If there ever was a feature that we’re sure is going to knock your socks off, it’s this wedding at PPG Wintergarden. Flawlessly executed by Day Of Pittsburgh, it expertly combines greenhouse chic with unique modern day wedding trends. In order to keep things easy for their out-of-town guests, Kendra and Curtis hosted both their ceremony and reception at this downtown Pittsburgh wedding venue. Upon arrival for the ceremony, guests were greeted with pre-vow cocktails – a huge hit among them! After the I dos, the party really heated up. Personalized, custom-printed details – such as a welcome sign, DJ booth, and bar bearing the couple’s initials – were the creative work of All Occasions Party Rental and Marbella Event Furniture & Decor Rental, who also provided all of the unique pieces. Evening entertainment by Pittsburgh wedding DJ Modern Era Weddings and a late night Chick-Fil-A delivery rounded out the highlights. We think you’re going to LOVE this one…but don’t just take our word from it. Check out the memories captured by Wiley Wedding Films and Michael Parente.
About the Couple
Curtis and I met on New Years Eve 2015. When we met, Curtis was living in Detroit and I was living in Pittsburgh. In the summer of 2016, my friends and I were planning a sailing trip in Italy. One of my friends, Ryan, convinced Curtis to come because he desperately needed a male friend on the trip.
On December 31st, 2015, Curtis and I went to the same NYE party. Curtis and I spent the whole time together and totally hit it off. I remember leaving and saying to my friend, “Curtis is awesome. I’m so bummed he lives in Michigan. I can’t believe the next time I’ll see him will be in August in Italy.” Curtis left saying to Ryan, “Yeah, Kendra is super cool, but I would never date her since she lives so far away.” Fast forward three days and Curtis called to tell me he was going to be in Cleveland later in the week and asked if he could “swing by” Pittsburgh and take me to dinner. The rest is history. Curtis and I spent the next year and a half trekking our way across Ohio from Pittsburgh to Detroit to visit each other a couple of times a month until July 2017 when Curtis moved to Pittsburgh permanently.
Late October 2017, Curtis and I went on a long weekend trip to Lake Tahoe. On Sunday, we woke up and had breakfast at this cafe and Curtis was inhaling his food and acting SO weird. I must have asked him 100 times if he was okay. After breakfast, we went on a walk near Emerald Bay and since it was so early, we were the only people there. Curtis told me he wanted to set up his phone so we can take a picture together and when he came close to me to take the picture I could feel him literally trembling. Before I could ask what was wrong, he was down on one knee. It was a really special day.
About the Wedding
We really wanted to make our wedding unique. We had so many people traveling to celebrate with us, so we wanted them to leave saying, “Wow, that was a really cool wedding. We had an awesome time.” Almost every decision we made, we made with our guests in mind. We wanted things to be easy for out-of-town guests so we decided to have the ceremony and the reception all at the PPG Wintergarden. Almost everyone thanked us for not making them travel between venues and commented on how nice it was to just stay in one place for the entire night.
Curtis had one request for the night – he wanted everyone to be able to have drinks during the ceremony. So, we did a pre-ceremony cocktail hour and guests could take their drinks to their seats. It was a huge hit.
Curtis and his friends are HUGE Michigan football fans. To avoid a conflict with game time, we had our wedding on a Friday night and then hosted a Michigan Football Watch Party on Saturday at Federal Galley, which turned out to be a huge hit with everyone.
A few other unique things: I have a cake decorating hobby so I made our wedding cake and all of the bridesmaids made a signature cupcake unique to them. My grandma made my veil because she was stunned at veil prices (haha). In hindsight, I am so glad she did because it turned out beautifully and it will now be so special to pass on. Curtis and his entire family have an affinity for Chick-Fil-A. Our wedding coordinator, Heather, and I figured out a way to have Chick-Fil-A deliver the nuggets. This surprise was so fun!
Marbella and All Occasions came up with incredible printing options, such as an amazing welcome sign, bar, and DJ surround that honestly tied the whole wedding together. It took the wedding to another level and gave it a really sophisticated feel. They really came through on the rentals. When we started this process, I had NO idea what they were capable of and they absolutely went above and beyond for us.
Our dog, Lucy, was our “flower dog”. She and our ring bearer stole the show. The parents of one of my good childhood friend married us. They are both pastors and growing up, they were like second parents to me. That made the ceremony super special and so many people have told us how lovely it was to have a personal touch on the ceremony. This wedding was a true labor of love and we could not have done it without everyone who pitched in and all the work from our amazing vendors; they were the best!
Favorite Moment
It’s hard to pick just one; the whole weekend was so fun. If I had to pick just one, I would say it was when our photographer insisted we take 30 minutes – just the two to of us – to go take pictures with him. It was so nice to have a few minutes with just Curtis and me and it was actually really fun to walk around the city in your wedding dress.
Curtis loved doing the first look. It was very special to just have the two of us there for a moment, then to have everyone we cared about meet up after for pictures.
