Harrisburg is the capital city of Pennsylvania in the United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099, Harrisburg is the 9th most populous city in Pennsylvania. It lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 107 miles west of Philadelphia. It is one of the two anchor cities of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, which had a 2020 population of 591,712, making it the fourth most populous metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lehigh Valley metropolitan areas. It is the largest city of the Harrisburg–York–Lebanon, PA Combined Statistical Area, also known as the Susquehanna Valley region.

Harrisburg played a notable role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal, and later the Pennsylvania Railroad, allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States. The U.S. Navy ship SS Harrisburg, which served from 1918 to 1919 at the end of World War I, was named in honor of the city. USS Harrisburg  (once built and also named in honor of the city) will be the first Flight II variant of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. In the mid-to-late 20th century, the city’s economic fortunes fluctuated with its major industries consisting of government, heavy manufacturing, agriculture, and food services (nearby Hershey is home of the chocolate maker, located just 10 miles.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in Harrisburg in 1917 and has been held there every early-to-mid January since then.The city also hosts the annual Great American Outdoor Show show, the largest of its kind in the world, among many other events. Harrisburg is also known for the Three Mile Island accident, which occurred on March 28, 1979, near Middletown.

In 2010 Forbes rated Harrisburg as the second best place in the U.S. to raise a family.Despite the city’s past financial troubles, in 2010 The Daily Beast website ranked 20 metropolitan areas across the country as being recession-proof, and the Harrisburg region was ranked 7th. The financial stability of the region is in part due to the high concentration of state and federal government agencies.

This is what makes Harrisburg the perfect location for your wedding or elopement.