June 18th Pittsburgh Wedding (Vendor Reviews)

Bridal Gown - David's Bridal
A+
David's Bridal was where I got my wedding dress and they were great! I went to the store near Ross Park Mall and never had a problem with them! They were really helpful and did my alterations and never gave me any stress!

Bridesmaid and Flower Girl Dresses - Arnella's Bridal
http://www.arnellas.com
A+
Tammy at Arnella's Bridal is very nice and willing to work with you!  I called/emailed her a million times and she was always willing to help me with any concern I had! Her Bridesmaid Dress selection is 100 times better than David's Bridal or even Alfred Angelo's!  She has a lot of dresses from the Dessy Collection and other better quality dresses at her store.  Alterations are also included with the dress which is nice! The only thing with that is you have to use the two seamstresses in Butler PA and getting to Butler from Pittsburgh it quite the drive, but I am happy with how the BM and Flower Girl dresses turned out!

Tuxes - Men's Wearhouse
B-
Just like any other Men's Wearhouse I went to they can be rude and have no idea what they are doing!  We made our initial request with the Men's Wearhouse in NJ and they were awful! They had my DH and one of his groomsmen picking up their tuxes in Ross Park even though we said Robinson and by the time we realized that it was too late to change it and they had to go the whole way there to pick up their tuxes! The Men's Wearhouse in Robinson also told one of our Groomsmen that the suit doesn't look flattering on him.  Needless to say I'm happy I'll never have to set foot in that place again!

Church -Christ Lutheran Church Millvale, PA
A++
Pastor George is the nicest man alive! He is funny, charming and extremely helpful! DH and I are not religious so we wanted a place that would welcome us and not charge an arm and a leg to use their church. Our ceremony was 20 minutes and all our guests loved it!  It's a nice little church off of Route 28 and perfect for any couple who want to get married in a church but do not want that hour long service.

Reception Site - Pittsburgh Airport Marriott
After we reserved the space (June 2009) until June 16, 2011: C-
It was extremely hard to get a hold of our wedding planner while we were planning our wedding.  My emails were never returned in a timely manner and if I wanted an answer to anything I had to call, but felt uncomfortable calling because I was afraid of our planner.  She sometimes spoke down to us and even at one point made me cry.  I felt like when I wanted to do something or have something done with my idea she would suggest something different or try and take us another route to have her vision done. Planning from out of state was hard and the reason we went with this reception site is because we knew they would help us alot and I didn't see that until I came back into town three weeks prior to my wedding.

From June 17, 2011 until we left the hotel: A++
The Thursday before the wedding I met with our wedding planner and she was amazing! I told her of some of the stress I had with some of the vendors and she called them right away and got it figured out.  She helped bring my dream wedding to a reality and the hotel staff is so nice and very accommodating.  I felt like I was staying at a four star hotel the weekend of my wedding and I would recommend this reception site to anyone!  We did have a few problems after the wedding with missing items that were never packed up and given to us and that are still missing and have not turned up yet.  The Marriott is a huge hotel that there were so many people on board with set up for our wedding little things got lost and while they were packing up our items they accidently put a chair cover sash in our box, but not the cake topper.  Another aspect that I didn't care for is that DH and I were barely out of the ballroom at the end of the reception when the banquet staff came in and started tearing down the tables and packing things away.  Other than those few minor mishaps we got free internet at the hotel for the weekend and even a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on our wedding night! Thank you Pittsburgh Airport Marriott!

Videographer - Valley Visions Videography
http://web.me.com/valleyvisions/valleyvisionsvideo/Weddings.html
A++
Valley Visions Videography is a husband and wife team that do an outstanding job! I hired them for my wedding day and they arrived the night before to capture the rehearsal and came in bright and early on the wedding day to film everything! Amy was with me the entire day and her husband Denny was with my soon to be husband.  They stayed at the reception the entire time until the last song was played and captured everything! They do both still photography and video and their finished product is as long as they have footage and they don't limit what is shown.  Their prices are amazing and I paid under $1,000 and they did more than we could have ever imagined!

Florist - Parkway Florist
http://parkwayfloristpghblog.com/
A++
Cheryl is amazing and I'm so happy we worked with her! The place we had our reception works very closely with Parkway Florist and when we went in to meet with her for the first time I had a blast!  She helped us pick the best flowers for our colors (Fuchsia and Orange) and my future husband didn't want roses so we were able to pick other flowers that would look nice. She was very easy to get a hold of to answer any and all of my questions! 

The week of the wedding I was stressing out because my photographer asked if I could make sure I had flowers with me at the hotel for pictures, but after talking to Cheryl it would be in my best interest to wait until I got to the church to receive my flowers! I was so upset because I wanted flowers in my pictures that Parkway Florist made a special arraignment to deliver a small bouquet to me at the hotel so I could have something in my photos free of charge!

I recommend her 100% and she also serves as a ceremony coordinator!  She got everyone ready and down the aisle at my church!  She was awesome, we started on time, everyone had their flowers and looked great!  She helped me get ready to go down the aisle with my dad and even fluffed my train!

Photographer - Mark May Photography
B+
I first met Mark May at a Bridal Show the summer before my wedding! He is very nice and when we met he offered great packages for any bride!  He was able to work with us on a package that fit our budget and honored his Bridal Show promise by giving us a free engagement session along with a Matted Photo with a Signature Frame for the reception.

Mark is very outgoing, fun and has a lot of experience! During my wedding planning he was easy to get a hold of and returned my calls and emails in a timely manner. He made us feel really comfortable in front of the camera and captured a lot of great moments during our engagement session and wedding but overall I was not happy with how the final pictures turned out.

While working with him a  few of the things I was disappointed in, is that during our engagement pictures we asked if we could have less "senior picture poses" and more candid fun ones, but in the end all our pictures felt and looked like we were in the park getting our senior pictures taken. A few weeks prior to the wedding I created a list of photos I'd like to be taken the day of the wedding and "must take photos" and emailed them to Mark.  The day of the wedding I noticed he got some of them and even had the list with him, but when we got our final pictures some of my requests were done, but others were not.  Looking back on the day now, a lot of our wedding pictures were taken from a distance and looked like a novel photographer took them.  The most important moment in a young women's life is when her father gives her away and that picture for me to took back on is blurry, and only one photograph was taken that showed that. A picture was never taken of my husband and I with our MOH and BM.  I am extremely disappointed how our pictures came out! I'm not a photographer but looking at them now I see how he could have posed us differently to make the picture better and other little things that an experienced photographer should have known to do but didn't.

Nick is very professional and even though he is new to the photography business he knows what he is doing! Photos by Nick really captured the moments I wanted in our wedding and you can tell that by the pictures he took.  I would recommend him to any bride without reservation!

Cake - Cakes by Tammy
A++
I forget how we came in contact with Tammy and her services but boy am I glad that we did! She is an amazing baker and really nice and easy to get along with!

During our first meeting we had an idea of what we wanted our cake to look like and that changed about 10 times until our wedding! Each time Tammy was happy to change any of the details and even drew up some ideas for us! 

In the end we just gave her our wedding invitation and asked to draw something similar on the cake cascading up and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!  Not to mention her French vanilla cake with strawberry filling is amazing!

Rehearsal Dinner - Remo's Catering
http://www.remoscatering.com/tivolibuffets.html
A++
Booked by my DH's parents Remo's Catering has been a close family friend to them and that is where we had our rehearsal dinner! They have a room at their catering company and it was perfect for our 50+ guests.  The food was amazing and it had that home cooked tasted and everyone raved about the fried chicken and ziti!  Remo's is very cost efficient and I recommend them to any bride who will be having her wedding ceremony near Ross Park.

Hair and Make Up - Pretty Hair Salon
www.PrettyInPittsburgh.com
A++
Pretty Hair Salon will come to you on your big day! This was extremely important since we had a big bridal party and needed to be in our hotel to get ready! Sara and Erica are amazing and did a great job on all of my girls and including me!  They are very professional and young and hip to know the latest styles and fashion for hair and makeup.  They made me look like a Princess on my wedding day and they are the best hair and makeup professionals I could have asked for!

Bridesmaid Gifts - Swoozies
http://swoozies.com
C+
When I moved out to New Jersey I came across a store I never hear of, Swoozies!  I went inside and it was the best store I have EVER been in!  Inside was all different types of items you could personalize, invitations, cups, robes, bags, etc.  The colors of the store were even our wedding colors pink and orange so I knew I was in heaven!  I found the cutest pink bags that could be embroidered with each bridesmaid's initials for only $30.  So long story short, I received a call a few weeks later telling me the place they send the bags to, to get embroidered went out of business and I had to come and get the bags and take them somewhere else.  So when I arrived at the store I was given 50% off each bag and a free coupon to use at the store for any one item and receive 50% off of it!   I was so excited I didn't care I had to find my own place that would embroider my bags.  I called around and found a few places that would do it, but then I later find out that Swoozies went out of business and that is why they were shady!  It was very annoying to deal with this store, but they did have some really cute stuff!