We were actually married in Lawrence County but the vendors I worked with were amazing and many were from Pittsburgh and willing to travel.
Gatherings Banquet and Event Center (reception) - A+
Shannon was amazing at communicating via email. I was planning from out of state and am on phone all day for work so needed someone that would be easy to work with over email. This is pretty much just a banquet hall but it is pretty inside. The pricing is amazing! The food was very good. They displayed the cookies we brought in very nicely. We used their tables numbers which I was pleasantly surprised with how cute they were. They also had lighted table skirting for cookies and cake table which was great because I had wanted to rent some lighted backdrops or something and never did. They also made a very cute banner for us in our wedding colors. I would work with the gatherings for every event in the future if I could.
Nicole Cassano (photography) - A
Haven't gotten our pictures back but she did post a few on her Facebook page. I love them already! Again, she was great to work with from out of state over emails and FaceTime. She even found a location for us to take our wedding party pictures when I couldn't think of any place. I had a lot of fun during our engagement shoot and was kind of disappointed we didn't get a lot of interaction during the wedding (I noticed her out of the corner of my eye all night getting shots but she was very much in the background, I sometimes forgot she was with us all night!) I asked a few times during the night if she could take certain pictures and she absolutely did. I loved working with Nicole and wish I lived closer so we could do anniversary pictures, family pictures, and whatever other events arise where pictures are needed.
Budget Blossoms by Jilliann (florist) - A+
I found Jill from combing this board. I knew I liked some more expensive flowers and needed to find a budget friendly florist. I didn't research thoroughly for this vendor but Jill responded so quickly via email and we exchanged a few inspiration pictures. I knew she would be great to work with from just a few email exchanges. I gave her the budget I was wanting/willing to spend and she worked within that budget. She also drove the hour to deliver the flowers no extra charge and did the whole reception set up. At first I was really wanting lots of peach flowers and was slightly disappointed in the colors but I also know a florist cannot control how flowers grow. After my initial "
they're not peach!", I quickly got over it because the bouquets and centerpieces were absolutely gorgeous and I wish they could last forever!
Carol's Cakery/Flowers N' All (cake) - A
I waited pretty last minute to find a bakery for a cake. I actually don't like cake so this was the worst part of planning. I'm also very indecisive and was all over the place with what kind of design I wanted. I worked with Jackie and showed her a few pictures of cakes that I liked. She originally said she couldn't do the design with buttercream (I did not want fondant) but when I called back to actually place the order, she said she had worked on it and could in fact do the swirls that I had liked. Again, I wanted peach and got pink but the cake was beautiful. I actually did like the taste of this cake. We chose almond with raspberry filling and for our anniversary tier, tangerine. Jackie tried talking me into tangerine for the entire wedding cake and to be honest, I thought it sounded gross. However, when I tried it ...it.was.SO.Good!!! I can't wait for next year to get here so I can eat it haha.
Joe Deasy (DJ) - A
Joe was recommended to me from one of my bridesmaids who knows him personally. He DJs in pittsburgh's south side and also does weddings (I believe with Wenning Entertainment, but we went to him directly). I knew he would have the vibe that I wanted. He played the usual cocktail hour songs throughout cocktail hour and dinner and then it was a dance party the rest of the night. A few older guests complained that the music was too loud which I feel badly about but that is my only "complaint". He preferred phone communication over email and on both of our parts we played phone tag a few times. He was very easy going, kept the night moving, took requests and didn't play any songs that I put on the do not play list.
Pretty Hair Salon (hair and makeup) - A
It was important to me to find an affordable hair and makeup person that would travel to our hotel room. I had visions of us girls getting ready in our hotel room eating brunch, drinking mimosas and jamming to music while getting beautified. I did have to pay for the hair and makeup trial, and I actually did not like hair or makeup that day. However, I knew then what needed to change and even went from an updo for trial to wearing my hair down (half up) for day of wedding. The 2 stylists were so fun and funny and played with the bridesmaids styles until they liked them. My mom was nervous about getting her makeup done but she looked amazing! My bridesmaids did their own makeup but all of their hair looked gorgeous. Also, I waited until 2 months before the wedding to book and they were still available. They were very accommodating with scheduling my trial since I am from out of state and would only be home for 1 or 2 short visits before the wedding. Very happy with Pretty!
Rockstar Limousine - B
This company is out of Ohio. I called a week before the wedding and they were very easy to book a limo with. Melissa was able to text me pictures of the limo before actually booking it. I thought their rates for 4 hours was extremely affordable and cheaper than most places out of Pittsburgh. They had champagne for us and other soft drinks. They arrived on time and the driver made sure it was very easy for me to get in and out of the limo. Unfortunately, the music in the limo did not work. At first the radio did, but when we tried plugging in the iPod nothing came out of the speakers. Then, even the radio didn't work. I think one of the parts I was looking forward to about the day was dancing around in the limo with our awesome wedding party. At one point the driver said the cooler the groomsmen brought along had knocked the wiring so it's possible it was our fault, but still, it was a quiet ride around town. (Not really, we talked and drank and tried to listen to music through the iPhone speakers). They really were good to work with, though.
Mary's Bride & Formal (dress) - B
I was not that thrilled with my dress appointment. I showed a few pictures of dresses that I liked. The consultant saw one that they had in store which I was excited about and I think that just set things off as her thinking it was my favorite. I did like it and ultimately ended up with that dress, however, the other dresses she brought out were hideous. I had nothing to compare the dress I bought to. I'm not talking - this isn't my style but once I have it on it's not bad. I'm talking - hideous dresses that I would not ever consider. I also liked lace and the consultant told me she couldn't see me in lace so didn't really bring any out. I feel like I too quickly bought my dress and up until the second fitting wasn't too thrilled with the wedding dress I ended up with. My mom and bridesmaids all liked the dress and it does look very "me". Once it was fitted and I had the accessories and shoes I loved and was very happy with the dress. The fittings went very well and I enjoyed working with the seamstress. I liked everyone in the salon except for the consultant I had, haha. I'm glad it worked out and I didn't hate my dress. My mom says it's better I didn't have a second dress that I liked because then I would have just been indecisive.
Chauffeur 4 Hire (shuttle driver) -
Did you all know this existed?!? We were quoted a price for a shuttle/minibus for our guests by multiple companies that was more than our wedding party limo was going to be. I did not want to spend almost a grand on a shuttle, nor did we really have the money in our budget. However, with a 5 hour open bar and no taxi service in town, I needed to provide a way for our guests to get back to hotel. Also, I was told by other companies that they would only make a set amount of trips from hotel to reception, back to hotel. I knew our friends coming would want to go out after and was hoping for a shuttle to just shuttle us (taxi us?) wherever we wanted to go.
Enter chauffer4hire.com This site provides a driver that drives your vehicle where ever you want for as long as you want. $20/ hr for first 3 hours then $15/hr after that. What we did was rent a 15 passenger van from a place called U-Save Auto rental for about $150 and we had the driver from 4:30pm to about 1am. The driver showed up at the hotel where we had the van (driver could have picked it up but the timing didn't work out, so a groomsmen picked up the van that morning). The driver then took as many trips as necessary to get our guests from hotel to reception, and again at the end of night. He then drove wedding party and our friends to a local bar and then back to hotel when we were done with being out for the night.
Jameson Candy in New Castle (favors) -
Good chocolate although I found half of them left on the tables at the end of the night (more for me, right?!)
Rentmywedding.com (uplighting) -
I wanted the pretty uplighting but waited too long to find a company, plus I thought they were expensive. This website was able to ship lights (I believe about $20/ light) within the short timeframe given. Everything was packaged nicely and at the end, you repackage the lights, stick the prepaid label back on the box and send it to fedex. I thought it was super easy. You can choose between 7 colors.
Candles4less.com - cheapest candles (votives and holders) I found online. I used these for reception tables. Everything packaged nicely and nothing broken. Box arrived very quickly.
CardsandPockets.com - envelopes for invitations. Cheapest I found online and so many colors
PaperandMore.com - card stock for DIY invitations. Again, cheapest I found and good colors to choose from.
SimplyStamps.com - personalized stamp for return addresses
Men's Warehouse (tuxes) -
I am not a guy but they seemed easy to work with. Groom's tux was free so that's a plus and all guys got $40 off from a promo they were doing at the time.
Oiy, I think that is it. Sorry for the long post! Reviews were always helpful to me! Would be happy to provide any more details or answer any questions
