Hopeless romantics

Wedding Vendors:

Venue: Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens

Bridal Gown Designer: Hayley Paige from Bridal Beginnings

Brides Shoes: Valentino

Bride’s Jewelry: Joyce’s Fine Jewelry

Engagement Ring and Bands: Joyce’s Fine Jewelry

Dress Alterations and customizations: Bridal Beginnings

Veil, Belt and Hairpiece: Bridal Beginnings

Bridesmaid Gowns: Hayley Paige Occasions from Bridal Beginnings

Bride’s Hair/Makeup: Hair and makeup by Alexis Riggar

Bridal Party Makeup: Alexis Riggar and Caire Basescu

Invitations: Scribe Fine Papers

Florals: Farmers Daughter Flowers

Band: Bachelor Boys Band

Videographer: D.P. Weddings

Venue: Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens

Wedding Cake: Tasty Bakery

Dog Sugar Replica & Grooms Cake: Tasty Bakery

Groom/Groomsman Tuxedos: Ptaks of Uniontown

Caterer: All in Good Taste Productions

Planner: All in Good Taste Productions

Tent: Ambassador Tent Rentals

Rentals: All Occasions and Marbella

Bride and Bridesmaids Robes: Le Rose

Garter: Mirino Bridal

Signature Drink Sign: Carmen CC Design

Mirrored Seating Chart: Brenda Stipanovich at Fast Signs of Uniontown

Vow Booklets: B.Gregory Design

Custom Cardbox: Misty Daydream

Chocolate L Favor: Sarris Candy

Ring box: The Mrs Box

Custom Cufflinks: Jessica Richter Art

OUR STORY

Eric and I met five years ago at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa. I was home from college working my summer job and Eric was interning for the summer. The connection was immediate. And so was our love for seeking adventure! Over the next two years, we remained long distance as I attended West Virginia University and Eric at Penn State University. Yearning to see each other every chance we got! After graduation, seeking more adventures, we moved to Bozeman, MT and had our first apartment together. After a few months in Bozeman, we packed up our belongings and moved to Denver, CO. Where we rescued our dog, Rylie! Although, Denver will always have a special place our hearts, we realized that what we really wanted was to be closer to our families. So after 2 years out West, we decided to relocate back to Pittsburgh! Our journey has been an adventure and it has been nothing short of amazing!

THE PROPOSAL

7.7.2018. Three months after moving back to Pittsburgh, Eric proposed on his 26th Birthday at the wineries in Erie, PA. A perfectly planned weekend with both our parents. The day was “planned” to be a birthday celebration going from winery to winery, but during our second stop at Liberty Winery & Vineyards, Eric had something else in mind. I said I wanted to take a picture in the Vineyard and Eric, seeing this as the perfect opportunity, said he wanted to as well. So we started walking through the Vineyard looking for the best photo spot. What I thought was just going to be a cute picture in the Vineyard turned into him getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him. It was the best day ever!

THE WEDDING DAY

Our wedding was literally a dream come true! It was everything we ever could have imagined and more!

Weather was the one thing I was most stressed about in the days leading up to the wedding. I was not stressed about the flowers or the décor or the set up because I had hand selected the most outstanding Pittsburgh vendors to take care of all the details… but the weather was something I could not control. The ceremony has always planned to be outside. I remember looking at the weather two weeks in advance and it called for rain, I got so stressed. I prayed and prayed that it would change and tried to focus on other things and promised myself that I would not look at it again. The Sunday before the wedding I was at my parents house and my dad had the news on, I saw the weather was coming on next and I was begging my dad to change the channel, he didn’t and the weather guy proceeded to announce the weather for the week… he came to our wedding day and said “Friday is going to be a gorgeous Fall day, with a high of 74 and all sunshine!” The relief that left my body was unimaginable but living in Pittsburgh you still never know what the weather is going to be, so I made my entire family promise to not look at or mention the weather, so we would not jinx it. Fast forward to our wedding day… the weather was absolutely perfect exactly the weather I dreamt for my October wedding. I will never forget the venue event coordinator looking at me and saying, “I think you got the most gorgeous day of this wedding season for your wedding day!”

The ceremony took place outside and it was beautiful, perfect in every single way. I remember standing behind the curtain waiting with my dad for our turn down the aisle. I could see the shadows through the curtains of our bridal party walking past us to walk down the aisle. Bob, our wedding planner, came over and said its show time. My dad grabbed my arm tight, kissed me on the cheek and said here we go, “Smile big”. The bridal march begins playing and they pulled back the curtains for the most magical grand entrance and we start to walk. This entire moment is so special to both, me and Eric. For me, this moment was my favorite of the day. The moment I walked down the aisle locking arms with my dad walking towards the love of my life is a moment I have dreamt of since I was a little girl. It was so magical, I sometimes think I was dreaming when I look back on it. For Eric, this was the moment he first saw me in my wedding dress. He teared up almost immediately and looked at me as if I was the only person in the room. Filled with so much joy and love, we both never stopped smiling the entire day from this moment on.

The next 15 minutes that followed hold some of our all-time favorite memories of the day. When we decided to get married at the botanic gardens we knew we would have to find someone to perform the ceremony… the decision was easy, my Uncle Robin. Someone who had known me since birth and over the last 5 years of being with Eric, they had spent a great deal of time together. It was so exceptional to have him be the one to marry us. During the ceremony, we decided to write our own vows to each other. Listening to what each other wrote was such beautiful moment. Everyone present could feel the love radiating from us. We wrote them in these gorgeous booklets, that we now keep safely in our bed side tables.

We wanted the wedding to be elegant and whimsical, but most importantly have a lot of personal details. Some of my favorite personal details included our dog Rylie, who we are completely obsessed with. We had a signature fall cocktail and named it “The Rylie”, complete with hand drawn photo of her displaying the ingredients! A sugar replica of her holding a trouble towel in her mouth was featured on the grooms cake and a photo of her on the “doggy bags” at the cookie table. It was important that we incorporated her as much as we could because she is such a special part of our life! All the guests are still talking about “The Rylie” signature drink and asking for the recipe!

When it came down to the “first dance” we had a hard time selecting a song to be “the one”, we did not want something that was trending on the radio that a million other couples were dancing to that year. We wanted something that described us as a couple. Only a month before the wedding, I had Spotify on shuffle on in my car and I heard it… a song that truly had meaning in the lyrics, meaning that reflected us. I had never heard it before but I loved it the second I did and so did Eric. We danced to “How long will I love you” by Ellie Golding and our band did a beautiful live version of it. Dancing that first dance together was truly a fairy tale moment. All eye on us while we only had eyes for each other. And then we had my dance with my father… this moment is one I will remember forever, I had such a blast with him. We did a mix of a few songs, starting out in a slow dance and breaking into a choreographed fast dance! My father practiced this every single night the month leading up to the wedding and everything about it was perfect! Our guest went nuts and we had so much fun dancing together.

Everything from the flowers to the food to the decor was absolutely perfect! We will always remember this day and the way we felt on this day. We made an agreement before the big day that we would stay together all night long, even when people are pulling each other different way for photos and hugs, we agreed to stay hand in hand all night long, and I am so happy that we did this. We stayed focused on the true meaning of our wedding day; where two people become one. We look back on our wedding night we have the exact same memories and stories to share. There will never be another day in our lives where all the most important friends and family will all be in the same room again, so we took a moment to step back and take that feeling in. Not a single person who attended our wedding can say that they didn’t feel our love radiating through the entire room. It was truly the best day ever! A dream come true.