Weddingbee Blog

“The Artist in His Museum” by Charles Peale.

The artwork and the architectural design of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is just so breathtaking. I especially love this dramatic painting our photographer Nicole Polk captured - it’s a self-portrait of the artist Charles Peale lifting up a curtain to reveal his art gallery. The rest of the museum includes over 300 sculptures and 1000 paintings by American artists.

Here’s a portrait shot from one of the galleries.

We didn’t have enough time to take photos throughout the museum. There’s actually a private gallery of sculptures where the bride and groom can take portraits. Here’s some portraits taken of knottie Satto.

(Photos taken by Mike Kehr)

A view of the museum outside.

All of our guests had a view from the balcony (Photos taken by our friend Carroll Kong)

The ceremony location

During the cocktail hour, drinks were served near the balcony area.

Tea ceremony location

The Historic Landmark Building only accommodates smaller wedding sizes, about 150 maximum. If you plan to have a larger guest list, the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building (also part of the PAFA) might work well for your wedding. It accommodates about 350 guests.


(Photos taken by Mike Kehr)

Joy from oh joy! studio had her wedding inside the Hamilton Building. Here are some shots from her wedding:

(Photos taken by Karen Wise)

It was once a dream to have our wedding at the PAFA. The museum was like no other museum I’d seen so far, and the size was just perfect for an intimate wedding. The artwork and sculptures are so beautiful that I didn’t have to work on adding much design to our ceremony and reception area. The events manager at the PAFA, William Swoope, was extremely helpful coordinating all the events on our wedding day. We really didn’t need a wedding coordinator because he was always there for us!

A dream turned into reality, the PAFA was truly a beautiful place to have our intimate wedding. Our budget gives details on how much our venue costs turned out.