Wedding Photographers & Videographers at Sacred Heart Church (Altoona), Altoona

A wedding at Sacred Heart Church in Altoona is a Catholic wedding ceremony in the parish church at 511 20th Street. The parish posts photos of the church taken through the year, from Christmas Day to Pentecost Sunday, in a gallery on its website. Look through them with your photographer and videographer before your first visit: notice where the aisle runs, where the two of you will stand and where your families will sit, and start planning your wedding photos from there.

Your ceremony is the focus here. The parish's pages describe the sacrament and the planning, not a reception hall or bridal room, so plan your reception at another venue and ask the rectory whether there's a place to wait before you walk down the aisle. The church's worship space was repaired and renovated ahead of its fiftieth jubilee, and the parish speaks of it as a beautified sacred space.

Plan well ahead. The parish asks couples to call the pastor nine months in advance to arrange instruction and to plan the marriage ceremony. Sacred Heart holds a Saturday evening Mass at 5:30 p.m. and three Masses on Sunday, so ask which times are open on your wedding day. For your wedding video, ask where your videographer may stand during the vows and how sound can be recorded in the church, because clear audio of your promises matters as much as the picture.

• Call the rectory at (814) 943-8553 nine months before your date.
• Plan time for instruction with the pastor.
• Visit with your photographer and videographer, and ask about the parish's photo and video guidelines.

A little about Sacred Heart Church

Sacred Heart Parish was formed in 1890, when Altoona was still part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The present church was dedicated on July 12, 1953, and after a major renovation it was blessed again in 2003.