Hello Knotties!!!! Haven't posted in a while but when I was actively visiting the community the reviews were my favorite part! Super excited to be able to write my own!!!! I am missing Pittsburgh terribly 
(we live in the Poconos now). Planning a wedding from OOT with a fiance who travels for a living was definitely difficult (as well as emotional, not having my mom and friends around) but we pulled it off! The fall semester started already so our honeymoon plans will be put off until next year! Hope all is well in wedding planning land!!!!
Gown: David’s Bridal: A
I went to DB’s on McKnight Rd. I was fortunate as I knew our
sales rep, Jamie, from volunteering together. She made it a very fun
experience! She no longer works there but anytime I went back to purchase misc
items the staff was always super nice.
I did not utilize their alterations though so I cannot comment on that.
Bridesmaid dresses: Candalina Bridal: A
I selected this shop because they carried the designer I
wanted and were the ONLY ones (out of 3) that responded to any inquiries I made
about pricing (I ended up moving 5 hours away and didn’t have the time to go to
multiple stores). They allowed me to bring champagne and even had glasses
waiting for us. Unfortunately, after seeing the fabric in person, it was just
too heavy for an outdoor summer wedding.
I can’t remember our sales reps name, but she was very friendly and made
us feel comfortable (as did anyone we came into contact with there). The girls
dresses arrived on time and the color turned out beautifully. We did not utilize
their alterations.
Guys attire: Tuxedo Junction: A+
Our guys wore suspenders and bow ties from Etsy (no jackets
or vests) but they did purchase their pants, shirts and shoes from Tuxedo
Junction in Robinson. They were so accommodating as we live out of town, and
made arrangements if necessary, to have items ready at multiple locations since
our gmen were a bit scattered. Also because our venue was in Butler they had
one man’s attire ready at the location in Wexford, which is much closer. My
husband was the main contact but whenever they couldn’t reach him (he travels
for a living) they called me and were wonderful to work with.
Invites: Ruff House Art: A+
I researched invitations for weeks!!!! Ruff House Art is
based out of Kansas I believe. The quality of their work is superior! They
happily worked with me through all of the edits and our final product was more
beautiful than I could have imagined. We didn’t have a large budget for our
wedding, but I knew I wanted more unique invites, so we spent a few extra
dollars and it was well worth it!
Officiant: We had a personal friend from California
officiate our wedding.
DJ: Michael Rey of Angel Productions: A
I met Mike through my previous employer, and while I had no
solid feedback from his past experience, I really liked the idea of personally
knowing as many vendors as I could, so I took a chance. He gave us a great
deal, but even seeing his regular pricing, was great compared to other DJs I
researched. I gave him a ton of “must play” songs, haha, I think too many. Some
of the songs I really wanted to dance to were played while I was still
“mingling” so I asked him to play some of them again later. His communication
was great regarding song requests from guests (as I had told him only the BP was
allowed to make requests). He had a great attitude, very personable. He had never been to Succop before and
arrived early to make sure he could set up a smaller speaker at our ceremony
location. I am very glad that I booked him!
Make up: Clare of Ciel Cosmetics: A++
Seriously, could Clare be anymore awesome?! I had her do my trial the morning of my
bridal shower (which I cried several times at and then had to drive 5 hours
home) and my makeup still looked ravishing!!! She came to us the day of the
wedding and me, my girls, and my mom all looked fantastic the day of. She is
worth every single penny!!!!!!!
Hair: I had a personal friend from a salon in New Castle, PA
do our hair!
Cookies: Lori Hites: A+
As I’ve said previously, we moved 5 hours away, and all the
family on my side lives in Michigan and Ohio. I asked our caterer if he could
recommend anyone for our cookie table. Lori was super easy to work with and
very reasonably priced ($5/dozen). We didn’t get to eat any cookies the day of,
but thankfully my MIL snagged some for us and they were fantastic!!!!!! She
even coordinated with our caterer and dropped them off at the venue for us.
Cake & Cupcakes: Bella Christies: A++
I heard of Bella Christie’s while doing a charity function
for work about 2 years ago. My husband and I loved doing our tasting, they were
so nice and laid back. The cake was pretty simple, 2 tiers w/raspberry and strawberry
layers inside, 2 edible flowers, icing pearl strands, and lace around the
bottom…. It was so much more beautiful than I could have imagined!!!!!! And
veryyyy delicious (even a week later!!!!) We opted to serve mini cupcakes
instead of cake. They had a TON of flavors to pick from, it was hard to narrow
it down!!!!! While we only got to sample a few afterwards, we got lots of
feedback that they were delicious!
Accommodations: Days Inn Butler: C+
This is important for anyone getting married in Butler as
they have very few hotels in the area! I’ve never been there before so wasn’t
quite sure what to expect. I got feedback from several people that they were
told all the rooms were booked, they couldn’t do first floor rooms, or they had
to book 2 days. While I’m not sure what really happened, as our friends/family
could have easily not mentioned our room block when calling etc… I did notice
that you have to talk to the sales manager to get reliable information. The
employees at the front desk would give us different information whenever we
spoke to them. But everything worked out for our guests and their rooms and
they handed out our welcome bags for us.
The rooms …. Ugh, the rooms are so outdated. I wasn’t
expecting 5 star rooms, but I thought they’d be a little nicer than they were.
I think they spent all of their budget on the sports bar inside the hotel. The
bar was the saving grace for this hotel. Not knowing what it was like, I
expected a hole in the wall but wow, it is the complete opposite. The bar is
stocked, there are leather sofas, lots of tables, games, big screens, etc. It
was also wayyyyy more packed than I thought it would be! Thankfully everyone
had fun after the rehearsal and after the wedding. The only thing that sucked
big time was being able to hear everyone walking and being obnoxious in the halls! It was a nuisance but we survived.
Transportation: Shamrock: B
The free shuttle service via the Days Inn is a joke. They
use the Butler Tourism shuttles and I had so much miscommunication the year
prior to the wedding. Instead of
using their shuttle for our guests we just used it to get the WP to the venue
earlier in the day. My MIL booked a party limo bus for our guests. This was way
more flexible than using the hotel shuttle. We had the limo for 2 hours prior
to the ceremony and 2 hours after the ceremony. Everything was fine until…. the
limo bus FORGOT to pick the WP up afterwards (which we had communicated about
prior)! They took the guests back fine but then didn’t come back! We had to
call and half an hour later it came back for us.
Okay, now for the good stuff 
Florist: Gidas Flowers (Oakland): A
Lori and Carole were so awesome to work with. The only
reason they don’t get an A+ is because they’re so expensive! I had two
different types of centerpieces: bird cages for half of the tables and a
collection of 3 mason jars for the other half (which I had to supply myself and
will probably be posting for sale soon). They were stunning! Our bouquets
turned out great as well. I had a few metal appliqués I wanted on mine and my 2
MOH’s bouquets that I forgot to give them! Well Carole arrived with the proper
tools and was able to fasten them the day of. They were so nice and easy to
communicate with through the entire process.
Caterer: Medure’s: A+++
Medure’s is the exclusive caterer for Succop (among other
venues) and I was delighted to hear that as I went to HS in New Castle (where
they are located) and I knew how delicious their sauce was. Our buffet
included: chicken francoise, homemade cavatelli with red sauce, grilled steak
tips w/mushrooms and onions, eggplant rollatini, roasted red and sweet potatoes,
and long beans. OMG. DELICIOUS. They literally grill the steak tips RIGHT THERE
ON SITE (the steak is an extra charge though). And the eggplant rollatini is
just something out of this world. They served two butler passed hor d’eourves
for cocktail hour but we didn’t get to sample any of those. They also had a bar
set up on the patio next to the house for cocktail hour, which is so cute (you
supply your own alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages).
We had a ton of leftovers, but because we are OOT, we only
got to bring home a few small containers. Even 2 days later, the steak and
cavats were just heavenly. Not only is Pete a dream to work with, his catering
manager, Kim, was just as awesome. If you book a venue that has Medure’s as
their caterer—you are in for a treat. And if you have the chance to bring in
your own, I highly recommend them. My BF is getting married at the White Barn
next year and I cannot wait to have more of their food!
Photographers: Palermo Photo (e-pics only): A++
Maria is awesome! We purchased a Groupon for our e-pic
session and they turned out great! Maria is super awesome to work with and we
would have went with her for our wedding photos but we had our hearts set on
Hot Metal Studio.
Photographers: Hot Metal Studio: A+++
I miss them. Is that weird? Tiffany and Jonathan are SO
INCREDIBLY AWESOME that by the end of the night I felt as if they were our long
time friends. They went over and above throughout the day and I couldn’t
imagine not having them there. While I have not seen the photos yet I am 200%
confident they are going to be amazing. Just take a look at their previous
work, sheer epicness!!!!!! A few friends commented after “your photographers
were everywhere!” GOOD! I cannot wait to see what moments they captured that my
crazy family faux-tographers didn’t, haha! I am currently trying to think of
another reason to book them!
Venue: Succop Conservancy (Butler): A+++
I spent more time than any sane person should researching
venues. And it all paid off. Even if Springwood had been in our budget I still
would have opted for Succop. The only barely minor flaw is it’s location but
once you walk onto the property you don’t care if you had to travel 2 hours to
get there. We ended up with about 120 guests. We had our ceremony in the herb
garden, cocktail hour in the Marcraig House and reception under the pavilion.
The girls got ready on the 2nd floor of the house and the guys got
ready in the cottage that is also on the property. Davlin, their awesome
coordinator, had told us she wasn’t sure how well the arbor in the herb garden
was going to hold up over the summer. So my FIL built a new one and we donated
it to them. The previous one was
still there so we used it as our entrance into the ceremony space. We are not very religious but something
or someone was definitely on our side that day as the weather was ab-so-lut-ely
perfect. And NO BUGS! Whew! Also,
I read elsewhere people were worried about the ducks and their droppings… they
set it up so the ducks now congregate near the pond on the opposite side of the
venue so we had zero issues there.
They hold weddings Fri, Sat, and Sunday so it makes for odd
rehearsal times and morning of setting up. We got lucky as the wedding
scheduled the day before ours cancelled (yikes) so we were able to set everything up
ahead of time. I wish I could live inside that house it’s so beautiful. I went a
little crazy decorating it and had many compliments on how personalized it was.
But you could totally get away with very minimal décor inside because of what
is already there. There is more
than enough space for the BP to get ready upstairs. Lots of natural light for
hair and makeup as well.
You can have your ceremony in the herb garden or in front of
the house. We opted for the herb garden because of the gorgeous weeping willow
adjacent to it. It was pretty sunny so they set up some chairs in the back,
under some shade, for a few elderly folks. The nearby airport makes for some
annoying overhead noise but it barely lasted a minute. We walked out as Mr and Mrs to the chorus
of Ho Hey by the Lumineers and it was epic.
We set aside an hour for cocktail hour while we did our
photographs. There are SO MANY good areas for pictures that we couldn’t even
get to them all in an hour! Davlin
will work with you on how many tables you’d like and where you want them set
up. The “cookie table” room has the most gorgeous ceilings. And four giant French
doors leading onto an adorable patio.
We had some tulle hung on the pavilion beams and some
vintage looking hanging fans hung above the dance floor. But honestly, it’s so
pretty, you don’t need much. We had custom corn hole boards, a DIY photo booth,
and they have a picnic table next to a bon fire and we brought the ingredients
for s’mores (they provide the skewers). A few times while we were mingling, I
stopped and looked around, people were everywhere! It was sooooo great to see
them exploring the property and not just sitting at their tables all night.
Everyone went on and on about how amazing the venue was! And
the smart phone pictures that I have seen are incredible! I also have to add how
helpful the Conservancy staff is!!!! Penny, I believe her name was, was on top
of everything! The entire day went
on perfectly and I know it’s because of these amazing people (because I didn’t
have a clue what I was doing lol).