Powell Photography to make your heart and imagination soar.
About the Couple
We met at the University of Pittsburgh while at a party with mutual friends in 2014, but we barely spoke that evening. However, I told my roommate that I thought Josh was cute and I wished I had talked to him more. We officially connected when we matched on Tinder on Valentine’s Day in 2015 and began exclusively dating in January 2016.
After graduating in 2016, we lived in Pittsburgh for three years. We moved to Philadelphia in 2019 (with our dog Bo in tow) so that I could attend Temple Law School and Josh could be closer to his family. Josh proposed in August 2021 in the park next to Carpenter’s Hall in Old City, Philadelphia. We knew we wanted to host our wedding in Pittsburgh though because that’s where our relationship began.
About the Wedding
Our main focus was making sure that the day felt true to us. Early on in the wedding planning process, someone told us to choose colors and motifs that we would use in our home, so we picked things we knew we liked and could reuse in our decor. We truly loved how our vision turned out and it felt unique to us. We also saved money and waste by using items from our home in our wedding decor and vice versa.
We wanted a moody, romantic vibe with rich colors and textures. Given that it was a winter wedding, we really wanted it to feel cozy but dramatic. We tried to infuse classic and modern elements into the decor and attire, but mainly we just picked things we liked. We also chose vendors who we trusted and who knew our vision and they all nailed it.
Our wedding was loosely “lovebirds” themed because of the venue. We loved that the National Aviary allowed our guests to visit the exhibits during cocktail hour and we tried to use bird motifs throughout our decor.
Favorite Moment
From the bride…
The first dance. We had meant to choreograph a first dance but we just didn’t have time in the lead-up to the wedding. I’m so glad that we didn’t because we were able to just be in the moment with each other and have fun.
From the groom…
Exchanging private vows in the Aviary’s exhibits. We exchanged the traditional vows during the ceremony but wrote our own to be exchanged during our first look. We had some hiccups getting ready so we ended up doing the private vows after the ceremony in one of the Aviary’s exhibits with two birds cawing intermittently. It added some levity and a funny story. Highly recommend exchanging private vows!
