Love Again: Cocktail Hour

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always, Pre-Ceremony, I Thee Wed, Post-Ceremony Hugs

© Mingwei Tay Photography

The cocktail hour gave guests time to mingle and search the escort card trees for their seats. It also gave Mr. Pineapple and I the opportunity to sneak down stairs where hors d'ovres, drinks, and a few minutes alone were awaiting us.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

I love this photo of my grandfather and Mr. Pineapple's dad because although Mr. P and I were not there I can imagine exactly what they were talking about. My grandfather, a man of epic stories, was probably telling FIL P. about the many weddings he attended, only briefly, to deliver the beautiful cakes my grandmother used to make.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

Sister Pineapple played the role of videographer throughout the night. One of my favorite parts of the video was the cocktail hour. She went around to all of the guests and asked them who was the prettiest bridesmaid. Of course, since she was the one asking, everyone said "Oh, you Kristina!" Then she went up to Kim and Lindsay and said "I have been asking everyone who the prettiest bridesmaids were and everyone has said you two!"

© Mary Mervis Photography

Mom Pineapple also got ahold of the video camera a couple times throughout the evening. Much of her video is of herself, holding the camera upside down and eating giant pixie sticks. She is an artist.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Mr. Pineapple and I rejoined our guests with just enough time to say hello to everyone and hear the story of the prettiest bridesmaid before introductions.

Will you be visiting with guests after the ceremony or will you wait for the reception introductions?

Love Again: Post Ceremony Hugs!

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits,Loved Always, Pre-Ceremony, I Thee Wed

© Mary Mervis Photography

Just a few moments after the wonderfully giant hug given to me by my hubby we were swarmed by the rest of the bridal party and our parents. Let the hug-a-thon begin!

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

Then it was time to bustle my gown. There were 11 ribbons to be tied, my sister and mother raced to see who could get the most tied first. While still not missing any. I am not convinced that 11 was overkill.

© Mary Mervis Photography

My sister's little fingers and working eyes won the race :)

© Mary Mervis Photography

After I was all tied up I took my gown for a spin (literally) just to make sure everything was tied down.

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

It was official, we were married again. This time we were able to do what we have hoped from the beginning, share our wedding with all those who truly loved us.

Will you be spending a few moments with loved ones after your ceremony? Or do you and your husband plan to be whisked away?

Love Again: I Thee Wed

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always,
Pre-Ceremony

Hello Hive! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mrs. Pineapple and I am a slacker bee. 2009 has been a pretty rough year in the Pineapple household - health, money, friends, family - you name it and it has gone wackadoodle. I am very excited to have some time carved out of my new crazy schedule to finish sharing our wedding with you, the best is still yet to come!

My father has always been fairly reserved, but the moments leading up to him handing me off to Ryan he was absolutely beaming.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Walking down the aisle toward Mr. Pineapple was an amazing few moments. Although we had a fairly small number of guests there was an incredible energy in the room. The bride is supposed to walk slowly and take her time getting to the groom, but I just wanted to break free from my father and run up to Mr. P and give him an epic hug.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

© Mingwei Tay Photography

I have to admit, most of the photos of me from the ceremony are a little silly looking. I spent most of the time fighting back tears or a massive grin. It was amazing to hear the words that Mr. Pineapple had written for our ceremony. I wish I could marry him again, everyday.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Mr. Pineapple and I held hands throughout the ceremony. I didn't want to let go of him. I wanted to be able to squeeze him and really be there in the moment with him.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Bridesmaid Kim and I have been friends since the fourth grade when we suffered through Ms. Greenhill's class together. Even when we were nine years old Kim had a voice much much bigger than her tiny little frame. I used to make her sing on the bus and I would tape record her. Her voice amazed me and I was her biggest fan. Kim is an amazing friend who I know will always be there for me and I am so lucky that she was able to sing to us on our wedding day.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Finally it was time to let got of Mr. Pineapple's hand and pull him close for the kiss.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

After we got back down the aisle and we were alone for just a couple moments, Mr. Pineapple picked me up and gave me a huge hug. This was one of the best moments of the entire night.

© Mary Mervis Photography

What moment are you most looking forward to?

Love Again: Pre-Ceremony

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always

© Mary Mervis Photography

After returning to the River's Club after our portrait session the boys headed to the Men's locker room and the bridesmaids and I went to powder our noses. I wanted to get upstairs and hide away before the guests arrived, so Emily, the wedding coordinator for the River's Club, took me through the coat closet and into the ballroom where the ceremony would be taking place.

© Mary Mervis Photography

As you can see, we did very little to decorate the ballroom. We were working with a limited budget and would only be in this room for under and hour, so any grand ideas I once had were scrapped. The decor wasn't stunning, but the carpet was new and there was some simple decorative art on the walls.

© Mary Mervis Photography

The only things that we added were programs on each chair and the hand-painted aisle runner. (The runner was taped at the end to the floor, something I didn't take into consideration.)

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

Our ceremony and pre-ceremony music was performed by great friends of ours, Pete and John. Pete was also one of the groomsmen so there were moments when John played and sung solo. It worked out really well, with Pete just sitting and standing when needed. :)

© Mingwei Tay Photography

They did an amazing job and I love that so many of our friends were able to be a part of our wedding.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

So while Pete and John were playing to an empty room I was hidden away on the other side of a temporary wall. My bridesmaids were in the locker room finishing their touch-ups and I have no idea where anyone else was. This was a very strange, but relaxing, time for me. It seemed like I was sitting alone for an endless amount of time. Every few minutes my mom, Emily or one of the photographers would peak there heads in to make sure I hadn't run away.

© Mary Mervis Photography

This is one of the times my mom came to keep me company. The only way I could think to sit down without wrinkling my gown was to sit backward. I am indeed a classy gal. At one point all three photographers and Emily came in with worried looks on their faces. I don't even really remember what the crisis was, something about having enough time to get photos of the important moments before our contracted eight hours were up. I just kind of giggled and said to put the events in whatever order was necessary. I couldn't imagine actually caring at that point. (It turned out not to be an issue at all and the photographers left well after the cake cutting and such.)

© Mary Mervis Photography

One of my favorite parts about having all of these photos is seeing how genuinely happy everyone was. I was over the moon to have this time to share with our loved ones, but it is wonderful to see how over the moon happy others were too, like Krissy and Katie.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Finally, my best friends, sister and father joined me. We lined up to get ready for our walk...

Love Again: Loved Always

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits


When I began my recaps for Weddingbee Mr. Pineapple asked me if I would be able to mention his mom, even though she would not be in any of the photographs. I have never explained our reason for getting married early to the hive, it just never seemed like the right time. Well, now is as good as any, I suppose.

Mr. Pineapple's mom was very sick last September so Mr. P and I decided to get married early, just in case she was not going to be able to make it to our October wedding. We wanted, more than anything, to be able to share our wedding day with our parents. So, the wedding in a week took place. My father flew to Pennsylvania from Florida where he joined my mother who had been staying with Mr. P and I. The day after Mr. Pineapple's mom was released from the hospital, she and Mr. P's step-dad were able to see us marry. Just last week Mr. Pineapple's mom passed away after fighting cancer with strength and courage for nine years. The services were attended by over 600 people and an amazing tribute to her life. She will always be loved and dearly missed.

Love Again: Portraits

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance

© Mingwei Tay Photography

This post could be alternately titled "The Pineapples Publicly Display Affection." Mellon Park is a popular spot for skateboarding teens and pooping pigeons. Luckily, I think we managed to scare off both. We did have a small audience of on-lookers, one of whom said to her husband "Look at those beautiful flowers!" She must have been wondering how we managed to get peonies in October.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Here is a little bit of proof that your bridesmaids don't have to wear the same thing to look stunning. I purchased the shawls at H&M for $9 a piece, which was a pretty sweet deal. I chose the colors based on what I thought each girl would like the most. I had pretty much thrown the "wedding colors" concept out then window by that point.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Here at the boys all wearing different gray suits and ties we gave to them that sort-of matched.

© Mary Mervis Photography

All of the groomsmen have jobs that already required suits except for one, Mike (aka our free-j). Luckily, since he is an actor he was able to rent his suit from a costume shop. Talk about using your resources wisely.

© Mary Mervis Photography

I am not sure what the concrete stage thing we are standing on was originally intended for, but it was a great spot for our photos.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Have you noticed how we are on the verge of laughter in many of the photos? Well, Mr. Pineapple kept burping and blowing in my face. Awe, memories.

© Mary Mervis Photography

This is one of my favorite photos from the day. I'm not normally a fan of the tilt/wacky angle, but this one is an exception.

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mingwei Tay Photography

There is that sun again! Wow, I really cannot wait for spring!

© Mary Mervis Photography

Time to head back to the River's Club, pluck some fall leaves out from my crinoline, reapply a little lipstick and get hitched (again)!

Are you planning to have portraits taken at your ceremony site or somewhere else?

Love Again: First Glance

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready

Mr. Pineapple and I decided to go ahead and do as many formal portraits as we could before the ceremony. Seeing each other before the wedding ended up not being a big deal anyway since we were already married. Any jinxing that was to be done had been at the Clymer magistrate.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Pittsburgh is known for its cold and cloudy days. Why it was 55 and sunny on an October day is beyond me, but I was thrilled. In fact, if it were any warmer the thousand layers of pouf may have made me melt. The boys waited at the Omni while we headed to Mellon Square Park. It was the perfect location for us: right behind the hotel, three blocks from the River's Club, surrounded by cityness but still with plenty of fall foliage.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

One last look in the mirror for Mr. Pineapple.

© Mary Mervis Photography

We decided to do our best Abby Road impression. Lucky for us Pittsburghers don't go downtown unless they are on their way to work or a Stillers™ game.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

I love this photo of Mr. Pineapple. He looks like a nervous groom about to wed! (Well, except that here he is already sporting his band.)

© Mary Mervis Photography

Then it was time for Mr. P and I to get all first glancey and such. Even though we were already wed, it was wonderful to see him for the first time in this way. He was finally able to see the dress that made me cry and I got to see him with a smile almost as big as mine.

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

For some reason these crazy girls in dresses were hollering at us.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

Next, it was time for Mr. Pineapple to inspect my duds. I seem to remember flashing people like this a lot on our wedding day.

© Mary Mervis Photography

This is when Mr. P teased me about my "tiara." The only things he knows about bridal fashion he learned while watching me watch the wedding episode of Glamor Magazine's don't list. They said no tiaras, whatever mine was cute. ;)

© Mingwei Tay Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

One last kiss before portrait time.

Are you doing a first glance?

Love Again: Getting Ready

Love Again:
The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts

Great news, hive! Last week Mr. Pineapple and I received the DVD containing our full resolution files from Mary Mervis. Mingwei Tay, the student and aspiring wedding photographer, provided us with our images months ago, but I wanted to share everything with you at once. So, it begins with getting ready.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Mr. P and I spent the night before our wedding in the Omni William Penn with some of our guests. Although it is traditional for the couple to spend the night apart I knew sleeping was going to be a challenge for me, especially without Mr. P by my side. I woke up at about 4am and that was it, I was awake for the day.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

At 9am my mother, 4 bridesmaids and I met Mingwei at Philip Pelusi hair salon just a couple floors below our ceremony and reception site. I was a bit worried about getting my hair and make-up done so early especially since we still had a good deal of prep work to do upstairs. Jamie, the stylist, offered to create another appointment for me at noon to touch up my hair and do my make-up.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

I didn't make any changes from my trial, soft curls and warm tones. I was really calm all morning until this point. Mary's photographers, Tammy and Marella, were meeting us at 1:30 to head over to the park where we were to meet the boys for a first glance and portraits. That meant an hour and a half to have my hair fixed, make-up done and get dressed. It was plenty of time in the end, but I was still for some reason nervous about the clock.

© Mary Mervis Photography

I was not fond of the idea of actually getting dressed in front of the cameras or even my friends so I hopped into my dress and called for my mom to zip me up. This was the next and final stressful moment of the day. After my fitting issues I was really really worried the dress wouldn't zip. My poor mother... while she was trying to get me zipped I kept saying "Does it fit? Is it zipping? Are you sure? Is it squeezing my back fat?" Two second later I was zipped and ready to get married (again).

The pearls that Christy is clipping around my neck were a gift from Dad Pineapple. They were perfect. Simple and definitely re-wearable. They completed my wedding jewelry, the only other pieces being pearl earrings Mr. P gave to me early on in our relationship and of course my rings.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Speaking of accesories, here is Bridesmaid Christy wearing the rose colored pearl earrings and necklace I made for my bridesmaids. My favorite part of the necklace was the copper rose clasp. I also gave each of the bridesmaids a wrap to wear since we had planned on taking photos outside.

© Mary Mervis Photography

Sister Pineapple and MOH, Krissy, wore a wacky teal hair flower I made for her. It was kinda quirky, but so is she so it worked.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

Here I am showing off my crinoline and cowboy boots. I am so glad I decided to wear my boots the entire day. Not only was I completely comfortable and able to dance all night, but now the boots Mr. P bought my for my birthday a year earlier are even more special.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

I was so relieved at this point to be ready and on time. Now I was able to relax and just be happy. After this point I didn't have any clue what time it was and I didn't care. I was definitely ready to see Mr. P again and squeeze him.

© Mingwei Tay Photography

Here is a shot of the final clay bouquet made by Diane of DK Designs Hawaii. The bouquet is now sitting in one of the dishes from our candy buffet where I can admire it everyday, forever. Going with clay flowers was one of the best wedding choices Mr. Pineapple and I made.

© Mary Mervis Photography

© Mary Mervis Photography

Before I knew it we were heading out of the River's Club to meet Mr. P and the other boys.

Getting ready was the most nerve racking part of my day, what was yours?

Honeymoon in My Hometown - Rural Pennsylvania

If you want to really honeymoon in my hometown you are welcome to pitch a tent by the lake on the farm where we live. However, you will be limited to eating what you can cook over a fire or traveling 15 miles to dine in at McDonalds. Clyde, Pa may not be an ideal honeymoon spot, but there are wonderful getaways outside of Pittsburgh in rural western Pennsylvania.

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One of my favorite spots to spend the day or weekend is Ohiopyle State Park. There is something for every couple at Ohiopyle. Camping, whitewater rafting and hiking for the adventurous and resorts, tours and fine dining for those looking to be pampered.

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Just outside the state park is Frank Lloyd Wright's famed Fallingwater. This home was designed and built for the Kaufmann family. After you take a tour of this stunning example of American arcitecture make sure to stop by the cafe. "Why?" you ask. "Do they have amazing food?" you wonder. I don't know, I've never eaten there, but I did design a large exhibit about fallingwater that is permanently installed in the cafe. :)

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Where to Stay:
If you are looking to camp and truly have a honeymoon with just you and your honey, in Ohiopyle there are a vaierty of sites from very primitive to "modern" sites with electricity and restrooms/showers. You can find more information on booking a site on the Pennsylvania Statepark website.

If you want somewhere to stay that has a bed and a roof here are a couple places near Ohiopyle and fallingwater:
The Summit Inn Resort has been housing guests since 1907. This is where my friends getting married in the barn at Fallingwater have reserved a block of rooms.

After our minimoon in Cleveland I have become a big fan of Bed and Breaskfasts. The Stonehouse Inn looks lovely and romantic.

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If you really want to be pampered you can check out Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Nemacolin has a spa, golfing, skiing, fine dining, shopping and more. Really, you would never have to leave the resort.

Are you planning a rustic honeymoon?

I've Moved!

**chirp chirp**

Hi Everyone! Long time, no see. I took a break from blogging about our wedding until, well until I had something else to blog about. We just received our proofs from our photographer so look for those appearing soon!

I am excited to say I have started another blog that focuses solely on my design and photography work.

www.emilyink.wordpress.com

I hope to see you there!

An Evening with the Candy Corns

Last Monday Mr. Pineapple called me from work and said "Hey, do you want to go to Philly tomorrow?" Turns out, he had to go to Philly (4.5 hours away) for an hour and a half for work. Lucky for me I was able to tag along and Mr. and Mrs. Candy Corn were able to entertain me! They lived just a few minutes from the hotel where we were staying.
Mr. and Mrs. CC picked me up from my hotel and we headed to Chili's. They were both just as cute, sweet and funny as you could imagine. Mrs. CC was the first bee I had ever met in real life. It seemed like I already knew everything about her just from Weddingbee. I knew her apartment was crazy colors, that she had a thousand pets, and that she was wonderfully wacky.

After dinner, we headed to our second chain restaurant of the evening, T.G.I. Friday's. (Um, does anyone know why the Friday is possessive?) Where we met Mr. P after his presentation.

Yay for the short hair and glasses crew!

The Candy Corns picked me up for dinner at 6:30 and we finally called it a night after midnight. Spending almost 6 hours with the Candy Corns definitely made the trip worth it!

Have you ever seen a bee blogger in real life?

Mom Pineapple, She's a Crafty One

One of my favorite gifts I got at my bridal shower was made by Mom Pineapple, a dress shopping scrapbook.

Way back before I was a bee, my folks and bridesmaids flew from all over the east coast to go dress shopping with me. I didn't want to plan the weekend before March because Pittsburgh winters can be messy. However, I didn't want to wait too long just in case the dress would take a while to arrive. So March it was. I was wrong about the weather being okay. Almost every flight was delayed and our neighborhood (home to the steepest streets in the world) was covered in ice.
After we got everyone to the house and fed were we able to actually have some fun in the snow. Kim and Lindsay, from Florida, I am pretty confident enjoyed the snow the most. We built a snowman with stubby arms (thanks to Kim) and ears. Then my sister decided the snowman needed a heart and hair made from strawberry syrup.
He looked like he was impaled.

Then first thing Saturday morning we went David's Bridal, the only store we ended up visiting. After an hour and fifteen minutes I had my gown.
Having all of my best friends go shopping with me was a wonderful experience. It really meant a lot to me and now, thanks to my mom, I have a lovely book to remember the weekend by.

Were you able to bring your bridal party dress shopping with you?

Shannon and Timmy's Wedding

On November 15th, I photographed the wedding of Shannon and Timmy. They were such a lovely couple, so sweet and so easy to work with. Congratulations Timmy and Shannon!

I'll put up some photos in a bit, in the mean time here is a sneak peak slide show:

Timmy and Shannon Wedding from Emily Rearick on Vimeo.

Love Again: Rehearsal Dinner Gifts

At our rehearsal dinner, after a quick thank you and explanation of the RD location, Mr. Pineapple and I gave our bridal party small tokens of our appreciation.

all photos copyright Mingwei Tay

I made the lovely ladies rose colored freshwater pearl necklaces and matching earrings. The clasps are my favorite part of the necklaces, copper roses. Everyone seemed to genuinely love them and even though it was up to them, all five wore their new jewelry the next day. (Apparently I am not cut out to be a jeweler because Sister Pineapple's necklace broke during the reception. I'll shelf that career along with cake decorator.)

I also bought the girls each a wrap to wear the next day. We were planning on taking photos outside and mother nature was planning on 50 degrees. I choose 5 wraps in 5 different colors that I thought each girl would like the best.

I made my sister a wild teal hair flower on a headband to match her teal wrap. She looked like Kenley from project runway.

The last gift I want to share is one given to us by Bridesmaid Katie.
She framed our invitation and made paper quilled flowers out of the additional cards that came along with our invite. This was a perfect gift for someone who cared about the details as much as I did. Thank you Katie!

Love Again: Rehearsal Dinner

all photos copyright Mingwei Tay

After our rehearsal we headed over to the bar/restaurant where Mr. Pineapple went on our first date. (Although we didn't know it was a date at the time.) Smokin' Joe's Saloon was just a couple blocks from where both Mr. P and I lived at the time and we met there after work almost every day, no joke. So this little bar with the best condiments I have ever had and 60 beers on tap became our home away from home.

Ew! Mom and Dad! hehe

Best Man Erik and Phil

This is managaer Mike, whitness of our relationship since day one.

I was a little unsure about our choice to have our rehearsal dinner at a bar at first. Once we arrived, I was so glad we did. Everyone had a blast, Mike the manager even moved the table out of the way so we could practice our line dancing for the next day. It was a wonderfully laid back way to celebrate and pay tribute to the place where it all began.

Are you having an untraditional rehearsal dinner?

Love Again: The Rehearsal

When Carnegie Mellon student, Mingwei Tay, e-mailed me to see if he could shoot our wedding my hands were tied. We had already hired a photography duo with a single photographer clause in their contract. This clause is super smart because if several people are trying to take photos as you are it can make the process very difficult. When we met with one of the photographers, Tammy, I asked if there were any chance Mingwei could take photos for his portfolio. She thought it was a great idea for him to get some experience and I knew we had made the right choice of photographers. (So yep, we had three photographers with us at our wedding. Overkill, you bet. Guests joked that they were our paparazzi.)

Mingwei has already given me a DVD of photos from both our rehearsal and wedding day, but I am going to wait to share the latter with you until I have all the pro-pics, so you don't have to sit through two recaps. Until then, the rehearsal!
Meet Emily, the much loved event coordinator for the Rivers Club.

Sister Pineapple practicing her walk down the aisle and looking like me. Creepy.

That's my dear ol' dad and I ready for our walk. I wore the dress from our first wedding and a jacket to dress it down a bit. I am considering even have it dyed black so it is even more re-wearable. What do you think?

Mr. P looking very serious. Not a look seen too often from him.

All of the gents lined up. Apparently this is the part where I took over for Emily.

The wonderful Judge Mary Jane Bowes. Not only was she no longer obligated to officiate our wedding since we were already wed, but she certainly didn't have to attend the rehearsal. She was the perfect fit for us. She was chic and witty, keeping everyone on their toes.

Practicing gazing lovingly into Mr. Pineapple's eyes, an easy task.

Mr. P and I chose to hold hands throughout the ceremony.

Meanwhile our parents are looking concerned. This is Mr. P's dad and stepmother, Sandi. Maybe they were just getting hungry.
This is my mom doing what she does best, asking my dad a question. I would bet $5 that she said something along the lines of "Mark, what if we forgot to _______." She is the only one I know who worries more than I do. Luckily, because of my mom's many lists I'm pretty sure we didn't forget a thing.

Next up, grub and libations!

Are you planning on having a camera handy for your rehearsal and dinner?

The Rivers Club: Venue Review

When Mr. Pineapple and I first started looking for venues we did most of our search online. We stumbled upon the Rivers Club, in downtown Pittsburgh, and set up an appointment not expecting much. When we met with the coordinator, Emily, we were very impressed. She was kind and up front with us about their pricing. (The only other place we visited was very reluctant to tell us the bottom line, one they did we could tell why.) After looking around for a couple more days and not finding something as nice and as simple as the Rivers Club we put down our deposit.


Emily the Event Coordinator
I liked the Rivers Club, but I didn't love the Rivers Club until the day of our wedding. Everything was absolutely perfect. We were able to get in first thing in the morning to begin setting up the reception. Emily had offered to do all the set-up herself, but I felt guilty leaving it all up to one person and I figured I DIY'ed everything else, why not the set up too? Plus I had the help of all my lovely bridesmaids and Momma P's help.

Once four o'clock drew closer Emily was always by my side. Everything went shockingly well. I don't know how she did it, but somehow she was in a thousand places at one time. All of those little things that didn't get done before we started getting ready were magically perfect. If there was something that went wrong, I had no idea.


The Rivers Club Staff
After the ceremony Mr. P and I were introduced to the woman who would be our server for the evening. She was the first of the incredible wait staff that we were to meet that evening. This was one of the things were heard the most that evening "I cannot believe how nice everyone is here." Free-Jay DJ Mike even got a few of them out on the dance floor.


The Accommodations
Included in our per person cost was the food, open bar, cake, dance floor, speakers and mic, and reception/ceremony set-up. This made it really easy for us, we ended up only needing one other vendor the day of our wedding. The best part of all the accommodations was that there was no minimum. When our estimated guest list went from 110 to 70 we were still treated like we were the most important couple to ever be married there.

Final Grade: A+

Rivers Club
One Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street, Suite 411
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-391-5227 ext 262
412-391-5016 fax
http://www.riversclubevents.com/

What are you looking forward to most about your venue?

Erg! Adventures in Gown Preservation

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Last week I took my gown to David's Bridal to have it cleaned and preserved by a third party. This morning I woke up in a panic. My grandmother made a hand kerchief for my mom to carry when my folks were married. I pinned the same hankey under my gown on our wedding day. Well, guess who forgot to take out the hankey before shipping off her dress? Ugh.

The hankey is more important to me than my gown so I am kicking myself, hard. I called the preservation place and they said my gown was not yet entered into their system. In order to find it in their shipping dock I would need the UPS tracking number. Of course, my luck, David's didn't give me my copy of the tracking slip so they have no record of the number either.

My options were either to call the preservation folks back every day and hope to catch my gown in between being entered in their system and being cleaned. Or to just have them ship it back to me in all its poofy dirty glory. I chose the latter. Now the tricky part is no one knows where my gown is exactly. It is probably in with the 200 gowns the preservation place receives per day. In a box, under hundreds of other identical boxes. They took down my information and said when they enter my dress in their system they will just ship it to my home as is. Fingers crossed.

The manager at David's who helped me resolve my alterations issues back in the day was once again very helpful. It was their mistake not to give me the tracking info, but I am the one who made the bigger mistake of leaving the hankey in my dress to begin with. She said that once I get my gown back and retrieve the hankey, just to bring it back into the store and they will ship it out again for free.

I am a goober.

UPDATE: Already! Mary Ann, the woman who I called 3 times ths morning in a panic, just called me. She went out back to see which gowns were being checked in and guess what? They had my box in their hands! She retrieved my hankey and is going to ship it back to me today. She said she will call back with all the tracking info. Sweet!

Sometimes people are so freakin' helpful and I love them.

Am I alone in my gown preservation blunder?

The Secret Life of Bees (Pineapple Edition)

I tried and tried and tried to think of a nice juicy secret to share with the hive, but alas I am boring. So instead I will share with you a big part of my life that you have never seen, our home. I am the mover of all movers and shakers. Between May 2006 and August 2008 I lived in 6 homes. When Mr. Pineapple landed his dream job in his home town, we once again began the familiar search for a home. We were having a hard time finding a place big enough for our 3 cats, dog and the two of us plus all of our stuff (I don't know where it all came from). Then a friend of Mr. P's told us her folks rented a house on a farm that was soon to be vacant. The monthly rent was way out of our price range, but amazingly her folks dropped the rent hundreds of dollars to fit within our budget.

When we first visited the home it was in pretty rough shape. The carpets were horrible and smelly. There were cigarette butts in the radiators and random holes in the floors put in by the former tenants. It also looked as though it hadn't be cleaned in years. The walls were in really bad shape too. Most of the wall were a dingy off-white and the hall way was wallpapered, dirty and peeling. Apparently the folks who lived there before us didn't care about keeping the house nice. So, Mr. P and I spent every weekend before moving in helping the landlord and his friend fix up the house. Enough jibber jabber and onto the (after) photos...
The house is 4 (little) bedrooms and 1.5 baths, but we turned one bedroom into a closet and one into a studio.

The windows on the left are the living room:
Does that painting look familiar? It was the inspiration for our wedding invitation design. The coffee table houses four ottomans which are great for extra seating. The colors in this room are pretty wacky, but much better than the white they once were.
All the floors in the house are painted either brown or red.
This is where Princess Zazu spends all day everyday.
Our rarely used dining room. Mr. Pineapple picked out this table, I love the bench because I can picture our kids kneeling over the table and working on craft projects.

Our kitchen is bright and a little messy, but I'm okay with that:
The chair on the left is where Harrison spends all day everyday waiting for someone to accidentally leave the bread on the counter for more than 15 seconds so he can eat it all.
This door leads to one of three porches surrounding the house.
This is the half bath downstairs that we pretty much only use as a place to store our vacuum. Check out how close the wall is to the toilet. You pretty much have to hug the wall to sit down.
This stairwell may not look like much but it was a huge project. Dad Pineapple and I put new drywall up on the green walls to cover what were once wallpapered and very damaged.

At the top of the stairs if the most important room in our house (in my opinion). It is my studio where I spend all day designing invitations and of course blogging.
The rug is there because Rooney the puppy kept eating the paint off the floor. Dad Pineapple and I made my desk from a door. It is just big enough for my laptop, printer and of course a little TV.
Studio storage, job white board and Rooney's food.

Okay, brace yourself. Our closet:
What a mess! Oh well. This used to be a bedroom, but we converted it to a closet because the few closets in the house are too shallow to put hangers in.

Across from the closet is the bathroom/laundry room.

Next up is "the wedding room"
This room never got painted or used for that matter for anything other than storage for wedding stuff. As you can see, even after the wedding it is full of junk. I have been avoiding this organization project like the plague.
Now onto our cozy little bedroom:
Our bedding was a shower gift from Mom Pineapple. In the bottom right corner is Rooney's bed, he eats out of bird dishes when we are away.
The photo above our bed is bow bridge in Central Park, where Mr. Pineapple proposed. To the left is a squirrel lamp that Sister P gave us as an engagement present.

Last but not least is our water:
The blocks on the right used to be the foundation for a spring house. Back in the days before refrigeration a natural spring fed the house and kept all perishables cold. Now the spring feeds our entire house. It is the best water I have ever tasted, plus is is clean and free which is amazing.

So now you have seen my secret of life of having a life outside of wedding planning.

Meet Annie the Versary Tree

This week Mr. Pineapple and I planted a tree on his father's property that we have dubbed Annie - the anniversary tree. We hope to visit Annie at least once a year and take a family photo. This year with just our little two-person family.

We purchased Annie for $15 at a local nursery called Musser Forrests. Mr. P had done some research ahead of time on the Musser website and thought we should go with the "October Glory" Maple. After about 30 minutes of searching their land the lovely folks at Musser found our tree. She is a fairly fast growing maple that keeps fall color longer than most. Her colors range from yellow to bright red. If all goes as planned Annie will grow to be 30-50 feet tall.

We planted our tree at the top of a hill where Mr. P and I have spent many a night in our tent and next to a warm fire. Luckily Mr. P's father dug a hole for us with his backhoe while we were at the nursery, saving us a whole lotta labor. Don't worry I did help Mr. P with the planting, I wasn't taking photos the entire time. :)
We have high hopes for our little tree, hopefully we've done everything right to give her a good start.

Family portrait number one

Do you have any plans to commemorate your anniversary?

Ohmigoodness! - The PWC

... and by PWC I mean the post wedding chop!

I joined the bridal masses and cut of my lovely lady locks. I have not had short hair since an uber-traumatic hair cut at age 6 where I was called out as "a boy with a dress on." I have to say though, I am lovin' it!
I spent a day last week back in the 'burgh to take my gown to be cleaned and to have my hair cut by the lovely Jamie at Philip Pelusi who did my wedding hair. Working in a creative field can be tough and I love it when clients give me a lot of freedom so I try to do the same for other creative folks. I just told Jamie I wanted to go shorter and just to do whatever she thought would be cute.
When she finished with the cut it felt sooooo light and cool. I was, for the first time in a long time, conscious that there was a back to my neck. I feel so much older and sophisticated. Having the same hair cut for almost 20 years is comforting, but I am so happy about this change. (And Mr. Pineapple keeps telling me how cute I am, which is a nice perk!)

Do you plan on doing the PWC?

Cleveland Foodiemoon: The Brownstone Inn

Our foodiemoon began everyday with a wonderful breakfast from the Brownstone Inn Bed & Breakfast just two miles from the heart of downtown. The inn was such a wonderful choice by Mr. Pineapple. I loved staying at the Brownstone Inn because for the most part a beautiful hotel is still just a hotel and often they lack charm and character. The was definitely no lack of character here.

The home was built in 1874 and is on the National Register of Historical Places. The owner, Robin Yates, was a great cook and an amazing host. He has been living in the home for 34 years and has run it as a B&B for eight. In the morning he would chat with use making sure we were enjoying our stay and recommending some of his favorite spots.
Mr. P and I had "the wedding room" at the top of the town house. It was a nice big room with a private bathroom. Above the bed was a turn of the century wedding photo. The price was right too at $89/night.

When I used to picture those who stayed at B&Bs I would imagine my parents, on the verge of retirement. However, the other guests who were also staying at the Brownstone were all 20-somethings who shared our same interest in politics and Mr. P's interest in micro-brews. Breakfast was always really yummy and full of lively conversation.
We may be back to Cleveland in a couple weeks and if we are, we will most certainly stay at the Brownstone again.

Do you enjoy staying at bed and breakfasts?

Cleveland Foodiemoon: West Side Market

When people asked us where we were going for our honeymoon we would tell them Cleveland and we mostly got looks that were a combination of confusion and pity in return. Pittsburghers are not known for loving Cleveland, in fact because of ye old football rivalry, we are supposed to despise Cleveland. Sorry fellow 'burghers we loved it!

One of our favorite places in Cleveland was the Westside Market. Mr. P and I love to buy local produce when we can. Living in the city we were part of a community supported agriculture program where 15lbs of produce was delivered to us once a week. Now that we live on a farm we take advantage of the few fruits and veggies we have around and get most of our produce from the Amish market down the road. The Westside Market was huge and delicious and amazing. We even ran into some friends there!

Mrs. Pommegranite and...
Mrs. Avocado!

In an outdoor corridor there were probably a couple dozen vendors selling produce. Much of which waas local, some of which came with a Dole sticker (like my Pineapple relations). There was so much to take in and take home!
Have you ever heard of a pear apple? Neither had we, it's a hybrid pear and apple. Creative name, no? Guess what it tastes like? Like a fruit with an apple momma and a pear daddy.

Inside the market were a couple dozen more vendors selling meats, cheeses and all sorts of other goodies.
Mr. Pineapple doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he had to grab one of these Ohio favorites, a buckeye.

The market is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Many of the restaurants in Cleveland buy and cook only locally grown food. Which is wonderful and I hope it is a trend that catches on! Even if you don't buy anything the market is just a cool place to browse, a feast for the eyes I suppose.
Do you and yours enjoy going to local markets?

My Two Passions: Mr. Pineapple and Line Dancing

copyright: Mary Mervis Photography

During my senior year of college an amazing thing happened. A dirty lovely "rockin' country saloon" opened on the South Side of Pittsburgh called Saddle Ridge. I was already known as "the designer who loved to line dance" at Carnegie Mellon (it's not that popular for city chicks - go figure), when one of my photography professors suggested I do a series of photos at Saddle Ridge. 1600 photos and 6 months later I had revived my passion from high school and made some of the best friends a pseudo cowgirl could ask for. Saddle Ridge is where bridesmaid Christy and I spent Thursday-Saturday nights and where we met BFF Free-J Mike.

Mr. Pineapple does not share my passion for dancing in a line, but he is really good at hanging out by the bar, spectating and keeping my water cup full. So with a few of my Saddle Ridge friends in attendance and running the music machine, there was definately a lot of line dancing happening at our wedding. Sister Pineapple ran the family camcorder by setting it atop her table so the video is not great quality (hello boodies in front of the lens), but I thought you may like to see what it looks like to see a bride atempt to boot scoot in a huge gown.

First we have one to a song called "Life's a Dance" by John Michael Montgomery. This video starts with the end of "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" also by Big & Rich, where you can see Mr. P next to me dancing along by spinning in circles. Hey, at least he tried. This is one of the most exhausting of our favorite line dances. After it was over I plopped into my chair and attempted to cool off. Luckily I had ditched my crinoline in the bathroom earlier. (It was much to hot with all those layers.) Look out for the part where Mike tries to hold my gown up for me. The other fella in the video is Mike's brother Ryan.


Next we have one of the first dances Mike taught Christy and I, we call it "chicken" because it goes to a song called "I Play Chicken with the Train" by Cowboy Troy and Big & Rich. Eventhough there weren't many to attempt the dance with us, you can hear some people singing along. Gooood times.


One of the hardest parts about line dancing in a wedding gown was when my hair fell in my face my choices were to a. drop my dress to fix my hair and potentially trip over my gown and kiss the floor or b. deal with it. I went with option b.

Did you have plans to do something you are passionate about at your wedding?

Deeeeeeep Breath... The Budget

Budgets are sticky topics, but when I first started planning I wanted to know how much people spent on everything. I knew weddings were expensive but I had no idea why. So, if you want to throw a Pineapple wedding of your own, here is the post for you.

From the get go Mr. Pineapple and I wanted to throw the party of our lives, but we didn't want it to keep us from actually being able to afford living. I was constantly worried about the bottom line, about spending more than we had, about regretting the cost of just one day. In the end Mr. Pineapple and I came in about $3,000 under our goal budget and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Here is the breakdown of our wedding day (which excludes rehearsal dinner, hotel, and foodiemoon, partly because I don't know how much we spent eating the last 5 days and maybe I don't want to know.)

Stationery:
$171.00 including stamps and programs
Since I make wedding invites and such for a living I was able to do ours on the cheap, including the printing donated by a friend. The photos used on our save the dates were also a gift from my friend and former professor Charlee Brodsky.

Bridal Attire:
Including gown, alterations, crinoline, veil, headband and date embroidery.
$1,175.00 (a very generous gift from Momma P)
My gown retailed for $1000, but I got it during one of their regular sales. The veil, headband and crinoline were $310, the alterations were $65 and the embroidery was free after the mess that had been made.

Bride Hair and Make-up:
$150 including tip (a gift from Momma P)

Groom's Suit:
$200 (a gift from Mr. P's Mom)

Wedding Bands:
$1,000 for his
$1,350 for mine
Our bands were quite a bit more than we had ever intended to pay, but in the end I am glad we chose the bands we did. My band had to be custom made to fit the lovely crazy shape of my ring. Mr. Pineapple's was made to match mine in rose gold. We will have them longer than our TV that was the same price, that is my justification. :)

Bridemaides' Gifts:
$50 more about what they were to come!

Groom's tie and GMs' ties:
$160 we got these all on sale at Macy's.

Officiant:
$40 for a basket of goodies from Harry and David (a gift from Momma P)
Superior Court Judge Mary Jane Bowes officiated our wedding. She was incredible. She was so funny during the rehearsal keeping the mood light and the ceremony was perfect. Since were we already married she was in no way obligated to re-marry us, but she did and for that we are truly grateful.

Ceremony:
$500 for the room set-up at the Rivers Club
$25 for the hand painted aisle runner
$0 for the ceremony muscians, more on them to come

Photography:
$2450 + photo disks (we don't know how much they will be yet)
We had three wonderful photographers with us on our wedding day. Including Mingwei Tay who is a student at my alma mater and asked us if he could shoot our wedding for his portfolio.

Flowers:
$825 after packing and shipping (a gift from Momma P)

Reception Decor:
$162.00 for centerpieces
$50 for escort card trees
$12 for the copper silk and satin used on the candy and cake tables
Thankfully the only decor we needed to add to the already cozy venue were the centerpieces.

Reception Dinner, Open Bar, and Cake:
$5,750 including tax and gratuity for 74 guests (very generous gifts from Mr. Pineapple's family helped us pay for about half of this total)
The food and service were out of this world and deserve their own post, but for now just know that this was mony very very very well spent.

Reception Details:
$150 for the favor scarves
$110 for the candy table (a gift from Momma P)
$0 for our free-j DJ, more on him to come
$0 for the dance floor, included with the venue
$0 for linens and such, included with the venue

Total:
$14,330

Yes, 14 grand is a down payment on a new home, but it is also about half of what the national average is these days. I am happy with what we were able to pull off. With so much help from Momma P while she was here these last 7 weeks, with gifts from friends and family, and diligent saving by Mr. P and I, we were able to squeak by debt-free so I consider that a win for the Pineapples.