A reception fit for Squirrels!

When we first got engaged, we were set on having a destination wedding at the Bethany Beach.  But after finding out that most of our elderly grandparents would not be able to make the trip out, we decided the wedding had to be back in the burgh and the beach would have to wait for our anniversary.  A couple months later, we came across the perfect venue for the wedding...  Mellon Park!  And with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) sitting right next door as the perfect place for the reception.

(photo by the PCA)

Now while the PCA was perfect on paper, it didn't add up right for us.  When you pay for the Center, you are paying for it's charm and beautiful art that will be on display.  You still end up having to rent tables, chairs, linens, and a bunch of other things.  Then when you consult their list of catering, the one company we talked to couldn't go below $20 a person.  In the end, a wedding with only 100 people would have costed us near to 10,000.  So despite Miss Joy at the center being a doll and helping me start planning a wedding at the park and the center, I had to tell her we couldn't reserve it for our wedding.  This led us to the idea of looking for a place with a park setting or renting a pavilion in a local park for the reception.

Our long time friend Betsy suggested the place she got married at...  The Westinghouse Lodge in Forest Hills.  The price was perfect (1/3 of the Center) and it has all the tables/chairs provided.  It's a cozy little wooded setting near to where our families live.  They have a full kitchen inside, a huge ice maker and indoor bathrooms!  So we reserved this little gem instead.

Now as I'm starting to plan more of the details of the wedding and reception randomly, I decided that we needed to get a better feel for the Lodge.  It had been years since I had been by there and I wanted to know details such as how many picnic tables are on the wrap around porch (I'm making kraft paper table cloths).  So we made an adventure out to see the place for ourselves during the time that the caretaker was to be there.  To our dismay he was nowhere to be seen so we trample on the grounds alone taking photos and counting tables (46 to be exact!)

Views of the yard behind and to the right of the Lodge

A lost little pine cone

Spring has arrived at the lodge... aka flowers are growing!