About this vendor
Your event will definitely stand out in the original George Westinghouse Air Brake Factory, now home to Pittsburgh Opera. The building has the raw industrial feel of an 1869 warehouse that allows you the flexibility to create the ambiance you desire. Call today for a tour!
Amenities + details
Handicap Accessible
Liability Insurance
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Indoor Event Space
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Wireless Internet
Guest Capacity
- Up to 250
Settings
- Ballroom
- Loft
Venue Service Offerings
- Rentals & Equipment
- Transportation
- Shuttle Service
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.7
out of 5.06 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 5
Pittsburgh Opera is a beautiful venue with brick and red curtain backdrops that works great as a blank slate to create the wedding you want. This was important to us because we wanted to include as many aspects that were personally meaningful to us as possible. They allow any outside vendors for florals, catering, DJ etc. The venue’s practice rooms worked as a “bridal suite” for the wedding party to store items, bustle the bride’s dress, prepare for introductions, etc. The venue has a kitchen with a fridge for use by catering and storage of cookies/leftovers. They also have some chairs/tables/etc. available which saved on rental costs but are able to accommodate rentals with other vendors if you’re looking to rent something different. The Social Tables app used to make the floorplan was easy to use. Working with Sarah was easy and all of the Pittsburgh Opera staff were very accommodating to all of our needs. The venue looked amazing the day of and we got many compliments from guests who didn’t know that this place existed.
The venue really is a blank canvas. That being said, it could be intimidating to many and a day of coordinator or wedding planner would be highly recommended. We had 150 guests which was a good amount for the space though you could have fit more. Nice, larger bathrooms (compared to many other venues), and parking was not a problem.
Get on the waiting list! You will not find a more beautiful industrial space for the money. If you are looking for a rustic, lofty, raw space to be your blank canvas, this is it. They do have tables and chairs available as a part of the package, but will work with you to get whatever rentals you need in and out. (Ours came from from all occasions rentals). They also have a small kitchen your caterers can work out of, bar stations you can serve from, and dressing rooms if you want them. If you think you might want it, get on the list now! We barely got a date and contacted them 16 months in advance.
Meet the rest of my highly recommendable team:
Pittsburgh Opera House
Arvay Event Design
Kelli Burns Entertainment
Big Burrito Catering
Third Termite Press
Jos A. Bank
Elite Coach
Westin
Arthur Murray
Wedding Chaplain.com
ShutterBooth
The Pittsburgh Opera was the perfect venue for our reception! I had always dreamed of an over the top and glamorous venue, but once I started looking into food/alcohol costs, I had to scratch many venues off my list. The Pittsburgh Opera allows you to rent the space and make it yours. You can bring in your own alcohol (we calculated that it saved us $6,000) and your own caterer, also saving us thousands.
The space already has a ton of character with the exposed brick, but we were able to transform it into an elegant space with lighting. We hung lights from the catwalk above and used uplighting to enhance the exposed brick around the space. It's a blank slate, but it's not a boring white banquet hall.
We had 200 guests and they fit perfectly. We used the smaller room for a cocktail hour and then the curtains opened up into the larger room for dinner. The cocktail room also housed our bar, a photo booth, the gift table, and dessert table.
The location was perfect. Parking is a little tricky (guests chose from street parking or a near-by $5 lot), but everyone figured it out quickly and I didn't hear any complaints. It was great having so many hotels and activities close by for our out of town guests.
Sean was fabulous to work with! He always responded to my emails quickly and was able to work with all of our requests. He allowed us to stop by one Saturday to see how another wedding was set-up. We also met a couple of times prior to the wedding to review all of the details. He was able to configure the tables in a way that everyone fit nicely and we still had enough room for the dance floor. I cannot imagine finding a better person to work with!
I loved everything about the Pittsburgh Opera and I would highly recommend it for any kind of an event. It helped to save us a lot of money, but we also had to put in a lot of our own work (set-up, decorations, tear-down). It was so worth it in the end though!
The Pittsburgh Opera space is a real hidden gem in the Pittsburgh wedding venue market. We were looking for a unique venue with a lot of character and it was just that. We had numerous guests ask how we found it because they had never even known it was there but were really amazed with the space. The possibilities in the space are endless and it has a lot of opportunity and flexibility for DIY brides. When the curtain was pulled back to reveal the main space, our guests were in awe. The space was breathtaking.
From our initial visit Sean Holsing was very friendly, professional and helpful throughout the entire process. We were able to have access to the space several times to work through some ideas. Being an out of town bride, he made the planning process very easy.
For the actual day, since Sean was out of town, Shawn Fertitta was our point of contact. She was there the day before to assist us with our needs while we had access to the space to setup and decorate. She was a pleasure to work with and made the entire event go seamlessly from setup, to coordinating with rental vendors, to serving our every need at the reception. She did it all! The professionalism of the staff really made the day stress-free for our family and us.
They were very accommodating in allowing us to setup the day before and even leave all of our decorations, etc. there until pickup on Monday. This allowed our family and friends to enjoy the entire evening instead of worrying about taking everything out of there.
If you're lucky enough to secure a date (due to popularity they are quickly filling up these days), I would absolutely recommend this venue to any bride!
The venue is gorgeous but this place really needs to work on their communication. We ended up never hearing back from them regarding a few things so we took our search elsewhere. The space is nice but you definitely need a venue that is responsive when you are planning a wedding and forking over so much money.
Contact
2425 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Opera's photos