The Willow Room? (and a few others)

strwbry084

Hello!  Does anyone know anything about the Willow Room in Belle Vernon?  It looks amazing online, but I haven't seen it in person yet.  I'm also looking at the Springwood Conference Center, the Lemont (which I absolutely LOVE but I don't think we can afford), the Twentieth Century Club, and the Chadwick.  Any advice on those places either?  Thanks!

jlbaxter33

If you don't think  you can afford LeMont, then you most definitely can't afford Springwood.

I heard from a photographer that Springwood was awful to work with, but it is a pretty venue, albeit very expensive. They quoted me (for 100 people) to be about $20K which was way out of our budget, so we are having our wedding at the 20th Century Club, which is beautiful and I LOVE IT! I haven't done a lot with the venue yet since my wedding is a little far away, but so far so good!

cgyvhu

Hi and Welcome!

I am looking into LeMont and the 20th century club.  Lemont is actually very affordable depending on the size of your wedding (they have a room charge if the wedding is smaller than a certain number).  I haven't been to 20th century club yet, but it's on the recommended list and a few ladies on the board are using it and have had good experiences so far.

Springwood is very pricey (I think 125-140pp).

ros3392

I've been to weddings at the Willow Room and they were both beautiful, however I have heard from others that they weren't impressed with the food there. I really don't particularly remember the food not being good. Where is your ceremony? The Willow Room is very far from a lot of the other locations you mentioned... you should consider the distance between the ceremony and reception!

morainemom

We had my daughter's wedding reception at LeMont!  It was fabulous and very affordable!  It was more affordable than anywhere else we priced in Pittsburgh!
Give Bill Laughlin, the banquet manager a call - they will really work within your budget.

amy727

I've been to a couple weddings at the Chadwick.  I think they do a really nice job. 

LilDanie26

I was at a wedding 2 years ago at The Willow Room. The Bridal Party suite is very large and in great condition. The bathrooms were also very nice as well. I don't remember much about the food, but I know they do offer kids meals. They also have a large outside that connects to the ballroom. So that is a plus. And I remember they box up all your cookies for you at the end of your event. But when your alotted rental time was over they kind of rushed you out of there. Hope that helps.

AshNoel8

I LOVE Springwood, but it was way over our budget. My friend always had her high school dances and proms at the Willow Room. She likes it, but I have never been to a wedding there. 

strwbry084

Thanks for all the replies!  Wow $140 per person?!  I haven't received the info I requested from them yet, but at those prices Springwood is definitely out!    It will probably come down to Lemont (if I can swing it.  Nice to know they'll work with you!), Willow Room, and Twentieth Century Club.  Our ceremony is at St. Thomas More in Bethel Park.  The Willow Room is about 35-40 minutes from the church, which is about the furthest we're willing to travel, but it's still within range.  Thanks again!

jrsygrl10

springwood won't give you their pricing info until after you have toured it. PITA!

i second the lemont-it was the most affordable place we looked at within the city, which was shocking and super exciting! call bill-he's awesome!

hj1479

I actually just sent in my contract/deposit for the Willow Room this morning!  I loved it! Kim seems really great to work with.  The building itself is kind of random - looks like an office builing from the outside (has offices on the first few floors), but the ball room itself is beautilful.  You can reserve the whole rm or 2 sections of the ball room (2 sections hold 220 people).  Definitely let me know if you have more questions!

themissizz

My reception was at the Willow Room.  My biggest complaint was their coordinator at the time, Cara/Kara - she wasn't overly friendly, involved, or accessible.  I had a couple other issues with their staff, but nothing major (we wanted to be announced before our BP and walk right into our first dance, the staff didn't really "get" this and were totally confused at something that wasn't confusing at all - our DJ took care of it).  We also had an issue with them ordering the wrong beef dish (this goes back to Cara/Kara) and pretty much refusing to remedy the situation monetarily after the fact.

The facility was beautiful, our food was great, and all of our guests were really impressed with how gorgeous everything looked.  I would, however, say that it's probably more like a 45-60 minute drive from Bethel.  It's really out there, and you have to account for older guests who won't drive as fast as some younger people might between the two locations.

I would do it again, but I would also make sure that I was more forceful about what I wanted and how I wanted things done.

kalikat0403

I looked at both the 20th Century Club (which I who I chose) and the Willow Room. I really liked the Willow Room but the 20th Century Club I thought was a more interesting location given its historic nature. 

I say either venue, is a great choice. 

carlyanne05

I just checked out The Willow Room and the place is beautiful, but I was disappointed that the food/drink minimums were not disclosed to me before visiting.  I asked very specific quetions in my email contact about how to figure out pricing and even gave an example, yet the Saturday $12,000, Friday/Sunday $8,000 food/drink minimum was never mentioned - well, minimums were never mentioned period.  I definitely wasted time visiting considering I was only in town from Virginia for a very short weekend.

strwbry084

Saturday $12K minimum?  Really?!  Is that a minimum before taxes and tip?  Thank you SO SO much for the heads up!  I was planning on heading there next weekend when we're in Pittsburgh, but now maybe it's off the list.....that's a little much.

carlyanne05

Unfortunately I can't remember if that was before or after taxes and gratuity - I just knew it was out of my budget regardless!