The wedding blog post series is here! I have so much wedding content to reveal so be sure you subscribe so you never miss a thing. Today I am going to be sharing the details on our vendors, or the angels of the day and how we chose them. Choosing vendors is actually a lot harder than a thought and now that it’s all over, I realize how important of a decision it is. I hope by the time you are done reading this, you feel more confident and comfortable in your search for vendors.

First of all, congrats to all of my brides-to-be! I have a feeling some of you who are reading this are in the wedding planning process and that is so exciting! Try to enjoy this time as much as you can because it will go really fast. There were so many times I would think to myself, “I just can’t wait for the wedding to get here, planning is making me crazy.” Now that it’s over, I’d go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat. I shared some of my wedding expectations vs. reality and you can read that here.

Okay, so now that you’re engaged and you’ve asked your bridal party to stand by your side, it’s time to lock down your vendors. This part of planning was very overwhelming for me. I’m not a good decision maker and there are endless options for every category. Here are a few tips that helped us decide.

Choosing Your Wedding Vendors

• Do your research, and then do more research. You can never do enough research. Don’t limit it to just their website either. Visit their social pages, go through their tagged photos, read reviews and don’t stop until you feel like you know everything about them.
• Get referrals. It is so helpful to ask someone you trust for their recommendation because it already sets you up for success. If someone you know has used someone and you liked the way their photos/video came out, reach out and ask how their experience was.
• Take advantage of the consultation. You will most likely be spending your entire day with these individuals, so not only is the quality of their work important, but you want to make sure this person is someone you can spend a lot of time with and enjoy it. Call them and get to know them. If you’re a bride, do the hair and makeup trial. Do the preparations so that when your wedding day comes, you are stress-free.
• Make sure you pick the style you like. There are so many different kinds of editing styles that range from bright and airy to dark and moody. If you like the darker look, you shouldn’t choose someone that edits with brighter style.
• Read their blog posts. The majority of vendors will showcase their work in blog posts and it captures a good portion of the wedding day photos that you will receive. Scroll through those and it will give you a good idea of what you will get if you work with them.

Our Wedding Vendors

Eddie and I keep saying to each other how thankful we are for our wedding vendors. They truly made our day so much more special than we ever imagined. Changing our wedding date due to the pandemic unfortunately caused us to lose a few of them, but our new vendors jumped right on board and the rest were flexible and made the adjustment smooth and easy. We could not have had a better team with us on our wedding day and I highly recommend every single one of out vendors. For context, we got married in Western Pennsylvania so a lot of our vendors are Pittsburgh-based, but some are available for travel.

Tyler Norman Photography

Our wedding photographer was Tyler Norman and his wife, Chrissy and they were the dream team. We actually never met either of them in person until our wedding day. As soon as they arrived, everything just flowed naturally. They were beyond the greatest photographers – they were so kind, genuine, easygoing and just all around beautiful people. Their images captured the best moments and we are so happy to have them to look back on. All of the photos you see in this blog post were taken by Tyler Norman Photography. Check out his Instagram for more of his work. Here are just a few of our favorites:

Dan West Films

Dan and his team from Dan West Films did our wedding videography and he actually flew in from Minnesota for our wedding day. Last summer Eddie and I attended our friend’s wedding in Minnesota and we were in love with their wedding video, so we reached out to him and he was available and wiling to travel! Videography was really important to me and I had a really hard time finding someone in the area that was our style, and was available. Dan was a joy to be around all day and we are so excited to see our video! When we receive it, I will post it to my Instagram so be sure to follow along!

Beauty Justified by Justine Lynn

I found Justine through a referral and her and her team were absolutely incredible. From the moment I met Justine over the phone, I could tell how much she cared. She asked me so many questions so she knew 1000% exactly what I was looking for. I knew immediately that I made the right decision. She drove an hour and a half and spend the day with me at my house to try out multiple hairstyles until we found something I liked. I was blown away. When it came to the wedding day, she and her team were amazing. Everyone’s hair and makeup looked stunning and all of the girls couldn’t stop talking about how happy they were with their hair/makeup. Follow her Instagram here.

All Occasions Party Rental

All Occasions Party Rental was our saving grace. When we changed dates, let go of our wedding planners and basically started from scratch with only two months left until our wedding date, the team at All Occasions stepped up and created our dream wedding. From the tents, to the chandeliers, the dinnerware and the couches, we rented almost everything from their company. They have endless rental options and the team there was absolutely wonderful to work with. Anything we needed, they had it. They have multiple locations so if you are ever in need of party rental, use them!

Allison McGeary Florist

When it came to choosing a florist, I felt really overwhelmed. I love flowers, but I didn’t know what I wanted or had any vision for flowers on my wedding day. After meeting Allison, listening to her recommendations and walking through the property together, we dreamed up the most magnificent plan of loose greenery, flower arches, a touch of pampas and incorporated our wedding colors. She was extremely helpful throughout the entire process and her work was beyond outstanding. I cannot say enough good things about Allison and her team – a true joy to work with.

I am going to be doing a full blog post on the reception so be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss that!

MobileMIX Entertainment – David Kleba

Again, another truly amazing vendor of ours was our DJ, David Kleba. From the moment Eddie and I talked to him over the phone and got to know him, it seriously felt like we had known each other forever. He was so helpful in helping us choose music, gave us suggestions and was also really flexible and accommodating. We actually didn’t meet him until we arrived at the ceremony and we got lined up. He was seriously the best. As soon as the music started, people jumped up onto the dance floor and nobody sat down until the night ended. His music, his style, everything about our experience with him was better than we could’ve imagined. Check out his website here.

Common Plea Catering

Oh my goodness – our caterer. I don’t even know where to begin on this one. Can you tell I’m a bit obsessed with our vendors? My parents and I went to Pittsburgh for the tasting and met our coordinator, Stacy. From that moment on, she was sending updates, checking in, texting, sending emails, making trips to the farm, doing walk throughs, helping me make cocktail drink signs. The service was beyond. We went with a four course Italian style dinner and the team cooked on-site. They actually brought the kitchen to the farm and set up. I wish I had photos of it. During the reception, Eddie and I actually got to go back into the kitchen to see the assembly line and the process of the cooks putting together the plates. The food was incredible, the level of service was spectacular and we couldn’t have had a better experience. Check out their website here.

Confections of a Cake Lover

Our wedding cake was from a local bakery, Confections of a Cake Lover. We had four tiers and each one was a different flavor. The flavors we chose were Salted Caramel, Chocolate Banana, Lemon and Almond. It was absolutely delicious and this is another vendor I highly recommend.

Pink Sprinkles Bakery

For our guests, our favors at the end of the evening were cookie boxes. We had family/friends bake and we also added in cookies from Pink Sprinkles Bakery. You may recognize them from our rehearsal dinner blog post, but we also gave them away on Saturday night at the wedding. I mean, could they be any more gorgeous?

Are we friends on Instagram yet?

We absolutely loved our wedding vendors and I hope that some of you can use them too. Now that you know who the everyone is, I will go more in depth about everything. There is so much more to come! Make sure you are subscribed for the blog posts to come in the next few weeks. Here is what you can expect.

• Reception Details (In Depth)
• DIY Wedding Decor
• Hotel Welcome Bags For Our Guests (What we put in them)
• How We Transformed A Garage Into Grooms Getting Ready Space
• Gifts for Groom/Parents on Wedding Day
• Bridal Dress/Getting Accessory Details

Interested in hearing about something in particular? Leave me a comment or send me an email (hello@livelovesophia.com).