Wedding Photographers & Videographers at Saint Benedict Church (Carrolltown), Carrolltown

A wedding at Saint Benedict Church in Carrolltown begins with a landmark you can see from a long way off. The church tower rises 172 feet above Main Street, with a nine-foot cross on top and a four-faced clock in its round windows, so the first wedding photos of the day can frame the two of you with the whole tower climbing behind. For your photographer and videographer, the walk out of the doors and down to the street is the natural closing scene of the film.

Inside, your wedding ceremony takes place beneath a long row of stained glass windows made by an art glass firm in Bavaria. They tell the life of Saint Benedict scene by scene, from his pupils Maurus and Placidus to the meeting with his sister Saint Scholastica, and they end with the Crucifixion. Statues brought from Bavaria now stand at the back of the church, so guests turning to watch you come down the aisle see them too. The parish has a choir director and organist on staff, which is worth asking about when you plan the music, and the music is something your wedding videographer will want to capture.

As a working Catholic parish, Saint Benedict builds the wedding day is built around the Mass schedule and the parish office. The parish lists marriage among its sacraments; call the office early to ask about dates, preparation and what the parish asks of couples. A church hall sits on the property with its own phone line, so ask whether it can be used on your day.

• Call the parish office (open Monday to Thursday) well before you set a date.
• Walk the church with your photographer and look at the windows at the hour of your ceremony.
• Ask about photo and video guidelines during the Mass.

A little about Saint Benedict Church

By its own account, Saint Benedict was the first parish in the United States started by the Benedictine order. The church was dedicated on Christmas Day 1850, the tower and bells followed in 1872, the clock first ran in June 1900 and the Bavarian windows went in in 1925.