Wedding Photographers & Videographers at St. Mark Church (Altoona), Altoona

A wedding at St. Mark Church in Altoona happens under a row of story windows. Stained glass along both sides of the church shows scenes from the life of St. Mark, from his missionary travels to the writing of his Gospel, with the winged lion that stands for him worked into the details. For your photographer, those windows give color and meaning to the walk down the aisle, and your videographer can follow the processional past them toward the altar. Wedding photos taken here will look like this church and no other.

St. Mark is a church for your wedding ceremony. It sits on Sixth Avenue at Fourth Street, and the parish shares its priest and many events with nearby Holy Rosary Church. Outside, the parish built a bell tower that holds a historic railroad bell, with memorial plaques and prayer benches, and the area is open to the public. Ask the parish office whether you may use it for a few pictures after the ceremony. The parish website has no wedding page, so plan your reception at a separate venue.

Weekend Masses are on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m., so ask which times are open for your wedding day. Every couple getting married in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown takes part in marriage preparation, and the diocesan Family Life Office runs the course in person or online. Your wedding videographer will want to know where a camera may stand during the vows and whether a small microphone is allowed, so bring those questions to your first meeting.

• Call the parish office at 814-942-0364 well before your date to ask about getting married here.
• Register for marriage preparation through the parish and the diocesan Family Life Office.
• Walk the church with your photographer and videographer, and ask about the parish's photo and video guidelines.

A little about St. Mark Church

The windows date from the years around 1960, when the church was remodeled after the Second Vatican Council. The bell in the tower was cast in 1850 and once called Pennsylvania Railroad workers to the Altoona shops; it rang from St. Mark's first tower starting in 1902 and was blessed in its new tower in 2006.