Hi Everyone! It's been a long time since I've posted on here. Life got in the way...you all know how that is. But I wanted to drop by and give everyone a couple of vendor reviews for all the girls out here still in the planning process. I can't believe it is all over and we had the most perfect wedding day. Oh, and my highest score will be an A+
Reception Venue : Renaissance Hotel Pittsburgh - A+
Tony and the rest of the staff at the Renaissance are more than accomodating and definitely go above and beyond. From start to finish, they make you (brides) feel like a princess. The space is not massive, but the view more than makes up for it and I personally love the initimate feel and the uniqueness of the hotel. We had approximately 150 guests and it worked for us perfect. I will say the food was amazing. We got so many compliments that it was the best wedding food our guests had ever had. The also gave us the Presidential Suite for the day which was unbelievable. I wouldn't change much of anything about our reception.
Photographer: Carson Grey Photography - A+
I cannot say enough about Carson. She did our engagement photos as well and she is fantastic. I have only seen a handful of finished pictures from our wedding day so far, but if they are any indication about the final product, they are going to be wonderful. We hired a second photographer through her, Sean Means, and he was great too! He was with the groomsmen in the beginning of the day, but my now husband said he was great to work with. He stayed in the background most of the night getting some of the more candid, behind the scenes pictures. I was impressed with how long Carson and Sean stayed at our reception. They were there basically the whole time which was above and beyond! Carson is professional, flexible and I think very fairly priced for a high quality photographer in the Pittsburgh area. Here is a couple of the unbelievable pics she took that night.
DJ: Pifemaster Productions, Robert Pifer - A
We hired Robert after hearing him at friends' weddings prior. He is very professional and has a great DJ voice. He played a lot of music that got people on the dance floor and not just of one genre. I did not have much communication with him prior to the wedding, but being as I had heard him before, I was comfortable that he would do a great job. Also, I thought his price was very reasonable. He is out of the Slippery Rock area.
Florist : Carrie Ann Powell - A-
This was probably the one aspect of the wedding I was a little disappointed in. Carrie is great and she was extremely well priced which is why we went with her. I chose to do all red roses for my flowers. I loved my bouquet and my girls' bouquets (simple, tightly hand tied roses). They were exactly what I wanted. However, I wasn't thrilled with my centerpieces. The Renaissance is a smaller space so I did not want large centerpieces, however, they were a little smaller than I had imagined. Also, I did not want any greenery in the centerpieces and they had greenery in them. These are somewhat petty things that only I noticed, I'm sure, because they were still pretty. Just a little smaller than I thought. I think Carrie is great, and I wish I woud have given her a picture exactly of what I wanted.
Cake : Prantl's Bakery in Shadyside - A+
This was the most surprising of the night. The cake was not something I felt super strongly about when planning, but I ended up LOVING my cake. LOVING....I cannot say it enough. We chose the Burnt Almond Torte (if you've ever had it, you know it's delicious). But the design is what floored me. I gave Prantl's a picture of a cake I found on Pintrest which was a piped lace design. It looked BETTER than the picture I gave. It was so gorgeous. And Carrie put fresh flowers on top.
Photobooth : Snap Shop Photobooth in Wheeling, WV : A+
My mom booked this because it was something she really wanted us to have and I'm so glad she did. It was the hit of the party. They brought a ton of props and were an actual booth (not a sheet on the wall or anything). They gave everyone as many copies of the pictures as they wanted and kept a copy for us and make us an adorable scrap book with it. Like a real scrap book with notes from guests and stickers, etc. We had it that night. I was sooooo happy with them. Not sure about the price because my mom did all the legwork on this one, but I think it was worth the cost no matter what it was. People loved it.
Dress and Bridesmaids' Dresses : CK Bridal - A+
Connie and everyone else at CK were amazing. Everytime I went there I was the only appointment or one of just two appointments at that slot. They give you so much personal attention and really do know what's best. I didn't really know what I was exactly looking for in a bridal gown, but after trying a few on, Connie had an idea of exactly what I was liking and began pulling dresses for me. They have a good selection and are very knowledgable. Alterations were super affordable! I actually want to get married all over again just so I can go back to Connie and CK to start the process all over again. They were so easy to work with. I've been recommending them to everyone!
I think that about covers all the major things!! Hope it helps!!! Feel free to PM me about any other specifics! Happy Planning girls!