Hi everyone. our november 3 wedding was the best day, everything ran so smoothly and if something bad happened, we were too happy to even realize it. I wouldn’t change a thing. hope this is helpful for you ladies who still need to make some decisions!
Wedding Dress: Michael's Bridal Galleria: A+
I made an appt at michael's because i found them online through maggie sottero's website as an authorized retailer. yolanda is the owner and does the alterations and she is wonderful, i cant say that enough. she is so nice and very supportive, encouraging, and helpful. i went in with 2 bridesmaids just to look around, not thinking at all i would buy something (it was november last year, and i was thinking of buying around february, just wanted to get some ideas). i ended up falling in love with the first dress i tried on and she was great about waiting for me to come back with my mom to see it and try on a few others. anyways i bought the dress, it came in about 7 months (totally designer dependent i think). they called me when it came in, i scheduled a fitting, and when it was a little tight, yolanda told me she would give me some time to try and lose weight and made time so that she would be able to get my dress done within 3 weeks of the wedding. i had no fear she would be able to get it done and she did such a beautiful job, i had to have the hem and bustle done as well as some adjustments to the straps and the bust area, plus she added cups in so i didnt have to wear a bra. anyway all around she was amazing and i would recommend her to anyone. also, she does alterations on dresses not purchased there so if you are looking for someone, then definitely think of her!
bridesmaids dresses: Alfred Angelo Monroeville: C
i chose to go with AA because 2 BMs were local and 2 were in rochester, so i wanted to go with a place they could go to in their own towns. but we went to the AA in monroeville for the first appointment and ultimately for the local girls to order their dresses. our experience wasnt great, even though we had an appointment the girl working gave us an attitude like why were we there. we got the appointment started and it was going ok, kind of awkward, but then once we started with another consultant, i think her name was natasha, she was very helpful and ended up suggesting a dress i hadnt thought was an option for us and it was the one we chose. the girls ordered and they got their dresses in a timely fashion. honestly i cant remember how long it took, i think maybe around 3 months? and the dresses looked very nice when they came in, we went with eggplant and its a great color. we didnt have any alterations done there so i cant comment on that. however, now that we got some pictures back we noticed one of the BM’s dresses is a different color! Its like it has less of a shine to it. I am not surprised because even though 2 girls ordered the same day, the one dress came 1-2 months later and I am guessing the fabric was a different dye lot. But I cant remember anyone noticing on the day of the wedding so I guess its fine.
ceremony: heinz chapel: A+
not too much to dislike about heinz chapel, its beautiful and in my opinion, totally worth the money. wendy lau was our coordinator and she was so sweet, i loved working with her. our organist was john cannon and we also had another coordinator, amy. everything was smooth and we were lucky to get a spot there!
reception: The Lexus Club at PNC Park: A+
People were always surprised when I said we were having our reception at PNC Park. They wouldn’t be if they saw this room, and those that did were so impressed with everything. We made the completely right decision to have it here since we both love baseball, but it’s not overwhelming with baseball in the room. We decided to have a little bit of a baseball theme (section numbers instead of table numbers, bridal party wore baseball caps for intros, we had a huge baseball bat for people to sign as our guestbook, favors were popcorn. Nothing too over the top though). We had our cocktail hour in the Pittsburgh baseball club level, which probably was the best thing about the whole night, since it looks out onto the field into the skyline. Everyone loved seeing the city, especially since most of our guests were from out of town. You can choose to have your cocktail hour in the lexus club as well, and the bar area there is beautiful, but I wouldn’t miss out on having skyline views, since the lexus club is all enclosed with no views of the field. The bridal party arrived early and they took us to the field so we could get pictures in the dugout and on the warning track, and then they had some food for us ready in the press room so that we wouldn’t have to eat at the cocktail hour and we could talk to guests the whole time. also, the food was delicious. We had a seated dinner with choice of salmon, steak, or chicken, and all 3 were so good, much better on the day of the wedding than at the tasting even! We went with crème brulee for dessert, since there is a dessert included in the price you pay per person, and we didn’t love any of the cakes they offered. They also do a chocolate chip cookie and ice cream which was our second choice. Anyway I cant say enough good things, it was amazing.
Nails: Capristo Salon, Shadyside. A+
I called around the city and Capristo was basically the only place that could do more than one mani at a time, and I had 6 people who wanted their nails done. It ended up being a great choice, they were really nice to all of us, they could do 3 at a time so while 3 of us went the other 3 sat with us and we were able to chat and they had coffee, water, etc for us to drink. I also went there the day before and had a pedicure done just for me and it was a great experience as well. Rose did my nails both of the days, but apparently she does everything there, and I would recommend her!
Makeup: Kate Marshall, Airbrushing Beauty: ….
Ok ladies, you decide here. I had a trial done by Kate at her house and she did a great job and I loved the makeup. A few days before the wedding I emailed her to confirm we were good to go and let her know to come to the hotel at 9 am. She said great see you then. So the morning of the wedding, I checked my email at 8 AM to find her phone number so I could text her the hotel room number, and I see an email in my inbox from 7AM that said she couldn’t find my phone number and that she had the flu and couldn’t come. She said she would refund my $25 deposit that I paid her months ago to reserve the date. So yes, 2 hours before she is supposed to show up, she emails me to tell me she isn’t coming, with no suggestions of other people to take her place. She was also supposed to do the makeup for my MOH. So, in my opinion this is completely unprofessional, as she could have called the hotel since she knew where we were staying since that is where she was supposed to come and let me know. what if I hadn’t checked my email? So i emailed her my address the next day for her to send me back my deposit and i got it 3 weeks later.
Makeup: Beth at Capristo salon in Shadyside: A+
After the situation earlier in the morning, I called Capristo and explained the situation to see if they could fit me in that morning. They called Beth to come in even though her shift didn’t start until 1 and she came in to do my makeup at 930 that morning. Not only was I extremely grateful she was able to come in early for that, but she did an amazing job, I liked it even better than my trial. Everything ended up working out for the best but that hour where I wasn’t sure what was going to happen was really crazy.
Favors: Pittsburgh Popcorn Co. (Strip District Location): A+
We bought bulk bags of Chicago mix (cheddar and caramel mixed, so good!). they told us that one bulk bag has 90 cups, which is 30 servings, so we bought 6 bags for 180 people. They must have given us a ton extra because even though we measured the 3 cup servings into individual bags, we had a whole bag left over. The popcorn is delicious, they helped us carry the bags to the car (much heavier than you would expect!), and they gave us a whole roll of the Pittsburgh popcorn stickers that they use on their bags so we could put them on our bags.
Photographer: Randi Voss Photography: A+
Randi is amazing, professional, talented, friendly, and all around awesome. I know her price is on the higher end of what people want to pay, but she is worth every penny and more. I can’t say enough good things about her. We did an engagement shoot and she helped us feel comfortable being photographed, and the pictures came out beautifully. Then before the wedding she was great about being in contact with us to figure out pictures and locations and things like that. Your photographer is basically a part of your wedding party since they are with you through the whole day, and we were fortunate to have Randi and her team be with us because they are just cool people to be around. Plus the pictures are just beyond words. I haven’t even seen them all yet but some of the ones I have seen have just amazed me, that she was able to catch that one moment at the perfect time. anyway I would recommend her to anyone anytime. Also, we did the shotbox, and I think that was also well worth the extra expense because our guests had a great time with it.
DJ: Mark Zini Productions: A+
Mark was great to work with. We met with him about a month before the wedding and talked through the schedule, he helped us figure out the order of everything, and we talked about the type of music we wanted to have played during each part of the night. He had an assistant working with him the day of the wedding. They had music playing during the cocktail hour which was in a completely separate room than the reception, but this was not a problem for him. He was great announcing everything (he has a booming voice!) got everyone’s names right, and kept the party moving. The dance floor was full the whole night and we got many compliments about how good people thought he was. I would highly recommend.
Cake: Prantl’s in Shadyside: A+
Prantl’s is delicious, so that was a no brainer. We actually only ordered a top tier for my husband and I to cut and eat since there was dessert served with our meal. But then we ordered 200 of their “cups” which are like between the size of a mini cupcake and a regular cupcake and covered with frosting. So delicious. I was able to get in contact with them whenever I had to, and all the payments could be made online which was very convenient for us.
Cookies for the cookie table: Cookies by Rachel: A+
We had mostly out of town guests at the wedding, so I know you’re supposed to get family to make the cookies for the cookie table but we didn’t feel like it was really an option for us. So we ordered cookies from Cookies by Rachel, she works out of her house in the south hills. She made me a sample box so I could taste them before buying, and then she made us 800 cookies and delivered them to PNC park for us. She doesn’t tray them, so we had to do that ourselves, but it wasn’t too big of a deal, and the cookies were all delicious. She was also willing to change the filling in certain cookies for us. I would use her again for sure if I have any event where I want to order cookies.
Transportation: Tortorice Limousine: A+
Reasonably priced, they called me to get details worked out in advance, the limo was a few minutes early for us and the driver was very friendly and helped us in/out of the limo. He also knew where he was going and we didn’t have to give directions, which I have heard has happened to people! There was champagne, water, and beer for us to drink. All around great choice.
So, once again, almost 100% great vendors, any questions feel free to ask! good luck and happy planning!