Two Roads Diverged in Wedding Planning...

...and I am not sure what to do.

Remember how I was super excited about the florist I met in Pittsburgh? And how all that was left was to dot the i's and cross the t's before she would officially be the person to bring my roses-and-dahlias-and-jewel-tones bouquet ideas to life?




Rich colors! Lots of petals! Waaaaaaant!

That was before the final proposal came in at $200 over budget. I asked if there was anything we could do to bring the price down, but she said our only options were to either start from scratch on the plan for the bridesmaids' bouquets and drastically change their overall look, or to start eliminating things entirely from the proposal. Given that the only things we asked for in the first place were bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages, and no one who was originally listed to receive flowers wants to forgo them, there's nothing we can cut.

I know $200 over budget doesn't sound like that much, but when we were only planning to spend $700 in the first place, it's a pretty big jump above where we hoped to be. I'm very tempted to say, "oh, what's another $200, it's just a drop in the bucket!", but I also worry that it's easy to drop an extra one, two, three hundred dollars here and there and suddenly be thousands of dollars over the budget you had originally planned for.

So as far as I can tell, I have three options: suck it up and pay the extra money, start over on the bouquet plan, or (sigh) start from scratch and find a new florist altogether.

What would you do?

Fab Dresses for Fab Bridesmaids

Like most brides planning out-of-town weddings, I have learned to seize opportunities in which I can accomplish big chunks of tasks. As Mom Octopus is an elementary school teacher, MOH/Sister Lauren is a college student, and I am a graduate student, we all had two weeks off for the December holidays. I gleefully pounced on and claimed several days of their time off, and scheduled us all for another jam-packed road trip to Pittsburgh!

One of the major tasks for this trip was finding dresses for my glorious bridesmaids! I have known for a long time that I wanted everyone to choose their own dresses, as I have six ladies, all with different taste. They also vary widely in height and figure, and the thought of picking out one dress that would flatter them all equally and make everyone comfortable and happy gave me the cold sweats. Popular opinion was that we should stick to one major retailer and have everyone pick a dress in the same shade. Also, as three of my bridesmaids are college students and one is a mother who is paying a mortgage, I wanted to be as cost-conscious as possible. With those criteria in mind, MOH Lauren, Bridesmaid Clara, Bridesmaid Erica, Mom Octopus and I all rolled out to Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal.

At Alfred Angelo, the girls tried on a whole heap of different dresses. We realized pretty quickly that the top contenders all had a chiffon overlay; Mom O also liked the "matchiness" of having everyone in the same fabric and color, rather than just color. By eliminating all the non-chiffon dresses and combining everyone's favorites, we figured out four different options that we thought would make everyone, even the non-present bridesmaids, happy.


MOH/Sister Lauren models her favorite dress. I like this picture because Mom Octopus and I, reflected in the mirror, look like the panel of America's Next Top Model.


Expert modeling of another contender.

Then, we headed right across the street to David's Bridal, where we were met with icy and unwelcoming customer service. The store was almost completely empty, but we were told that there were not enough dressing rooms or attendants to accommodate us, and if we wanted to try anything on, we would need to make an appointment to come back in several hours. We did look around and combed through the racks a little bit, but didn't find anything special enough to make us want to come back again in a few hours. Alfred Angelo it was!

So, in one breezy and painless afternoon, we determined our bridesmaids' dresses! After each girl looked over the options, three girls picked one dress, two girls picked another, and MOH Lauren picked a third. They'll be wearing Alfred Angelo's "claret" color, which is a rich cranberry red.


(Source.)

Pretty!!! I'm going to continue the theme of "you pick, because you're all fabulous and have great taste" by having them choose their own gold shoes and gold jewelry. I really think it's going to look great.

What are your bridesmaids going to wear? Was the choice an easy or a tough one?

Hotel Block: FAIL

Once we locked down Heinz Chapel as our ceremony site, I assumed that we would create our block of hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn directly across the street.



See that awesome location? Less than a five-minute walk to Heinz Chapel! Also, it's a very, very easy walk to many great attractions in the lively Oakland/University of Pittsburgh area, including the University's main building, the Cathedral of Learning, the super-awesome Carnegie Museums of Art and History, and lots of great, busy bars and restaurants, including the Holy Grail of Pittsburgh foods, Primanti Brothers' sandwiches:


Fluffy Italian bread, tomatoes, cole slaw, grilled deli meat, melty provolone cheese, and a big handful of FRENCH FRIES. I get mine with roast beef and nix the tomatoes and slaw for optimal artery destruction. I have literally dreamt of these. (Source.)

Earlier this week, I called the Holiday Inn to inquire about blocking off our rooms (a month ahead of schedule, according to my wedding planning book, no less!), only to discover that the Society for Botanical Artists (?!?!?!) is having a convention in Oakland that week (?!?!?!?) and already scored all the rooms. Mental reaction: "*#!%&!!!"

So, okay, I am a resilient bride. I rebounded, and decided to go instead for the Marriott very close to our reception site, the Children's Museum, which is about fifteen minutes away from Oakland. The overall neighborhood is not quite as fun and easy to navigate as Oakland, but it's still cool. It provides easy access to the Warhol Museum, a few bars, the Carnegie Science Center, and Pittsburgh's two major sports venues, PNC Park (home of the Pirates) and Heinz Field (home of the Steelers).



I was really optimistic about this choice, and then I spoke to the sales person on the phone. Surpriiiiiise! Given that the hotel provides immediate access to Heinz Field--home of the Steelers--and my wedding is in late September--the opening of football season--they will not reserve a block of rooms for us until after the Steelers' schedule for 2010 is released. In April. Five months before the wedding. And if there is indeed a home game that weekend, not only will they not provide a discounted rate to our guests, they will in fact jack the rates up so high our guests' noses will bleed. Mental reaction: "*#!%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

All is not lost--these aren't the only two hotels in Pittsburgh, obviously. But they ARE the only two hotels that are in such easy, convenient locations to either the ceremony site or the reception site, and also provide a nice surrounding atmosphere for guests to partake in if they so choose. Other hotels in Oakland are a rather annoying distance (as in, not at all walking distance) away from Heinz Chapel, and definitely not in the midst of the fun of the University neighborhood. There aren't really any other hotels on the North Shore, where the reception is. The next closest one is in a whole other neighborhood, over a bridge.

So now I'm not sure what to do. What would you do? Suck it up and wait for the Steelers' spring schedule and keep fingers crossed we can score the best hotel, or book something that's not in a convenient location to either place? Maybe find out the cancellation policies on the less-desirable hotels? Any Pittsburgh brides out there? I'd love some other suggestions!

I Will Have to Get My Fill of Twirly Dresses Elsewhere

Flower girls (and their outfits) are completely adorable, right?




Tutu Princess and Sassy Face found here.


(Source.)


JCREW SRSLY STOP IT!! You know gold is one of my wedding colors!!

However, despite all the cute twirly dress potential, we won't have any little kids bringin' the precious to our wedding party. The reason behind this decision is actually a good thing: we are lucky enough to have an overabundance of candidates!

Check out this laundry list: Mr. Octopus is the doting uncle of four beautiful nieces, ranging in age from three to nine. I have a five-year-old cousin who, in addition to being cute beyond belief, is also the fanciest girly-girl in town. Rounding out the potential flower girl pool is Bridesmaid Clara's gorgeous daughter, who will be just shy of her second birthday by the time the wedding rolls around. Grand total? Six children who would all make outstanding flower girls.

Now, you may disagree, but in my opinion, six flower girls is liiiiiittle bit of overkill. I feel like they'd look like a (cute) small army coming down the aisle. Also, more practically speaking, there is no way we could manage to fit six pomanders/flower petal baskets/whatever into the floral budget.


If I could throw some math at you, an average quote of forty-five dollars for something like this x 6 = Hell. No.

Mr. O and I were absolutely not willing to pick one or two of the girls and leave the rest out, so we made the call: no kids in the wedding party at all. I think a few people were a little disappointed at first, but everyone was very understanding and supportive of our rationale, so it all worked out okay.

The good news is, we are inviting children to the wedding--and there are a lot of children on our guest list--so hopefully we will make up for no cute-flower-girl photos with lots of excited-kids-dancing photos:




(Sources here and here.)

Did you decide to have flower girls (or ring bearers), or not? What was the rationale for your choice?

The Weddings That Weren't

So before Mr. Octopus and I were "officially" engaged, I, ahem, occasionally partook in a bit of pre-planning. I didn't come to any major decisions--no purchases, no deposits, nothing irreversible--but I did indulge in a fair bit of the fun, fluffy stuff. I looked at flowers, thought about colors, researched photographers and venues. Because of that, I was becoming more and more certain, convinced, absolutely positive, that I knew exactly what I wanted for the look and feel of our wedding to be. Once the planning really got underway, it was going to be smoooooth sailing!

Sigh.

Now that a lot of the big decisions have been made and the little-detail-planning is the name of the game, I'd say my ideas for the general aesthetic of the wedding have gone through two distinct transformations before landing where they are now (which is the final version, fo realz!). Wanna see the weddings I'm not having?

Wedding #1

Phipps Conservatory, botanical drawing, invitations, cake, bouquet.

My first idea was based on a venue in Pittsburgh that I love: Phipps Conservatory. It's the stunning building pictured on this board, and it's a big, fabulous garden center. When I was really hoping to land this place, my ideas revolved around, obviously, a garden theme. Sage green, cream, gold, dark pink....botanical illustrations....little twinkly lights and candles.....this plan was cut tragically short when I learned that Phipps's rental fee was substantially more than we were able to pay.

Wedding #2

Hogwarts-y hall, book centerpieces, quill, book invitations, calligraphy invites.

When the garden plan was scrapped, my next concept was kind of a "cozied up in an old library" idea. I tossed around ideas like stacked antique books under the centerpieces, calligraphy, a vintage typewriter for a guestbook. I would look at pictures like these and think, yes! The library at Hogwarts! Edgar Allen Poe! Leather! Dark wood! Fantastic!

Two problems here: one, I couldn't find a venue that would blend with a theme like that. Two, while spending an evening of celebration holed up in a library for six hours sounds absolutely perfect to an EPIC NERD like myself, the inescapable fact is that libraries are kind of....solemn. Quiet. "Victor Hugo scribbling on parchment by candlelight," which is, I swear to you, a phase that actually ran through my mind several times, does not exactly scream "festive." Or "party." Or "Mr. Octopus," at all.

At that point, I had to have a bit of a talk with myself. I realized I was getting way too invested in having a distinct and identifiable theme and motif in my wedding, and it was holding me back, not helping me. While I knew that having colors and a style in mind was helpful in choosing flowers, invitations, and other details, I was too wrapped up in it. I was losing sight of the fact that I am getting married, not set-designing a local theater production.

Next, I'll show you the final direction our wedding is going.

Did you have a hard time deciding how you wanted your wedding to look? How did you ultimately make the decision?

Photographer: Found!

You know how, when you read lists of tips on how to stick to your wedding budget, they often suggest that you prioritize the few elements that are most important to you, allocate "splurge" money for those, and be willing to compromise on other aspects? Mr. Octopus and I did that, and the elements of our wedding that were "big ticket" items were these: Heinz Chapel, the Children's Museum, and catering.

You know what that leaves out of the "splurge" category? Photography.

I know a lot of people's feelings are basically that pictures are the only real, tangible thing to take with you after a wedding is over, and the memories they preserve put them into the "worth a big investment" category. I can totally get behind that sentiment. On the other hand, as I'm sure everyone is aware, photography can get just mind-blowingly expensive. Photography really is important to both my groom and I, and we really did want beautiful pictures, but sticking to a budget also means making some very tough choices. The initial photographers I liked, many of whom would have claimed 30% of our entire budget, were out.

So, I initially set a budget of $1500 for a photographer. I'll spare you all the gory details, but after a month and a half of devoted research, the results were grim. We could not find anyone in that price range whose work we felt good about. True, we had decided that we couldn't spare a huge chunk of the budget on photography, but we also couldn't justify spending $1500 on people whose portfolios gave us nothing but lukewarm "that miiiiiiight be okay" types of feelings. It's not really a smart compromise if you're totally dissatisfied with the results, you know? We decided to shuffle the budget around a bit, and added some more money to the photography allocation.

And guess what? With a little bit more wiggle room in the budget and another few weeks of combing the Internet, the clouds parted, the sun shone through, and we found an absolutely fabulous photographer whose skills I am incredibly, incredibly excited to have booked for our wedding. I feel so lucky! We found an artist whose gorgeous work will fit in our budget AND live up to every one of our hopes about the pictures we'll take away from our wedding day.

Check it. The photographer we picked is great with colors.....



....crisp details....




....portraits.....



....and candids. Awesome.




All photos credited to Corey Ann.

Corey Ann Photography: gorgeous pictures, a super-responsive and friendly artist behind the lens, a thorough package that offered everything we need, and landing precisely within our target budget. SHWINNGGG!

How did you choose your photographer? How much of your budget did you choose to set aside for it?

The B-Word

Budget, that is. I've said before that I am an unabashed wedding enthusiast, and I will admit that going on flights of fancy about having every single pretty thing Martha Stewart Wedding dangles in front of my eyes is something I have indulged in once or twice (a day). However, that is not the world I live in.


Right. That's more like it.

When Mr. Octopus and I seriously started talking about "wedding" as in "fall 2010" rather than "wedding" as in "someday," I decided to start doing a little casual research--and then promptly had to be revived with a pair of electric current paddles. I had no idea what those dreamy ideas that had been parading through my head actually cost. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Wedding sticker shock is no joke! Because of that, though, I'd really like to help other brides avoid the shock and awe that I felt upon discovering the price tag on this stuff. So, I intend to be completely transparent about our budget.



There it is: twenty to twenty-three thousand dollars, depending on some wiggle room from his grandmother and from us.

Figuring out this part of it was actually quite painless. Both sets of parents offered us a flat sum of what was feasible for each of them to contribute, and he and I calculated what we could put in without going into major credit card debt. I did have a slight moment of bafflement as to how the logistics of it would actually work, but my mom came up with a clever and easy solution: I'm keeping track of all the expenses in a spreadsheet, and whenever a payment arises, I color-code who took care of it. Once each contributor (and their assigned color) reaches the number they offered, they're done paying for things.

Here's what we're trying to whip up with that budget: most of the major elements of a traditional wedding--a Saturday evening ceremony and reception with a full dinner, dancing, and drinking--for about one hundred and twenty people. It looks like it's going to be a pretty tight squeeze, but not impossible. In fact, I kind of enjoy the challenge of it. I wasn't kidding about really loving a good session of detailed planning ahead and organizing, which this definitely requires.

The hard part, for me, has been the emotions involved. If you let your head get too far into what's "normal" for the wedding industry at large, a wedding on my budget can sometimes start to seem really modest. But let's get real: twenty thousand dollars would pay off nearly all of my student loans. It would pay my rent for years. It would buy me a very solid car. In short: it is a substantial amount of cash. So sometimes I find myself panicking, thinking, "OMG what in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks were we thinking?! Are we crazy to spend this much money?" I have definitely, definitely had moments of self-doubt and guilt.


This is the first thing that comes up when you do a Google Image search for "feeling guilty."

But you know what? The money here is a significant expense for everyone involved, but (very thankfully) not a hardship. We are all doing what is affordable, reasonable, and possible for ourselves. I think that's really the key, because some people spend lots more than we do, and some people spend lots less. At the end of the day, everyone will be just as married as everyone else. As long as your wedding plans--whatever the price tag--work for you, and make you really happy, then it's a good choice.

So, I'm learning to not feel guilty about my wedding. It's something that both my groom and I really want, with our whole hearts. I want to invite our loved ones to our favorite city and have them witness us saying our vows and promising our lives to each other. And then I really want to treat them, and ourselves, to an awesome and memorable celebration (which it is TOTALLY going to be, and I can't wait!!).

I am having a twenty(ish) thousand dollar wedding, and it's okay.

What kinds of things did the whole budgeting process bring up for you? What's been easy, and what's been a struggle?

And Speaking of Colors....

I remember exactly when I realized that I'd be really into the idea of a non-diamond engagement ring. Mr. Octopus and I were in the midst of a four-day vacation to San Francisco to celebrate the end of my first year of teaching (and any teacher could tell you it really is something to celebrate!). We were poking around an antique shop in the Castro when I spotted it: a display case of antique gemstone rings.

I basically reacted like this:


but without the diaper. (Source.)

Mr. O and I really weren't talking marriage at all yet then, but I even said something like, "if you're ever thinking about asking me to marry you, I want a ring like that!"

Fast forward two years, and we had both realized that marriage was indeed in the cards for us. Mr. Octopus was super-nervous about choosing the right engagement ring, and asked for some guidance, which I was more than happy to provide. After some research, my requests were: aquamarine, white gold, squarish-shaped, with a diamond halo.

Here's what he came up with:






Please forgive this utterly non-artsy photography.

I basically fainted and died when he presented me with this ring. It is exactly what I had dreamed of, and I love it to (maybe) a slightly scary degree. It means so much to me that he took the time to save his money, research his options, and choose something that was exactly what I wanted.

Mostly, I've gotten lots of really kind compliments on my left finger jewelry. Unfortunately, though, I've also discovered that not everybody reacts with the googly eyes that I got upon seeing my not-quite-traditional ring. I've gotten comments that have ranged from a barely-disguised-as-polite "Oh. Well, that's.......pretty" all the way up to a burst of incredulous laughter, followed by, "do you like that?!"

At first, I felt really insulted when people made rude remarks, but you know what? Their problem, and their bad manners, not mine. This ring was an incredibly generous gift from the man who loves me, and it's a symbol of the lifelong commitment we're preparing to make to each other. Nothing anybody says could diminish what this ring means to me.

So here's what I've learned from my non-diamond-engagement-ring-having experience:
A big diamond ring is a legitimate engagement ring.
A small diamond ring is a legitimate engagement ring.
A gemstone ring is a legitimate engagement ring.
An unadorned metal band is a legitimate engagement ring.

A twisty tie can be an engagement ring, a rubber band can be an engagement ring, or (as I sometimes told Mr. O when I was waiting not-very-patiently for him to propose), a Ring Pop can be an engagement ring. Heck, you don't need an engagement ring at all. Whatever you and your fiance choose to symbolize the love, commitment, and partnership between the two of you is all you need to be engaged. If you want a big ol' diamond, that's fine! If you want nothing, that's cool too! Rock whatever you want to symbolize your commitment, and rock it proudly. Don't let anyone else's judgments get you down. The only people who get to assign a meaning to your ring are you and your future spouse.

How did you choose your engagement ring? What does it mean to you? Any other non-traditional rings out there?

I Heart Colors

I'm currently a full-time grad student, but in the three years before this, I was a seventh grade English teacher. I don't know if you remember this from your own time as a seventh grader, but twelve-to-thirteen-year-olds are truly ridiculous creatures. Among the many (many, many) funny stories I have from those three years, one of my favorites involves the time all the girls in my third period decided to give each other, and me, nicknames. My new alias was Rainbow, based on the wide variety of brightly-colored shirts I wore to school; my wardrobe was, according to the girls' helpful analysis, especially heavy on red, pink, purple, and blue.

Point being? I really like bright colors, and when it came time to think about ideas for the wedding, my brain went straight towards vibrant shades. I checked with my groom, and to my non-surprise, this was a wedding issue where he had virtually no opinion. His only requests? "No pink and no pastels." No problem!

Now, a confession: in addition to my passion for the stronger shades of the spectrum, I am also a lifelong wedding enthusiast. I've been an eager consumer of wedding photos for as long as I can remember. Lots and lots has changed since my high school days of discussing fantasy weddings with my friends, but the one thing that has remained a constant through all these years is the idea of a dark red bridal bouquet. Something about the contrast with a white gown is just so dramatic and striking to me!

In fact, here's the first photo that really gave me the warm-and-fuzzies when I was starting to actually plan our wedding:


Mrs. Cookie's bouquet: YUMMMMMMM.

The fact that I fell into a swoon at the sight of red bouquets, combined with our wedding date being set for late September, made dark cranberry red an easy choice for the main color. Then, I set to figuring out how to accent that choice. Rather than continuing to talk about it, I'll just show you what I came up with.

Cranberry red...

Bouquet, centerpieces, cake, cranberries, and dress.

...jewel-toned shades of purple...


Wine, beads, plum, everything else.

...with liberal helpings of chocolate brown and gold.

Cake, necklace, reception room, champagne, candles, programs, and hot chocolate.

I'm going for a vibrant, rich, jewel-toned palette. Since these are such strong, dark colors, though, I feel like I may occasionally be walking a fine line between "cozy and rich" and "kinda goth and intense." Just something to check myself on, I guess!

What does everyone else think? Any suggestions?

Reception Venue Hunting

As Pitt alums, Mr. Octopus and I never had a doubt in our minds where our ceremony would be: Heinz Chapel, the chapel affiliated with the University.


(Source.)



(Source.)

Gorrrrrrgeous, huh?! It's extra-special to us, because Mr. O performed in the university chorus here several times every year, and I was his number-one fan out in the audience. Booking Heinz Chapel was our very first wedding decision.

That left us to find a reception venue, and Mom Octopus, MOH/sister Lauren, Mr. O and I took a whirlwind three-day tour of potential places. We visited seven, but ruled out four immediately. Two were at the high end of the price range and were very neutral palettes (meaning they'd cost a lot to decorate), one just didn't have sparks for any of us, and one was great....for someone else. Think cement floors, white walls, exposed pipes....very funky-industrial-urban-loft style. To quote my MOH/sister: "you are not cool or hip enough to have your wedding in this place." 100% true. That left us with three heavyweight contenders:

Contender #1: The Mansion at Maple Heights
This venue is an old mansion from back when Pittsburgh was in the midst of the the robber baron days. It's now been purchased and renovated into an event space.


Source.


Source.

Pros:

• Very private--the house itself is tucked away in a secluded, residential area in a gorgeous neighborhood (Shadyside, for you Pittsburghers). You rent out the entire house and backyard for your event; you really have it all to yourself.
  
• A five-minute drive from our ceremony location.
  
• Also doubles as a bed-and-breakfast, and the upstairs is to die for. You can rent out the whole thing for yourselves and your bridal party, and it comes with a kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks, a giant theater room with video game systems and DVDs, and big, luxurious suites. Amazing co-ed bridal party sleepover! MOH Lauren--whose taste runs toward the finer things in life--was smitten.

I could just see all our groomsmen playing video games in here after the wedding is over. Source.

Cons:

• Completely all-inclusive; they partner with a whole team of vendors. By choosing the Mansion, the caterer, florist, linens, and other rentals are all locked in as well. If you're not that into coordinating vendors or doing a lot of planning, this might be a pro for you, but it was a con for me. I wanted more choice than that.
• I didn't want to split our guests up into different rooms in the house for dinner, so we'd have to rent a tent in the backyard to accommodate them all. Spendy.
  
• This venue is brand new; when I visited, they hadn't actually hosted a wedding yet. I was kind of nervous about their lack of experience.
  
• Only has one single-stall bathroom for guests to use!

Contender #2: The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
Here, you host the cocktail hour in the lobby of the museum, and the reception follows in the Grand Hall.






The exterior, lobby, and Great Hall of the Children's Museum. All the stuff gets cleared out of the Great Hall--but the glowing balloons stay! (Found here, here, and here.)

Pros:

• Coordinator here was very knowledgeable, flexible, and helpful.
• When you see the space all at once, it looks whimsical, fun, and striking, but also doesn't read as childish, especially when set up for an event. Also, has a giant Foucault pendulum that separates the dinner area from the dancing area. Awesome.
  
• Tables and chairs included in the rental fee.
• Does not have a liquor license, meaning that you provide your own alcohol. CHA-CHING!!!!
• MOH/sister's sage opinion once again: "this is very you."

Cons:

• I had an ideal, dream caterer, and the exclusive partner here isn't it. Their partner caterer has a reputation floating around the Internet for being delicious, but expensive.
• Definitely the farthest (and potentially most confusing) drive from the ceremony for guests to make.

Contender #3: Heinz History Center
This is a museum about the history of Pittsburgh, located in my favorite of all Pittsburgh neighborhoods, the Strip District. (As in a strip of markets and specialty food shops. Don't be saucy.)






The exterior of the museum, and some different angles of the reception location. (Found here and here.)

Pros:

• Gorgeous, and distinctly museum-y ambiance made our geeky hearts sing with joy. Warm lighting, brick walls, Pittsburgh memorabilia. Yum.
• The best coordinator of all. Extremely professional, responsive, and prepared, with books upon books of inspiration photos.
  

Cons:

• Uses the same caterer as the Children's Museum--but this place DOES have a liquor license. You have to purchase your open bar from them. Gulp.
• Includes nothing at all--you have to rent every table, chair, fork, and spoon.

Once we sat down and weighed all the pros and cons, the choice was actually pretty easy. We picked the Children's Museum! I am so, so, so excited to host our wedding reception here. I loved the Heinz History Center, but the price just wouldn't work for us. Even though it uses the same caterer as the Children's Museum, it's inclusive of fewer things. The savings was significant enough to basically make the choice for us.

Unfortunately, it also means that my very favorite caterer in all of Pittsburgh--Big Burrito--is out. That was a bit of a disappointment, but you win some and you lose some in wedding planning, I suppose.

Overall, I'd say our venue hunt went really smoothly. It was really helpful to have some different perspectives represented: YAY!!! WEDDING!!! (me), extremely practical (Mom Octopus), moderator between the two (MOH Lauren), and agreeable to whatever (Mr. O). Altogether, I think our questions and ideas were really able to cover all the bases, and we walked away with a good perspective of what each venue could provide.

What was important to you in choosing your reception venue? Did your search go pretty well, or was it a struggle?

The Great Location Debate, Part 2

So, when I last left off, the Steel City Groom and I had our hearts set on a Pittsburgh wedding, but the Steel City Parents were not exactly over the moon about it. As you can see, though, a Pittsburgh wedding it did indeed turn out to be. Why?

Well, this is one of the reasons:


Folks, this is the assortment of Pittsburgh paraphernalia you will find in a quick ten-minute sweep of our apartment. And our apartment ain't big. We seriously, seriously love it there. My groom and I were undeniably, totally, nonstop excited by the prospect of getting married in our favorite city, and my parents felt pretty swayed by how enthusiastic we were.

The real clincher, though, is this place:



Sources: here, here, and here.

Heinz Chapel. This site is the chapel affiliated with our alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. Holy smokes, is it gorgeous or what?! It's special, too; you have to be linked to the University to hold your wedding ceremony there. And not only are we linked to the University, we are linked to this chapel like WHOA. Steel City Groom was a singer in the Heinz Chapel Choir for all four years of our college career, and performed in the chapel several times per year. Since I have been dating him since approximately five minutes after the beginning of our freshman year, I therefore attended every single concert he ever performed in there. We have spent a lot of time in Heinz Chapel together, and we (and especially him) desperately wanted to get married there.

So when we were still hashing out the big details of where and when, my parents asked us to explain, definitively, why this location was so important to us. And the Steel City Groom told them, very sweetly and thoughtfully, "Well, it's basically because this is the only thing I've ever dreamed of as far as a wedding is concerned. I don't really care about almost any of the details, but I always hoped I could get married in Heinz Chapel."

........COME ON. Who wouldn't be convinced by THAT?! And Pittsburgh it was.

Oh, by the way. Still don't believe me about how much my groom loves Heinz Chapel? Exhibit A:



He already owns a miniature ceramic version of it. I rest my case.

What does the wedding location you chose mean to you and your fiance?