Erie Weddings at Erie Blogs

Thank you to Erica who has provided an excellent, in-depth article about her wedding experience in Erie, PA.  Erica’s blog can be found at: www.junepath.net.  Erica reviews her experiences with Unity Church in Edinboro, the Masonic Temple’s Grand Ballroom, catering from Marketplace Grill,  cake from Warner’s Bakery, photography from Erie Blogger Ron Richards, hairstyling by Empyrean Day Spa, and music from DJ: Dynamic Sounds. 

Submit your own wedding story today by contacting Jenson: Jennifer4956@msn.com

In August of 2005, my boyfriend, Alan, proposed to me in our home in Hendersonville, TN. Despite our current location, we never thought twice about having our wedding in Erie. It was a natural choice, as we’d both grown up in the Erie area.

Planning a wedding from Tennessee wasn’t easy, especially because most businesses in Erie and the surrounding areas are without websites. There were little to no photos to be found of potential reception halls and most of the photography websites we’d found looked like the photos had been taken in the early 90s.

We did eventually get all of our vendors in order, through phone calls and occasionally through email, and what follows is a list of vendors, reviews and photos if applicable.

Church: Unity in Edinboro
http://www.unityinedinboro.com
Phone: 814-450-6090

Unity was an obvious choice for us, seeing as how Alans family had been members for years, and more recently my own family began attending services there.

I contacted Joanne Rowden through email, and she replied quickly, and she was extremely enthusiastic about holding our wedding in their sanctuary. She sent me photos as well as the url to their website, both of which were a great help. We were able to print out our contract at home and send it to Joanne through the mail, and that was it! Absolutely no hassles!

Not only was it extremely easy to book them for our wedding, we were able to go into the church two days before the wedding to decorate (which saved us precious time in the last hours before the wedding) and we also used their fellowship hall downstairs for a casual family dinner following the rehearsal upstairs.

The church itself is a small white church on Meadville street in downtown Edinboro, with a small sanctuary in the upper level. The pews curve around the room and form an aisle right up to the alter. The decor is very simple, no worries of clashing with existing decorations, but it should be known that you will probably want to do SOME decorating. We hung flowers at the end of the pews and had some floral arrangements on the alter. Some brides may choose to have an aisle runner for the aisle, as the church is carpeted, and this might “dress up” the aisle a bit.

The sanctuary itself isn’t made for very large weddings, I believe its maximum seating in the pews is around 150 people, although if necessary chairs could be brought up from downstairs to accomodate a small number of additional guests.

There were no photography or music restrictions, our photographer was able to move freely and no one balked at us for playing rock music for our ceremony. There is plenty of room on either side of the alter for live musicians, or if you’d prefer, they have a sound system in which music can be played.

Downstairs from the sanctuary is The Fellowship Hall, where rehearsal dinners or small receptions could be held. There are plenty of tables and chairs down there, as well as an attatched kitchen for meal preperation, or simply keeping items warm/cold.

Also downstairs is the nursery, where we chose to have the girls get dressed. Not for everybody I’m sure, but I rather enjoyed the way our photographs came out with the contrast between my white gown and brightly painted walls. It was a nice private area for us to get dressed, but it could also be used for keeping antsy children occupied during a long wedding ceremony.

Another dressing area could be in the room adjoining the sanctuary. It’s commonly used for as a meeting or counseling room, but would work just as well as a dressing room. We chose to have the guys in this room, so the girls could “hide out” until the ceremony started, we’d have been spotted for sure if we’d have used this room to get ready in.

In the back of the church is a small white gazebo, great for photographs or smaller ceremonies. A good “sunny day” option, with the church as a backup in case of rain or extreme heat.

Overall, I’m extremely pleased with our experience with Unity, the only “cons” to them are things that aren’t necessarily their fault: Limited parking, although there is more across the street. There is no air conditioning, but with the high ceilings and ceiling fans, we never even noticed. Other than those few things, its the perfect place if you’re looking for a laid back location to have a wedding in.

Reception Location: Grand Ballroom - The Masonic Temple
Phone: 814-452-6484

The reception location was one of the harder things we had to decide upon. Initially we wanted to keep our reception near to where our wedding was being held. Unfortunately, all the places nearby were already booked.

We branched out into Erie, and it became “too expensive” or “already booked” or “100 guest minimum” We were starting to feel defeated, and not enough places had websites for us to look at to make any kind of decisions.

Then I remembered a photograph I saw of a wedding my friend had attended. I called her up as soon as I can and asked her where it was held. She replied: “I think it was The Masonic Temple.”

I had only recently seen an ad on erieweddingplanner.com, and it was just one photo and a telephone number. We called immediately to find out if they were open for our day.

We were put in touch with Christine Scheffer and she was great to work with. Energetic, friendly, and genuinely excited to have our business. They had both the Grand Ballroom and the Camelot Room available. We chose the ballroom, but I’ve heard nice things about their Camelot room as well, I believe it actually holds more people than the ballroom.

Not only were they available, but they were inexpensive! The rental fee for the hall at the time was about $500 and then there was a per-guest fee on the buffet. We just had to pay the $250 deposit for the hall up front and then another $500 by the end of the year (we called them in September) for the catering. Although its not legal in PA for caterers to provide alcohol, they were more than willing to provide 2 bartenders for the event as long as we brought in our own alcohol.

Neither the buffet or the alcohol is mandantory, I believe you can just rent the hall and then bring in other food if you wanted. When we booked them they only allowed their caterers (The Marketplace Grill) but around the time we got married they’d just switched over to allowing anyone bring in food. I’m sure they still highly recommnd the Marketplace Grill but it can help bride’s and groom’s save money and still have a beautiful reception.

We didn’t get to see the hall until a couple months before our wedding, but we were not disappointed. Beautiful hardwood floors, ornate wall carvings, and enough room to hold all of our guest tables and still have a dancefloor. There was a stage at the head of the room which they informed us is a common place to set up the bridal party table.

This was also the first time we’d met Christine in person, and she was just as wonderful in person as she was on the phone. She showed us samples of how they decorate the hall, different ways they can arrange the tables, as well as all the different color linens we could use.

She also explained how they prefer to set up the buffet line in a room across the hall from the ballroom, which saved room and kept the mess of the aftermath away from the eyes of our guests. The room that they set the buffet lines up in was nice and clean, and large enough for several people to move through at the same time.

In between the ballroom and that room is a beautiful vestibule area, perfect for setting up a guestbook table.

They also allowed us to come in a day early to decorate, and didn’t hover over our shoulders as we did our own thing. We were able to set the tables up in any formation, to maximize space for our guests and to have a dancefloor in the middle. They had already put the linens on the tables by the time we came in to decorate so we just had to put up centerpieces and a bit of tulle on the bridal table.

At this time they also allowed us to bring in the alcohol so that it some of it could be put in a cooler overnight.

On the day of the wedding everything went perfect. The hall was open for us to get into on time, they helped our cake people in coming in and setting up in front of the stage, and everything was set up perfectly. They were able to accomodate our DJ with no problem, and were ready for us the minute our guests began arriving. It was nice to not have to stress at all about it!

Parking for the Temple is available at a nearby parking garage (free on weekends) and they have an elevator that would accomodate handicapped or severely intoxicated guests. The building is a non-smoking facility.

I would absolutely recommend this vendor to pretty much anyone. It is absolutely gorgeous, the staff was more than helpful, and it definitely gives a big dollar impression for a great price.

Catering: The Marketplace Grill
Phone: 814-452-7272

Our catering went pretty much hand in hand with our reception location. At the time we booked The Masonic Temple, if you had any type of catering, it had to be through The Marketplace Grill. It was only recently that they switched over into allowing you to bring in any caterer you want.

We met with Christine Scheffer (she’s in charge of booking the Temple as well as TMG) just before our wedding, and she showed us several of their buffet choices, and even helped us customize a few of their menu options to accomodate a few of our vegetarian family members. She was incredibly helpful, and the price per guest wasn’t bad at all (Under $15 a head) compared to other local caterers.

A few days before our wedding she invited us into The Marketplace Grill downtown to sample what we’d be eating the day of our wedding, at no charge to us. It was absolutely amazing! Not only were we able to sample everything, but she offered us dessert at no charge and sat and talked with us about the day of the wedding and how everything should go. We felt very much like our business was appreciated, and were more than happy that we went with TMG as our caterer (even if it wasn’t necessarily our choice)

They set up the buffet in the room across from the ballroom in the Temple the day of the wedding, and it was neat in appearance, and all the food was at the proper temperatures. The staff that took care of the service was courteous and seemed to really enjoy what they were doing.

The staff from TMG also took care of the bartending at our reception. The bartenders seemed to be having a decent time, and we even have photos of them hamming it up for the photographers. I love seeing people having FUN at their jobs, not standing their bored and miserable. Not only were they fun people, but I hear they did a great job serving up the drinks.

I was very pleased with TMG, not just their food but the lengths they went to make sure that everything was going to work out to our approval. The food itself was fantastic and the service was great, I have absolutely nothing but high recommendations for them.

Cake: Warners Bakery
814-827-2331

We had sort of a weird request for our wedding cake. We wanted a 3 tiered, square cake with pawprints on it. Being animal lovers and having an “adopt a pet” theme for our wedding, it was the perfect “icing on the cake” so to speak.

Alot of local places in Erie were either not comfortable doing the cake at all, or were charging far too much for what we wanted done. So we turned to Warners Bakery, a Titusville, PA based bakery that Alans grandmother worked at for years.

It seemed a little crazy, hiring a baker that was an hour away from our reception location, but they were willing to deliver, their price was right, and most importantly not only would they do the pawprint cake, they were excited about it!

The cake was delivered to our reception hall so I didn’t even see it until I walked into the reception hall, and it was a tad bit different than what I’d expected, but it was still wonderful. I had anticipated wider tiers, and this cake was a bit more narrow, but they got the pawprints perfect. They used fondant for the icing and simply steciled on the prints in pink and red. They also applied white piping, red ribboning and pink “dots” on top of the ribboning. It was absolutely beautiful!

As for the taste it wasn’t bad, but it was definitely rich. I think thats just the nature of fondant and if you want a cake with any type of elaborate decoration you might have to suffer through the fondant for aesthetics. The fondant also made it sort of hard for us to do the ceremonial cake cutting, it was like armor! The rest of the cake was very tasty however, and I don’t frown upon Warners for the taste/texture of the fondant, thats just how it is.

I realize alot of people aren’t really interested in a Titusville based bakery for an Erie wedding, but keep in mind that they were willing to deliver, and for the price, it is definitely worth it!

Photographer: Ron Richardson
http://www.ronshouse.com

I spent about a year silently looking in on Ron’s Flickr page, and admiring his work. It wasn’t until we realized that we weren’t impressed with any of the local Erie “wedding” photographers, that it dawned on me to ask someone who’s photography I was impressed with, even if he’d never shot a wedding.

I contacted him through email, and he responded within a day or two, and he definitely seemed interested in the idea, although I’m sure he was a tad bit nervous. Weddings are serious business, but from the work I’d seen on Flickr I had faith in him.

We met up with him on our trip to Erie before the wedding, and he was one of the sweetest guys I’d ever met. Slightly shy but he has a business sense about him that made me feel comfortable hiring him. I never once had the fear that he might not show up or that he would do an awful job.

He came to our rehearsal dinner and shot around the church a bit, something he didn’t have to do, but he did as a courtesy, and his presence was very much appreciated. It told us he was serious about what he was doing and seeing his arsenal of photo equipment made me confident that not many shots would go untaken.

He was with us from the beginning, at the spa, which I’m so thankful for because he captured alot of images from a time when it was “just us girls” that was a wonderful part of our day.

During our time at the church before the ceremony he did his best to go between shooting the girls and shooting the guys, no easy task I’m sure, but he did it without looking frazzled, and kept a professional demeanor no matter how hard it had to have been.

I barely noticed him during the ceremony, I think that was partially because I was so excited/nervous that I didn’t notice much of anything, but also because he kept a low profile and wasn’t at all intrusive.

He continued to shoot until almost the end of our reception, and it wasn’t until we got our photos that I realized he shot everything! There are photos that he could have gotten killed taking from the window of his moving car, there were photos of our family that are absolutely priceless and I know that we will treasure forever. He got at least one (although usually several) shots of family members that show the true “them” and that to me made it worth having him there.

Despite not shooting a wedding in his life, his photos were fantastic. I know he had some technical issues in the church (ceiling was a tad high for bouncing flash) but for what he had to work with, he did a great job. He also ventured into the world of mass post-production and I wish that I’d have had more money to give him because the price he agreed upon with us wasn’t what it was worth. I hope that in his subsequent weddings he was properly compensated for his excellent work.

Hair Styling: Empyrean Day Spa
http://www.empyreandayspa.com
814-734-1909

I had always known I wanted to treat my girls and female relatives to getting their hair done the day of the wedding, but all the places I was being referred to were in Erie. My wedding was in Edinboro, and driving up to Erie and back would have been too much of a hassle, but it looked like it was our only option. I looked into Coventina Day Spa, but they’d have required an arm, a leg, and the firstborn children of everyone in the bridal party to even make a dent in the cost of their services. It seemed like that was the price I’d be looking at for most places in Erie.

Needless to say I was absolutely thrilled when I found out through the 16412.org bulletin board that there was a place in Edinboro capable of doing the hair for 6 women for prices that wouldn’t break the bank.

I called them from Tennessee a few weeks before the wedding, and they put us on the books for 9:00AM on the day of the wedding. I was fearful that for 6 women we’d run short of time if we showed up any later. The receptionist who made the appointment was friendly and even made a joke that they’d be happy to do my hair if I’d promise to bring them some country stars from Nashville.

We arrived the morning of the wedding just before 9:00 and they were already ready for us. The spa itself is very beautiful, not too large, but large enough to work on several people at the same time. The waiting area was comfortable and they seemed pretty laid back about us sitting there looking though hair styles and eating donut holes. They also had juice, coffee and magazines on hand for those of us waiting, or trying to wake up.

They were able to work on 3 of us at a time and despite having massive amounts of hair to be curled, the girl who worked on me finished in about 45 minutes. The entire bridal party was done within 2 hours.

I was very impressed with their speed of service, and the quality of service! Everyone looked amazing and the hairstyles lasted well into the next day.

DJ: Dynamic Sounds
http://www.dynamicsounds1.com/
Phone: 814-455-7537

I found Dynamic Sounds after being informed through John Gallagher’s website that he was available for our date (he was not) and getting the runaround from Bill Page. I honestly can’t remember how I found about them, but I filled out a form on their website and got a phone call a few hours later.

The guy on the phone was very corteous, maybe not excited per se, but he knew what he was talking about and what people wanted for receptions. He explained their services clearly and there was no question left unasked. I booked them right then and there.

It only cost us $25 to reserve our date, and I believe the entire 4 hours of DJ service only cost us about $325.

We were able to meet at their office a couple days before the wedding, and although it was small, there were several thank you cards from happy couples hanging up. Those are the kind of testimonials you can’t make up!

We had some really unique song requests, and they were able to find every song we wanted. Alot of these songs were sentimental to us, and having them played for specific dances made it all the more special, and had they not been able to find them, I think something would have definitely been lacking from our reception.

The DJ showed up to set up before the reception, and was dressed appropriately for the event. He MC’d the event and everything went almost perfectly to plan. The dance floor remained fairly empty throughout the reception, but I don’t blame that on the DJ at all, our crowd was sort of tough to get out there.

The only thing I’d have liked would have been to have the music just a little bit louder. Not that it was quiet, but it wasn’t quite loud enough to get people really excited about it.

All in all, I’d recommend them to any Erie bride. Their music selection is fantastic and what they don’t have, it appears they can get quickly and easily. They showed up on time, played what we asked, and kept the pace of the reception moving along swiftly.

How do you find the ultimate wedding location in Erie?  I have two suggestions: Networking and Research.  Use the people you know to find the location of your dreams.  Do lots of research to find out possible locations, real life experiences, and more. 

 Shout out time– where did you get married?  Have you been to any amazing and unique Erie weddings?  Where were they at? What made them stand out in your mind?