Wedding Photographers & Videographers at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, Toledo

A wedding at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo's Old West End starts on the front steps, with a carved stone doorway behind you and a statue of Mary in a niche above it. Inside, a barrel-vaulted ceiling rises about 96 feet over the nave, painted with figures from the Old and New Testaments, and tall triple windows line each side. The rose window over the entrance, 28 feet across, tells scenes from Mary's life. It is a grand, long room for wedding photos, and your photographer and videographer will want to plan around the length of the aisle.

Your wedding ceremony here is a Catholic celebration of matrimony, within Mass or without. The cathedral seats about 1,400, so a big guest list fits easily. The parish organist and a cantor are included, and the E.M. Skinner pipe organ speaks into acoustics the parish calls perfect, good news for the sound on your wedding film. You have the cathedral for an hour before the ceremony and up to an hour afterward for pictures, and a parish wedding coordinator runs the rehearsal and stays with you through your wedding day.

Saturday ceremonies are at 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m., Friday ones at 4:00 or 6:00 p.m. Out front, guests may blow bubbles, ring bells or wave ribbon wands as you come down the steps, and a tunnel of guests on the steps is allowed for pictures. At least one of you must be a baptized, active Catholic, though you don't need to belong to the cathedral parish.

• Schedule at least six months ahead, before you settle other plans.
• The parish gives couples a photography and videography policy; pass it to your photographer and videographer and return it signed a month before.
• Ask which dates aren't booked, such as the Old West End festival weekend in early June.

A little about Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral

The cornerstone was laid in 1926, the first public service was held in 1931, and the cathedral was dedicated in 1940. It is built in the Spanish Plateresque style, with Toledo, Spain, in mind, and it is the mother church of the Diocese of Toledo.