I uploaded a few pics for reference - but they are untouched nonpro pics so not the best!
Venue: Pittsburgh Renaissance
Admittedly, this venue isn't budget friendly (I think at the time of our booking it was a minimum $140 per head). But we had the most perfect wedding you could ever want there. The views from the ballroom windows are of the river and PNC park so if baseball is happening on the night of your wedding (which it was for us) it is extra magic. The staff is phenomenal and really caters to everything you could ever want. The most important thing to keep in mind is that if food is your biggest wedding concern then this is a perfect venue. Our guests *could not* stop talking about the food (flank steak with whiskey demi-glaze, miso-glazed salmon with papaya salsa, a custom vegetarian gnocchi and primanti-style sandwiches and three custom pierogie - cheddar chive mashed potato, sweet potato and pecan and blue cheese mashed potato - for late night bites. Also, if your wedding has a lot of out of town guests this is a fantastic venue because there's so much they can walk to during the day before the wedding to stay occupied (North Shore, Market Square, Cultural District - even the Strip).
Floral: greenSinner
I'm sure you've read the reviews that if you want to do a baby's breath and roses wedding this is probably not the florist for you - and that is probably true. But if you want amazing, innovative and creative floral, then this IS the florist for you. We had a Wizard of Oz theme and they crafted amazing pop up floral books for our centerpieces. The backdrop for the ceremony was amazing and they created a custom card box that was a dollhouse in a tornado and an amazing lollipop buffet display for us. I gave them virtually no direction and just let their creativity roam free and it paid off. Entirely responsive - great to work with and completely unique.
Hair and Makeup: Verve Wellness
I took six bridesmaids, a flower girl and two MOB (plus me) to Verve for hair, makeup and mani/pedi's the day of the wedding (it's right across the street from the Renaissance, so it was nice to get out of the hotel for a while, but they do onsite as well from what I understand). I am a bit bias since this is where I get most of my beauty things done anyway, but everybody's hair looked fantastic. Bri worked with me for months to order extensions and create my wedding day look and all of the girls captured the exact "kind of messy" look I was going for. Not only that, but the salon went above and beyond making sure that our play list got played and our drinks and catering were out and easy to get to. They also worked extra hard to make sure that an extra appointment that we added late got slid in and taken care of. It's a great salon vibe where you can hang out and get everything done and everybody *will* look amazing at the end.
Cake: Vanilla Pastry Studio
I actually didn't even think of going anywhere else for cake
We had some very specific flavor request since my (new!) husband is Austrian and we wanted to incorporate almond and marzipan into the cake. We also wanted something a little more sleek and urban looking to match with the vibe of the Renaissance. Vanilla delivered and delivered with NO HASSLE. We went to a tasting (delicious), we talked through our needs, we paid for our cake (which they will let you do in installments over time before your wedding, which is nice if you want to reduce how much money needs to go out the week of the wedding) and the cake looked and tasted amazing.
Rehearsal Dinner: Tonic
This was actually a surprise to us. We were looking for a downtown venue for rehearsal dinner and Tonic ended up being perfect. The space is great, the bar is consumption pricing, and the price is only $35 per plate for entree, salad and dessert. The staff worked with us to make sure all of the set up and service was actually flawless and we transitioned from sit-down dinner to open bar meet-and-greet seamlessly. It's easy to get to and the view is great. A total urban feeling with lots of places for people to go after if they want.
DJ: Entertainment Tonite
Tracy and Jeff were great to work with and so easy. But here's all you need to know. We had an espresso bar that came out after dinner. The barista actually came up to me during the reception when I was taking a breather and told me that this was the best music he'd ever heard at a wedding and he was actually having trouble concentrating on his job. True story.
A few other notes.
I had some great experienced with all of the following Etsy vendors: