Venue Decision Dilemna!

BrittB22212

I am torn between 2 completely different venues to have my wedding reception at in Pittsburgh.  The Carnegie Museum: Music Hall Foyer in Oakland- old, traditional, all marble, gorgeous.  and the Fairmont Pittsburgh hotel downtown - modern, brand new, typical ballroom, but amazing hotel.  Has anyone out there been to a wedding reception at either of these venues and can give some good info on either venue?! Help please!

sarilynnep

Hi!

I am having my wedding at the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer. GMC just had her reception there in May so if you want to PM her as she could give you more detail.

The Carnegie is beyond gorgeous. I mean beyond. Little to no decoration is needed at the venue. All the linens, tables, chairs, are supplied and they are all top notch. If you want colored linens or different place setting you can chose to rent them out from a rental company for an additional cost (most girls stick with the white linens). 

Catering there is exclusively through Parkhurst catering and they have set packages to choose from just for the Carnegie. When you book your wedding Parkhurst automatically saves the date for you as well. They do beautiful wedding cakes, and from what I have heard they are one of the tastiest and most professional caterers in town. You can get your cake from somewhere else, but it will still technically be in your package you pay Parkhurst and you would pay an additional cake cutting fee. So not recommended as they do a beautiful job on cakes anyways. The packages also included at least 4 hours of open bar, sit down dinner, and there are plenty of add ons. There is a huge list of options for your tastes.

From my experience so far I can not say enough about Carnegie. The people I have dealt with there are true professionals and will handle a lot for you. They will organize your vendors, do lighting changes during the reception, set everything up, take down, etc. I love it. You are free to chose any vendors except for catering and lighting.

I can not speak for the Fairmont, but I think in the end it will all depend on your tastes. You are looking at something very modern in comparision to something very old world glamour. I love both styles as well, so while the carnegie is very old world, I am still having some very modern centerpieces to add something different and new but that still works in Carnegie. The Carnegie at the end of the day was just more me and my FI.

gmc22

Hi!! I've been pretty busy at work and not feeling too well recently so I haven't posted too much but, as sarilynnep said, I recently had my wedding at the Museum on 5.28 and it was AMAZING. Seriously - amazing. You can see my pics etc. in my 'Married Bio' link under this post and please feel free to ask or PM me any questions you have! I really can't say enough wonderful things about the Carnegie.

As far as everything else (food, cake, etc.) sari basically hit everything right on. The food was out of this world. My guests raved about everything and were seriously floored by the overwhelming beauty of the space. The cake was hands down the best cake I ever tasted and the event coordinators there really are wonderful and handled everything with ease.

An older knottie - missyt180 - had her wedding at the Farimont last Sept and it was gorgeous. I don't think she's around here much anymore but you can try to PM her? From what I saw of her pictures though it was beautiful....

The Carnegie and Fairmont are definitely VERY different spaces! What do you have in mind for your wedding? Do you have inspiration images you can share? Perhaps if we know a bit more about your style/taste we can better help you.

Please let me know if you have any more specific qu's about the Museum! GL deciding!

mms2012

In my opinion, the Fairmont is the best pick.  Their coordinator (Tony) is by far the best that I've seen in a long time.  He will do ANYTHING to make your wedding day the best possible. 
Look him and the hotel up online and read the reviews. 

Fairmont Pittsburgh

Hi BrittB2212,

Congratulations and thank you for your interest in Fairmont Pittsburgh! We are delighted to hear that you are considering hosting your special day with us. We understand that this is a big decision. We offer a contemporary, elegant Ballroom, fantastic service and Chef Morrison can help you create the menu of your dreams. We would love to speak with you and answer any additional questions you may have. Please contact Meaghan Tiberio, Catering Sales Manager, with any questions at 412-773-8904.

Thank you!