courthouse weddings

[sadirazzaさん]

It’s official: We can now have our extravagant weddings inside the Allegheny
County Courthouse. We can invite hundreds of guests, dance the night away,
imbibe cocktails, munch fancy hors d’oeuvres, and even set up a cookie table
inside the 130-year-old historical structure.

Thanks to legislation passed by Allegheny County Council in December, private
citizens and groups can now rent the courthouse courtyard, grand staircase and
main lobby for private events under official guidelines and pricing structures.
The courtyard, with its well-known fountain, can cost up to $2,800 for eight
hours on a weekend day for a space that can accommodate up to 500 guests, not
including security and custodial fees of up to $800. (The staircase and lobby
are $1,000 cheaper, but accommodate about half as many people.)

However, prior to the ordinance, according to Allegheny County manager
William McKain, couples had long been permitted to hold weddings in the
courthouse on a case-by-case basis. McKain says that such special events had no
fee, with users merely reimbursing the county for security and custodial
services. One such user, according to Pittsburgh Magazine, was a daughter of
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who held her wedding ceremony on the
grand staircase in March 2013.

Related: princess wedding dresses - queeniewedding.co.uk

And some elected officials still have problems with the pay-to-wed ordinance,
particularly the rental fee and the reasons for its passage.

Former Republican at-large Councilor Heather Heidelbaugh cast the sole
dissenting vote against creating a fee structure for renting out spaces in the
courthouse. She said “this is the people’s house” and challenged the idea of
fees boosting the county’s bottom line. “I am not against the idea of using the
space, but I am questioning whether we should be making a profit,” said
Heidelbaugh at the December meeting. “Should a couple from Carrick be charged to
use a building they already own?”

The Allegheny County Courthouse, designated a historic landmark in 1976, is
considered one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the
country. Republican Councilor Ed Kress of Shaler, who has voiced admiration of
the building’s beauty in the past, headed the newly formed special marketing
committee that ironed out the details of the ordinance.

Kress, a staunch proponent of the county raising revenue without raising
taxes, said at the December meeting that he is glad to see county government
thinking entrepreneurially. Previously, Kress has tried to sell naming rights to
other county property.

“We are trying to get money from private sources to raise revenue,” said
Kress at the December meeting. “This is not different than citizens paying to
use the ice-skating rink.”

Heidelbaugh disagreed. She said that the county charges fees at county parks
only to cover costs. “We don’t make a profit when we charge $35 to rent out a
park shelter,” she says.

Council has previously discussed raising fees for park activities and
rentals. But according to meeting minutes and video of meetings, that discussion
was generally about covering rising costs, not raising revenue. In 2013, when
rates were raised for county wave pools and rentals at Hartwood Acres Park,
county council Vice President Nicholas Futules, who heads the parks committee,
said that it was out of necessity, not a way to generate revenue.

County Manager McKain says that such facility fees are not “a money grab,”
and that the county is “providing a fair rate for a great experience.”

“Our fees are probably among the lowest, and to say the least, very
competitive,” says McKain. “We are often the lowest ones in our recreation fees.
We make sure we are competitive, we survey other services in the region to do
so.”

City Paper surveyed other large rental venues in the Downtown area and found
that county courthouse rates might be on par with some competitors. For example,
the Lexus Club at the Consol Energy Center holds a similar number of attendees
and costs $2,750. The Wintergarden at PPG Place can be rented out to business
organizations and nonprofits for $2,500. (The $5,000 fee for weddings includes
maintenance and security, but guests can rent it out for an entire day or longer
if scheduling permits).

Also see: mermaid wedding dresses - queeniewedding.co.uk