Bio

Tiffany & Todd

I want a simple wedding that's very elegant. I think everything will work out so well becuase we have such a great support unit! If you use any of our images, please just give us credit! If you have any questiosn regarding my vendors, please contact me on the Pittsburgh board. THANKS!!

Bridal Express Ordered BM’s jewelry here. Only to find out that once it came in the earrings were discontinued, I was disappointed that they did not call me prior to shipping, so I had to ship the items back. I would not order from here again.http://bridal.cathysexpress.com/

Church Musichttp://www.stclementchurch.org/weddings/music.html This is a great website to listen to music for the ceremony. It’s full of church music

Poems for Wedding Hankieshttp://www.weddinghankies.com/ This is great site to gather poems from, but I ordered my hankies from ebay

Pittsburgh Trophy Companyhttp://www.pittsburghtrophy.com/ I purchased the “Everything We Learned about Love, we learned from you.” Plaques for inside the parent frames. I purchased 5 of them for $40.00. They were great quality and fit perfectly into the frames we purchased for our parents.

I ordered my I DO Letters from Ed Reitler (ereitler@sc.rr.com) They are 6" tall, he has a list of different fonts (this is curlz mt), $3 each, total of $17 with shipping.

Tiffany & Todd
Planning Photos
Vendor Info

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Planning Photos
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My Dress, purchased at Alfred Angelos in Monroeville.

This is my BM's Dress. Purchased also at Alfred Angelos in Monroeville.

We will be married at the chapel at Duquesne University.

Here is a picture of my photo box that will be used to place cards in at the reception.

The top of the box.

Here is a pic of our groom's cake, which wil be served at the rehersal dinner.

We will have a candy buffet in with the traditional PGH cookie table tradition.

Some additional information for you.

Parent's Gifts.

Some of our n-gagment pictures taken by Bob Carol of n-focus photography.

We mailed out STD's several months prior to the wedding. I DIY'd these!

Groomsmen Gifts

Some of our must take pics

My favorite hair styles.

My hair Trial!! I LOVED MY HAIR!!

I highly recommend Carol from Izzazu.

Some more accessories for the big day.

Hankies for our parents.

Bathroom baskets

My Make-up Trial

My Shower!

This is my Nan, Step-mom and Me!

My Cake!

Some more dresses that didnt' make the cut...

Come back soon & seeing our wedding pics!!!

Our first home! We purchased in January 2006.

Our dinning room.

Our Kitchen

Our living room.

Our finished basement

We call it the sports room!

This is our backyard after we started landscaping.

The back of our house.

Our new versi-lock retaining wall.

WE LOVE THE STEELERS!!!!

We LOVE VEGAS!!

We LOVE TO CRUISE THE CARRIBEAN!

WE LOVE WEDDINGS!!!!!

WE LOVE DMB!!!

Stephanie and Me

A few of our friends enjoying our wedding!

We're Married!!

Our bridal party looked very stylish!

Our cake was tasty!

So Happy!

Vendor Information
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Ceremony Location - Duquesne University

A+ $200 donation made to the Chapel, two years in advance in order to reserve it for our date. I went to Duquesne, my FI went to University of Pittsburgh, so it was a toss up between the two locations of Heinz and Pitt. But after finding out how much Heinz chapel charges, Duquesne was an easy selection. The church provided a great location for us. Our rehearsal was at 7:00pm on Friday and everything went really smoothly. Father John Sawicki married us and he did a beautiful job. He added many of the older traditions making our ceremony very unique. Duquesne was also very flexiable on our song choices for the ceremony, which allowed us to add a very unique and special touch to our ceremony. I was very pleased with them.

Officiant - Father Sawicki

A+ Father John Sawicki was a political science professor of mine while I was in college. He's a great person and I am looking forward to having him be a part of our special day.

Reception Location - Holiday Inn, University Center, Oakland

A++++++++I am having my reception at the Holiday Inn, University Center, Oakland, right on Pitt's campus. let's talk about the WONDERFUL and FANTASTIC service we had yesterday at our tasting. We went to sample the food, thinking that we would only have samples of certain items when in fact we got a full-course meal, I'm glad we went hungry and at dinner time! Their kitchen has recently hired two new chefs and they went to an all-scratch kitchen, which means everything it made "homemade" they even bread their chicken fingers by hand, they don't come frozen!!!!!!! We are going with a sit-down dinner and will serve the following: Wedding Soup mixed greens salad (choice of ranch and raspberry vinaigrette) CHOICE OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: Filet Mingon (prepared medium) mixed veggies (cauliflower, red peppers and carrots) and twice twice baked potato OR Chicken Cordon-Blue, with mixed veggies and twice baked potato Dessert: Cake, cookie Table and candy buffet. I am so please with our selections, the tastes were wonderful and they ensured me that nothing will be dry and everything will be very good. I am very pleased with our service that we received from the holiday inn. They were right on the ball with EVERYTHING. I can not say enough good things about Renee and the catering staff. They met with us on Thursday to ensure that everything was just exactly the way we wanted it. We loved the holiday inn, the food, and the atmosphere. Everything was truly fantastic thanks to them!

Caterers - Holiday Inn, University Center, Oakland

See Above

Cake Creator - A friend of the family, Norm

A+++ A friend of DH's mom made out cake and our groom's cake. The cake tasted awesome, and looked GREAT. I loved the detail in our icing. Everything about our cake looked GREAT!!

Florist - Harold's Flowershop

Randy, the owner, is a personal friend of FI's family. Randy has been great to work with. He is reliable and selects gorgeous flowers. I am looking forward to working with him on this adventure. A+++++++++++----Randy, the owner of Harold’s was our florist and also a guest for our wedding. I went very simple red and white roses, and they were GORGEOUS!! The roses were opened up perfectly, and large. Although, my bouquet was VERY heavy, it was the perfect size. I gave Randy a picture of a white and black wrap and he did this, as well as added something to the bottom of the bouquet so the flowers had water all day. My white roses NEVER wilted or turned brown, they were gorgeous two days later!!!! I am VERY happy with them and our florist.

Photographer - N-focus, Bob Carol

A------We received a free engagement session, one 8x10 of our engagement session. We received 10 hours of coverage, all images licensed for our personal use on a high resolution CD, all photos will be on an online gallery, and 4, any size pictures of our choice. Our n-gagement session was awesome! We went to station square and the west end overlook. Even though it was really cold that day, and my hair flew everywhere, I am really happy with the quality and how quickly they were ready on the internet. Bob took all of the pictures that I had asked him to take. We have not seen these yet, although, when we booked Bob, he explained that a few days after the wedding we would see teaser pics on his website, these are not yet posted. He also said by the time we got back from our honeymoon he would have our pics ready for us. We are now back from our honeymoon and have yet to receive any pictures. I am patiently waiting, but very excited about getting these back quickly.

UPDATE: It's one month after our wedding and we still have yet to receive our pictures. I am trying to wait patiently, but there is a lack of communication between our photographer and us. After being promised my pictures 30 days after my wedding it took me 2 months to get my pictures. After getting my pictures, I was SOOO disappointed in the quality, I have no pictures of my reception and the quality of each picture is HORRIBLE. They are blury and I also found out that each picture was taken semi-automatically, which means none of them were focused by the photographer, the camera focused each picture. When I ordered my prints, that were included in my package it took me 3 months, I was promised the pictures would be here by Christmas, they were not. Which was really disappointing. I was also promised that the prints we ordered would be photoshopped, they were not. There is my favorite picture, which we had blown up to an 11x14 and he did not even photoshop out my bra stap that was obviously there. We still don't have our engagment pictures, which we were also promised. I had to file a report with the better business bureau only to get my prints, which were late and non-professional quality. I am sooo disappointed in him, his business, his quality, etc. Also my online gallery has been down for months, so my family and friends can't order prints from the website which I shared with them.

Videographer - Digital Creations

A------Jim did my sister-in-laws video, and a few friends. It was very easy to pick our videographer because he had done such a great job on everyone else’s videos. Jim was so nice that he actually upgraded our package and provided a flat panel tv at the reception with picture of DH and I as children that I had provided him with. Everyone LOVED this and it was not as intrusive as having a big projector showing pictures. It was very elegantly done. Although I have yet to get my video back, Jim and his wife seemed to be everywhere we were. I am really looking forward to seeing our video as well!

Disc Jockey - 5th Ace Entertainment, Dan

Dan is not only a persoanl friend of mine, but he's a GREAT DJ!! I am looking forward to having him keep our guests entertained throughout the evening. A+++++++++++++++++++ Dan did a FANTASTIC JOB!!! Dan was funny, entertaining, and most importantly my dance floor was packed the entire night. We had a great time dancing to a variety of music and I was thrilled that everyone was dancing!

Musicians - Jill Simmons and Randy

I am using Jill Simmons as my vocalist and her friend Randy as my acoustic guitarist at my reception. I am very happy with their quality, timing and manner in which they conduct business. Jill has a GORGEOUS voice! http://www.myspace.com/jillpsimmons A++++++++Jill has a GORGEOUS voice. Everyone was crying before I even walked down the aisle!! Jill had many great ideas and provided us with excellent service. If you want a gorgeous voice as you walk down the aisle, Jill is it. I was VERY happy with her! She will also sing as many songs as you want her to sing, there is no limit with Jill!! A+++++Randy provided our acoustic guitar for our ceremony. It was perfect, he worked with our vocalist, so this was an easy booking. I was VERY happy with our guitarist and his quality of performance. He as excellent!

Transportation - Pittsburgh Transportation Group

A We rented the Executive Van for $322.40 for four hours. It seats 13 people. Price includes gratuity, and fuel service charge. The executive van was on time, and comfortable for everyone. My ring bearer was also allowed to ride with us because it had seat belts. Although, it was slightly dirty, no one really noticed but me! The driver was courtesy and got us where we needed to be.

Invitations - My FIL

My FIL printed our invitations, programs and place cards.

Rental Company - Vincent Lighting

My GOBO will be provided by Nate from vincent Lighting. He's very hard to get in touch with, but I trust him fully. A+++++ My GOBO looked awesome and we had soooo many compliments on it! If you want lighting, but don't have a lot fo money to put into this, this will add an unique item to your reception. It looked great!

Jeweler - Tiffany's

I love my e-ring and wedding band. Tiffany’s was great to work with and the quality is perfect. They also provide a leather portfolio about each diamond in the ring for insurance purposes. We also received a certificate for our wedding bangs for insurance purposes also.

Tuxedos - Men's Wharehouse

A++++++++We got our tuxes at the mens wharehouse at the Waterfront. They were GREAT to work with. Every tux came in on time and it fit perfectly. Using a national company also allowed my Dad and brother who live in Lancaster the ability to get measured and pick up their tuxes in Lancaster. We had an excellent experience with them. The groom’s tux was also free.

My Dress - Alfred Angelo's

David's: B----When we got there, they had my appt. and was ready to go with a consultant, she was nice. BUT she was helping two others girls at the same time and it made it difficult. She started by having me pull 5 different dresses because I had NO Idea what I wanted in a dress. I had no "Dream Dress". My MOH and BM who was there helped me. The consultant then brought me numerous dresses, but did not listen to me when I said I didn't like a certain style, she just kept bringing me dress upon dress. I tried on probably 50 dresses there. I wasn't impressed with them, and felt like I was in the middle of a cattle call with 10 other brides trying on dresses. The material of most of the dresses to me felt cheap and not well put together. The girls also tried on a few BM's dresses but I wasn't impressed with their T-lengthed dresses that I had wanted. The consultant kept brining them longer dresses. So, overall I suggest David's to others ONLY to figured out what type of dress you like, but not necessarily to buy there. Alfred Angelo's—A- -----Even though I purchased my dress there, then we got there, ON TIME, with an appointment no one was there to help me. There were only two others girls there trying on dresses, and they were just getting alterations. An older lady told me that someone would be with me soon and to just start pulling out 5 dresses at a time. She kept telling my BM's only to bring me 5 dresses in the room at a time, and was a pain in the butt about it. My girls brought me all of my dresses, one would help me in and out, while the other would put them away. The consultant that was suppose to help me, left and got lunch. I was ticked off. So, the last dress that I put on, was "the dress" and finally a lady came over to help me, I asked her who she was and she said she was the manager, and I told her what had happened and that I was a little upset about it. Well needless to say she apologized and my MOH is getting her dress shipped to her for free, she lives in MD. Also we were lucky, there was a sale going on and I got 15% off of my dress and a free tiara. So I was happy about that. But not happy with the service and I made sure they knew about it. The consultant that was suppose to help me finally showed back up, but I was glad she did not get commission on my sale. My BM's also found their dress there. I was very happy with their selection of shorter dresses, and the BM's dresses will be black with white. I was also THRILLED with the price of my dress and the prices of the BM's dresses. The girl's got $25 off of their dress because I got my dress there. I was also happy with the manager apologizing for not helping me. Needless to say I am very happy with my dress, and now I am looking for a veil to match, the veil that matched my dress was almost as much as the dress unfortunately. So, we will either be making one, or finding a less expensive veil. I Hope this helps you in finding your perfect dress!! My advice to all of you after going through this, TRY ON EVERYTHING!! I did not want a halter dress and tried one on by accident and it ended up being my dress! Take a camera with you, we had fun taking pictures in all of the dresses, and bring your own bra, and your own pair of shoes, I'm glad that I did! I ended up purchasing another veil at Alfred Angelo’s as well as my bra. Which I”ve been told that their bra is the SAME exact bra that you can purchase at Victoria Secret’s for less. I got 15% off both my bra and my veil because I purchased my dress there. Both of these items came in really quickly and they are perfect. Alfred Angelo’s has also agreed to steam my dress one month prior to the wedding even though I am not getting my dress altered there.

Bridesmaid Dresses - Alfred Angelo's

All of the BM's dresses came in on time. One BM's dress came in long instead of t-length. So, they sent it back and within several weeks it was in correctly. I had no problems and I give them an A. Alfred Angelo’s Monroeville---Mother of the Groom Dress ($400) Everyone was very pleasant and easy to work with. We ordered the dress and everything came in on time. Alfred Angelo’s Johnstown-Mother of the Bride Dress ($375) On Saturday I took my Mom shopping, she has MS and can walk with a walker, but when we go out, she uses a wheel chair. We went to Alfred Angelo in Johnstown to pick out her MOB dress, she lives near Jtown, so we went out there. I got my dress in Monroeville (Review in bio) Anyway, I can not say enough about how nice the girls were in Johnstown. They were busy, but took time to help us, was patient when my Mom had to stand up and hold on to me, and was soooooo nice when ordering her dress. If you live in that area, they are super nice in Johnstown! My Mom’s dress was a little snug actually, I believe they measured her wrong.

Hair Stylist - Izzazu, Carol

Carol did an AMAZING job on my hair! I LOVED everything she did. I finally found someone who listened to everything I requested and did exactly what I asked her to do. Carol is AWESOME at up-do's and she truly did a FANTASTIC job! If you want your hair to look great, you have to go to her! I highly suggest booking yoru appointment at least 6 months before your wedding.

Makeup Artist - Stephanie Tawney

Stephanie is my friend and personal mary kay representative. She will be applying the bridal parties make-up the day of the wedding. A+++ Stephanie did an AWESOME job! ! Everyone looked natural, and she stayed throughout oru pictures to be sure that everyone's make-up looked great!

Wedding Coordinator - Great Expectation Events

Honeymoon Destination - Sandals Whitehouse, Jamaica

We will be traveling to Jamaica the Monday after the wedding. I can't wait!

Travel Agent - Liberty Travel, Century III

Everything was very reasonable and she was very easy to work with. our travel agent had many ideas and suggestions, when we had no idea where we wanted to go!

Other Vendor - Shoe Station

Dyeable Shoe—Paradise $39.99 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The shoe was originally $69.00 at Alfred Angelo’s I found them sooo much cheaper online!!!! When I received the original size 7 (I have always been a size 7) I could not get my foot in the shoe. So, I had to ship the shoes back to shoe station in order to receive a 7.5. They will ship the new size to me for free shipping. They shipped the new size without any issues! I was shocked they came so quickly and the 7.5 shoe fit perfectly!! I highly recommend this vendor.

Other Vendor - Marilyn's Keepsakes

Groomsmen’s gifts—They are awesome, great quality and very useful! We will add a few bottles of liquor to each of the gift bags to go along with the glass. Shipping was on time and the quality was excellent. We are very happy with how the glasses turned out and we are looking forward to giving them to the guys.

Other Vendor - Dimpleart Creations

Caricature When I got our first caricature it looked nothing like Todd, I made them change it up without any issues. I used the caricature on our return address labels for our Save the Dates, and I used it on our knot.com website. This is something fun that people have commented on that they like.

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Pittsburgh Trophy Companyhttp://www.pittsburghtrophy.com/ I purchased the “Everything We Learned about Love, we learned from you.” Plaques for inside the frame. I purchased 5 of them for $40.00. They were great quality and fit perfectly into the frames we purchased for our parents.

PaperBuzz.com (www.paperbuzz.com) Total spent $30.00 for Rehearsal Dinner Invites A++++PaperBuzz.com is FANTASTIC! They are quick with their shipping, and their quality is the best you can buy! I loved using them!

Holiday Inn, Monroeville was the site of my bridal shower. The food was fantastic. They are newly remolded and the room was gorgeous. Overall we had a very positive experience here and I rate them with an A!

Honeymoon—Sandals, Whitehouse, Jamaica—Monday, October 23-Monday, October 29, 2007. We had a touch time deciding on where to go on our honeymoon. We did not want to go anywhere that either one of us had ever been. So, it took us awhile to come up with a location that we knew both of us would be happy with. We chose Sandals Whitehouse because it was a brand new resort (only 2 years old) and the pictures online were GORGEOUS. The resort looks better in person! We flew into Montego Bay and were greeted at the Sandals Lounge. We were not here but 3 minutes and our bus was ready to take us to the resort. Although, the lounge is clean and has a nicer bathroom than the one in customs. The bus ride is around 2 hours, especially if it rains. Whitehouse is situated on the southern coast of Jamaica and it’s GORGEOUS. There is no hustle bustle of a city, so if you want a lot of action and site seeing, this is NOT the location for you. Currently this resort is the ONLY resort on the southern coast, and we were never asked the entire time to buy things or have my hair braided, etc. The resort was also full of honeymoon couples, so if you think you will stand apart from others and be the only couple on their honeymoon you are incorrect. Everyone was either on their honeymoon, getting married on the resort, or celebrating their anniversary. We met many nice couples, and overall had a great time. We stayed in the dutch village, but any village is fine! They have volleyball at the French village pool, and there is a swim-up bar there as well. The Dutch pool is on the quiter side, and many of the older people were found there. Some reviews that we read stated that the French village was sooo far away, but it really was not that far and after all of the food we ate, a little walk did not hurt us! The resort itself is not HUGE, but it’s big enough and in my opinion wherever you say is great!! Sandals is in the process of building a beaches resort and a gold course in the same area, which will add a lot more things to do for future guests in about 5 years. We are looking forward to going back to the resort with our family in the future! October is rainy season for Jamaica, so you must be prepared for this. The ride is bumpy and kind crazy. There seems to be no rules for driving in Jamaica, especially when passing a bus full of tourists on a skinny road around a bend. But we arrived at the resort safe and sound. The driver of the bus is NOT a sandals employee, and therefore, we did tip them. We also tipped anyone who drove us to an excursion because again they were not sandals employees. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted by staff immediately and handed cold towels. It took us about 20 minutes and we were taken over to the concierge lobby. I HIGHLY recommend staying in a concierge suite, it’s totally worth it. They do try to talk you into a butler level suite, but we didn’t feel that we needed someone walking behind us all day. The concierge suite allows you to have a fridge stocked daily in your room, we had wine, rum, champagne, beer, soda, water, etc. Seriously it was the best investment. Also if you liked something in particular we just called and it was there. For example, I fell in love with rum crème, I called one day and asked for him and they brought me an entire bottle of it. Needless so say we brought that bottle home with us! We also could have room service at this level, which we utilized once on vacation due to a rain storm. Everyday is rained for about an hour, it was in the late afternoon and at this time, we usually took a nap or showered-up for dinner. From what I understand this is only the time of year we were there. The food is excellent. Not all of the restaurants are open every night, but you can order from any menu that you like. We were always full, and had no problems with not finding something to eat. At breakfast we were greeted every morning with mimosas, it was great!!! Our favorite place to eat was Eleanor’s you have to try the pumpkin soup, it was GREAT!!! Also Guispee’s, it was Italian food. The staff is eager to please, and you never went without food and drink. The main pool bar, bartenders are FANTASTIC!! Paul and Orman were my favorite and you have to try the dirty banana’s, tell them you want it extra dirty!!! Seriously they were entertaining, and we never went without a drink. Although if your DH likes beer, his only choices are red stripe and red stripe light. My DH killed for a miller light as well! Our room was gorgeous and every room here has a view of the ocean, so no matter what level you stay at, you will see the beach. The bed on the other hand is not that comfortable. The pillows are also a little fat. The beach is small in width, but nice for taking walks on. We did not spend too much time on the beach because we are pool people. Again this is off season as we had no problems finding a place to relax at the pool or on the beach. Sandals provides towels at the pool and on the beach, this was nice and we never had to take our room towels down with us. DH and I got couples massage the day before we left at the redlane spa on property. It’s expensive for 50 minutes it was $220, but it was excellent and very relaxing. The ladies did a remarkable job and I felt awesome when we left. As for excursions, we did two of them. When choosing excursions we were careful to not chose one that was far away from where we were staying. For example, Dunn’s River, which is a very popular excursions was a 6 hour round trip, and we did not want to be in a van for 6 hours. So, we did excursions that were in close range. We did the black river, YS falls tour, which was a lot of fun. We like history and learning about other cultures, so this was a great opportunity. We had a tour guide and a driver. We felt completely safe and enjoyed the tour. We did see some alligators in the black river, and lots of other wildlife. The lunch served was not that great, I did eat much of it, so I suggest if you are doing this tour, to bring a snack with you OR eat a big breakfast. The YS falls are pretty, you can not climb them like you can the dunn’s river falls, but you can swim in them. Because of the amount of rain that part of the island has received we were only allowed to swim in one part of the falls. It looks like when it’s drier there you can swim in more parts. The other excursion that we did was horseback riding. This was about 20 minutes from the hotel, and you participate with one other couple. The horses were great, and the trial leads you down to the beach. The guide took pictures of us in the water with the horses. This tour does not swim through the water with the horses, but you do ride the horses down the beach. I do recommend that you wear bug spray, and jeans. We had a great time doing both of these excursions. Sandals take your picture EVERYWHERE!! We did the free sunset photo shot, and we picked 5 pictures that we liked from this to buy. They are EXPENSIVE. I wish it was cheaper, I would have probably bought more pictures. If you do the sunset pics, ask for Shelly, she was fun and did a GREAT job. For dinner you do need resort evening attire, which is long pants and collared shirts for guys. Women you can get away with a nice sun dress or capris. Everyone does dress up and if you don’t you may feel out of place. The only complaint that I have is that a lot of the evening entertainment did not start until 10 or 10;30pm at night, which was 11:00-11:30pm our time. After spending the day at the pool ALL day, we were too exhausted to go back out at this time. Some of the entertainment that started at 8 or 9, we did go to and it was good. I wish the piano bar would have opened up earlier, but this is off season for them, and it might have had something to do with it. Overall, we are VERY happy with Sandals, Whitehouse. The resort is clean, well kept and the staff is EXCELLENT. I am also very happy with the Sandals philosophy. They provide good benefits and good pay to their staff, which makes me want to travel and stay at another Sandals/Beaches resort in the future.

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