I had a small, intimate wedding at a restaurant, so not too many vendors to review here.
Venue - Willow Restaurant (North Hills) - We chose this restaurant for it's excellent reputation for delicious food, and they did not dissapoint. They recently renovated and have a new menu, so we were given the choice of honoring some of the older event items as well as their new event menu...we chose some off of each. What we really loved was the setting - tucked away in the woods by itself with lots of windows overlooking the woods, but very easily accessible from 279 or Route 65. We LOVED the coordinator, Lindsey, who put us at ease about everything we had to decide on. She was always responsive to all of my emails within the same day. The servers we had were also awesome. Everything went smoothly and we loved the renovations. I would recommend this for a small wedding or for any other event like a rehearsal dinner or shower. They have so many different sized event rooms upstairs to choose from, all with unique features. I liked to call the theme of this place "modern rustic". Lots of wood, iron, but also modern.
Bakery - Bella Christie (Aspinwall) - We had a lovely cake and cinnamon swirl mini-loaves as favors from this bakery and everyone loved them. The cake was delicious and they have a great Italian buttercream icing which is not too sweet. They used the exact color of ribbon sample I provided to tie the mini-loaves with and put tags with a message on them...they were perfect for a fall wedding. The women were very helpful and basically any favor you want they could do...from cookies, to unique things like caramel-apple cake bites. Although we did not have a sweets table, their photos of sweets tables looked amazing. Our cake design was simple as we wanted it that way, but looking through their online photos and at the shop, they do amazing work for any/all occasions.
Officiant - Minister Ronald Cambest - Ron and I clicked through email right away. My husband was sold on the fact that Ron has a video of a wedding he did on his website, so that it really gave you an idea of what you could expect from him. He let us choose the ceremony from some of his proposed versions - ranging from mainly non-religious to more traditional-religious - and put in some wording we requested with no problem. He quickly notified us when he was stuck in traffic due to an accident so we didn't have to worry, but he made it in plenty of time. He was so energetic, so excited about our wedding and so excited for us...he was awesome and I highly recommend his services!
Photographer - Ron Pradetto Photography (Jacobsburg, OH) - Even though Ron is from Ohio, he did not charge any mileage for coming to Pittsburgh. His rate was extremlely affordable. He and his wife work as a team and Ron is so passionate about his work, it really shows. I just received some preview pics and they are great. I also found Ron through Thumbtack.
Florist - Jim Ludwig's Blumengarten (Strip District) - Sherry was who I met with for the discussion. She chose some unique flowers as I had requested not-so-typical wedding flowers. The colors were spot-on, the arrangements were just as I expected and more, and my bouquet was gorgeous! I highly recommend!
Gown - Babette's (Bridgeville) - I do think they could do a better job of making the store presentable...seems so outdated, kind of shabby/old furniture to sit on, and crammed with dresses. Clare helped me and was very helpful. At one point I got a call asking when I was picking it up before the wedding and I had already told them and watched them write it on my slip. I called them back to tell them again, and they had no clue why I was calling...even though they called me first. I did buy a dress off the rack due to timing concerns and they did give a 10% discount. The dress was in decent condition but any little detail they fixed at no cost (missing button, some loose beading). I only needed one fitting and it fit like a glove!