Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh

Vendor Reviews...finally

Hi girls, hope everyone is doing good! I haven't had much free time to post at all, it's been so busy since I got back to work last Wednesday. I've barely even had time to read the boards. :(   But here goes my longest post on the Knot ever! haha

Reception:
Pittsburgh Airport Marriott 
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pitmc-pittsburgh-airport-marriott/  --- A 
Their execution day of was absolutely perfect. They ask you before hand about your three gold keys - what this is is the three main things that are of most importance to you about your wedding day. Mine were 1) Set up and presentation of the room 2) Presentation/taste of food 3) Timing of events. They executed all three perfectly. Being that they handled all set up, I was worried it wouldn't be like I was envisioning, but I was totally wrong. They chair covers, table coverings, uplighting, candy buffet, etc. were all perfect, just as good as I would have done it! haha  The food was awesome as well, we got lots of compliments on the menu. The staff day of was also great, very attentive and provided all of our guests with exceptional service.
The communication in the few weeks leading up to the wedding was good. The communication in the few months prior could have been better. On several occasions it took our contact several weeks to get back to me or to get an answer that she told us would only take a few days. That really was my only complaint, so in the long room, that was good. During crunch time they were very quick to get back to me.
Room Block:
Pittsburgh Airport Marriott --- A
No problems. We had a ton of people coming in from out of town, in fact, we booked closed to 45 rooms for Saturday night. They distributed my out of town bags at the front desk with no problems. My only complaint is that they didn't give us a very good rate. A friend of mine was just looking to book through their website outside of our room block and it was only 5 dollars more expensive than the rate they gave us. I guess I was just expecting more of a deal.  Other than that, everything else was good.
Transportation:
A Tortorise Limo - http://www.tortoricelimousine.com/ --- A+
On time, friendly, the driver knew exactly where he was going without directions from the wedding party, (which is a HUGE annoyance of mine). Prices are very competitive and is a family owned business and are very nice/easy to work with.
DJ:
Andy Booth - www.ajbooth.com --- A+
Awesome! Lived up to high expectations that I had of him from all the other positive reviews he gets on here. Very professional and his online planning tool was a huge help. He created the perfect playlist for us and the dance floor was still packed at 11:30 pm (after starting at 5 pm)!  This guy knows what he's doing and I would recommend him the most out of all my vendors.
Florist/Invitations:
Parkway Floral - http://www.parkwayflorist-pgh.com/ --- A+
We got a small allowance through our package at the Marriott for centerpieces from Parkway Floral (Cheryl) so we decided to go with her for all of our flowers. Cheryl is a very kind, soft spoken women and she definitely wowed me with our reception centerpieces and bouquets/bouts. The prices were a little bit on the higher side, but to me it was worth it.  She was VERY quick at returning my calls whenever I had a question and was very good at helping to guide us through our floral selections, since it can be a bit overwhelming to some people (i.e. ME)!  The thing that I loved most about Cheryl is how she saved me the day of the wedding, right before the ceremony. She was the first to greet me at the church when I got off the limo (I was late and very frazzled), she helped me into the church, scrubbed out a stain on my gown literally 5 minutes before I walked down the aisle, and had a bobby pin available to pin back a piece of hair that kept coming loose. She knew exactly what to say to get me to calm down. She fluffed my train and saw me off right before I walked down the aise. She did way more than I would have ever expected from a florist.
I also purchased my invitations through Parkway Floral as well. Got 10% off from ordering through her and she took care of all the proofing and sending them back several times due to error. It was nice not having to worry about that!
Bridal Attire:
Deborah's Bridal Traditions - Monaca, PA - 724-774-5055 --- A
Not a huge selection but great customer service. I bought my senior prom dress from them back in 1999 and had good service, so I was a repeat customer :).  Their alterations department is good. Basic is included in the purchase of the dress, but they were able to change my zip up gown into a corset back and it turned out beautifully. Obviously this was a big change and came with a big price tag, but the end result was gorgeous and I had a one of a kind dress because of it.
Photographer:
Edward Coll www.skysthelimitphotography.com --- holding off on my grade until I get our photos
But... so far, so good. Edward and his brother Erik were so much fun to have around day of the wedding. That was important to me to have someone that I enjoyed, since they were with us all day. The preview that I've saw so far of our photos look great, so I am really excited to see them all.
Video Kiosk:
Flashbook www.theflashbox.com --- holding off on grade until we get our video
This was a huge hit at our reception. I am so excited to see the final product because our guests keep telling us "just wait until you see what we left on the flashbox" lol  The guy that does most of the selling/booking of it can be a little over bearing, especially in the week before the wedding with lots of questions, requests, which honestly wasn't my first priority, but no major problems.
Groom's Cake:
Laura Yelon with www.sugarnspires.com - A+
One word, AMAZING. She created the most awesome groom's cake as a surprise to my husband. She is a new business and totally poured her heart and soul into our cake, in fact, our "Dakota" cake was her first cake for a wedding. She did a good job of matching the cake and filling to our more traditional wedding cake as well. Picture of the cake can be found here:  http://www.pittsburgh-wedding.net/mike-and-kim-preview-1-02-10.html
Wedding Cake:
Bethel Bakery http://www.bethelbakery.com/ - A
Got exactly what we were expecting when we went with Bethel Bakery. They are expensive, to say the least, but the cake was beautiful and their butter cream icing is not only delicious, but is so smooth it looks like fondant (but tastes so so much better)!  We had their mango filling and it was a huge hit.
Groom's/Groomsmen's Attire:
Men's Warehouse Tux - B
The only reason we went with them was because we had a coupon from a bride show. All in all, the end result was good and everything came in correctly and at the correct store. (Groomsmen were spread out across Pennsylvania). But the process to get the tuxes to the right store was a pain in the butt. They couldn't get it right and finally after several phone calls and confusing emails it was corrected. The lady that helped us select the tuxes were pretty miserable and when we couldn't make up our minds with what color vests, she seems pretty annoyed and in a hurry. It was just annoying, but nothing major.

Re: Vendor Reviews...finally

  • edited December 2011
    Hi girls, hope everyone is doing good! I haven't had much free time to post at all, it's been so busy since I got back to work last Wednesday. I've barely even had time to read the boards. :(   But here goes my longest post on the Knot ever! haha

    Reception:
    Pittsburgh Airport Marriott 
    http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pitmc-pittsburgh-airport-marriott/  --- A 
    Their execution day of was absolutely perfect. They ask you before hand about your three gold keys - what this is is the three main things that are of most importance to you about your wedding day. Mine were 1) Set up and presentation of the room 2) Presentation/taste of food 3) Timing of events. They executed all three perfectly. Being that they handled all set up, I was worried it wouldn't be like I was envisioning, but I was totally wrong. They chair covers, table coverings, uplighting, candy buffet, etc. were all perfect, just as good as I would have done it! haha  The food was awesome as well, we got lots of compliments on the menu. The staff day of was also great, very attentive and provided all of our guests with exceptional service.
    The communication in the few weeks leading up to the wedding was good. The communication in the few months prior could have been better. On several occasions it took our contact several weeks to get back to me or to get an answer that she told us would only take a few days. That really was my only complaint, so in the long room, that was good. During crunch time they were very quick to get back to me.
    Room Block:
    Pittsburgh Airport Marriott --- A
    No problems. We had a ton of people coming in from out of town, in fact, we booked closed to 45 rooms for Saturday night. They distributed my out of town bags at the front desk with no problems. My only complaint is that they didn't give us a very good rate. A friend of mine was just looking to book through their website outside of our room block and it was only 5 dollars more expensive than the rate they gave us. I guess I was just expecting more of a deal.  Other than that, everything else was good.
    Transportation:
    A Tortorise Limo - http://www.tortoricelimousine.com/ --- A+
    On time, friendly, the driver knew exactly where he was going without directions from the wedding party, (which is a HUGE annoyance of mine). Prices are very competitive and is a family owned business and are very nice/easy to work with.
    DJ:
    Andy Booth - www.ajbooth.com --- A+
    Awesome! Lived up to high expectations that I had of him from all the other positive reviews he gets on here. Very professional and his online planning tool was a huge help. He created the perfect playlist for us and the dance floor was still packed at 11:30 pm (after starting at 5 pm)!  This guy knows what he's doing and I would recommend him the most out of all my vendors.
    Florist/Invitations:
    Parkway Floral - http://www.parkwayflorist-pgh.com/ --- A+
    We got a small allowance through our package at the Marriott for centerpieces from Parkway Floral (Cheryl) so we decided to go with her for all of our flowers. Cheryl is a very kind, soft spoken women and she definitely wowed me with our reception centerpieces and bouquets/bouts. The prices were a little bit on the higher side, but to me it was worth it.  She was VERY quick at returning my calls whenever I had a question and was very good at helping to guide us through our floral selections, since it can be a bit overwhelming to some people (i.e. ME)!  The thing that I loved most about Cheryl is how she saved me the day of the wedding, right before the ceremony. She was the first to greet me at the church when I got off the limo (I was late and very frazzled), she helped me into the church, scrubbed out a stain on my gown literally 5 minutes before I walked down the aisle, and had a bobby pin available to pin back a piece of hair that kept coming loose. She knew exactly what to say to get me to calm down. She fluffed my train and saw me off right before I walked down the aise. She did way more than I would have ever expected from a florist.
    I also purchased my invitations through Parkway Floral as well. Got 10% off from ordering through her and she took care of all the proofing and sending them back several times due to error. It was nice not having to worry about that!
    Bridal Attire:
    Deborah's Bridal Traditions - Monaca, PA - 724-774-5055 --- A
    Not a huge selection but great customer service. I bought my senior prom dress from them back in 1999 and had good service, so I was a repeat customer :).  Their alterations department is good. Basic is included in the purchase of the dress, but they were able to change my zip up gown into a corset back and it turned out beautifully. Obviously this was a big change and came with a big price tag, but the end result was gorgeous and I had a one of a kind dress because of it.
    Photographer:
    Edward Coll www.skysthelimitphotography.com --- holding off on my grade until I get our photos
    But... so far, so good. Edward and his brother Erik were so much fun to have around day of the wedding. That was important to me to have someone that I enjoyed, since they were with us all day. The preview that I've saw so far of our photos look great, so I am really excited to see them all.
    Video Kiosk:
    Flashbook www.theflashbox.com --- holding off on grade until we get our video
    This was a huge hit at our reception. I am so excited to see the final product because our guests keep telling us "just wait until you see what we left on the flashbox" lol  The guy that does most of the selling/booking of it can be a little over bearing, especially in the week before the wedding with lots of questions, requests, which honestly wasn't my first priority, but no major problems.
    Groom's Cake:
    Laura Yelon with www.sugarnspires.com - A+
    One word, AMAZING. She created the most awesome groom's cake as a surprise to my husband. She is a new business and totally poured her heart and soul into our cake, in fact, our "Dakota" cake was her first cake for a wedding. She did a good job of matching the cake and filling to our more traditional wedding cake as well. Picture of the cake can be found here:  http://www.pittsburgh-wedding.net/mike-and-kim-preview-1-02-10.html
    Wedding Cake:
    Bethel Bakery http://www.bethelbakery.com/ - A
    Got exactly what we were expecting when we went with Bethel Bakery. They are expensive, to say the least, but the cake was beautiful and their butter cream icing is not only delicious, but is so smooth it looks like fondant (but tastes so so much better)!  We had their mango filling and it was a huge hit.
    Groom's/Groomsmen's Attire:
    Men's Warehouse Tux - B
    The only reason we went with them was because we had a coupon from a bride show. All in all, the end result was good and everything came in correctly and at the correct store. (Groomsmen were spread out across Pennsylvania). But the process to get the tuxes to the right store was a pain in the butt. They couldn't get it right and finally after several phone calls and confusing emails it was corrected. The lady that helped us select the tuxes were pretty miserable and when we couldn't make up our minds with what color vests, she seems pretty annoyed and in a hurry. It was just annoying, but nothing major.
  • edited December 2011
    I'm using Sky's the Limit as well. Let me know what you think! Glad your day was great!
  • edited December 2011
    Congrats again, I'm glad you had great vendors! I know you were worried about your dress (getting it changed to corset), so I'm glad it worked out and you were happy with it. Your pictures are beautiful!
  • edited December 2011
    Kim - I WAS a nervous wreck about the dress but it turned out better than I even expected. It was nice not having to stress out about if the dress was going to zip up or be too big day of! Definitely worth the extra money.
  • LaFemmeRousseLaFemmeRousse member
    2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Congratulations again!  Sounds like everything went perfectly for the wedding :)
    7.17.10

    image
    Pittsburgh sig: Favorite thing about fall= college football!
    Vacation
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