Vendor Video – New Feature!
Hello! We’d like to introduce a new feature on our blog. Every month we will be posting videos from our preferred vendors offering information on their services, specials, and industry trends. From weddings to all other special events, stay tuned each month for new ideas from vendors in the business! If you have questions or things you want to see from our vendors, send us an email at marketing@thewillowroom.com or comment on our blog.
This month we hear from Amy at McShane Florist in Belle Vernon. Click here for the video.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Willow Writer Heidi tells us what she’s been up to!
Since deciding on The Willow Room, we’ve made lots of progress in our planning and checking off some of those big “To Dos.”
Once we signed our contract with the Willow Room, Kim mailed us a list of preferred vendors which has definitely come in handy. The cool thing is that we can choose to use the preferred vendors, or find vendors on our own. Plus the preferred vendors usually come with some kind of discount –which is super helpful! We’ve already booked our DJ, our photographer, and chose The Willow Room’s preferred vendor McShane Florist for our flowers. My mom and I recently met for a first consultation with Amy, from McShane’s – and she is fantastic to work with. I am still looking around for a few ideas…but I think I have a pretty good idea of what our bouquets and centerpieces will look like – exciting!
Dan and I also just had our engagement session last week with our amazing photographer, so hopefully I can include a photo or two from our session in my next blog. So – still a few big things to go…but we are coming along. I also found my dress!!! Love, love, love it!…but I think I will save the dress shopping experience for another blog, because every wedding dress deserves its own dedicated blog post. 🙂
Other than that, we have been really focusing a lot of energy on the house. We need to switch back into wedding planning mode soon, since I feel like time is racing by. There is a wedding site that I visit frequently (maybe too frequently!) and it gives a countdown to your wedding. I remember first creating an account, and seeing over 400 days to go…now my countdown is almost under 300! I know this may still seem like a long time, but it’s amazing at how many things there are to think about and do.
Plus…now that I’ve found out Will and Kate just got engaged (Heidi is referring to Prince William that is, haha!) and will be planning a 2011 wedding, I told Dan we need to step it up. I mean, I totally don’t want ours to be overshadowed by theirs! All I got was a dirty look 😉
Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Chef Haberle’s Video Blog: How To Make Cranberry Cherry Relish
Watch Chef cook up some Cranberry Cherry Relish!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o4hdckrUTU
You can find the recipe on our Website under “Chef” at www.TheWillowRoom.com
or on this blog.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone 🙂
Community Holiday Party
Do you have a small office but still want to enjoy a large-scale holiday party? At The Willow Room, we can provide you and your employees with your own tables, and the opportunity to mingle with other businesses during the evening. This fun-filled night of food, fun, and networking is our annual Community Holiday Party. Last year’s event was a great success and we look forward to seeing more of you in 2010.
Join us December 16th, 2010 from 6pm-10pm. Call for reservations. 724.379.5666
Click here for the menu and prices.
Willow Writer Heidi On Choosing The Willow Room!
After we returned from our cruise, Dan and I quickly dove into the whole wedding planning process. We definitely didn’t want to wait too long before getting married (seeing as that we are not getting any younger!), and we also wanted to be able to have enough time to plan the wedding that we both dreamed of having. We figured a year would give us plenty of time to plan, (although time is already moving by way too fast!) so we quickly decided on a late summer/early fall timeframe… but we still had to choose a venue that was accommodating to the number of guests we were looking for, and affordable at the same time. This, my friends… is not always so easy to do! I have expensive taste (as I’m sure my parents, and now Dan can vouch for) and although my ultimate dream wedding may still be at Cinderella’s castle…or on some tropical island, we were determined to also find a nice venue in Western PA so that all our family and friends could attend. As appealing as a destination wedding sounded (and still sounds), we both realize it is really about being able to celebrate with the people that are closest to us… so Western PA it is!
We definitely knew we wanted my parent’s pastor to marry us, so we knew we would be looking southeast of the city. Although there are quite a few great choices, in our local area…it proved a little challenging to find something meeting all of the above requirements, in addition to finding a place where my family/friends haven’t already attended numerous receptions. Dan and I started by searching online, what seemed like 24/7 and calling/emailing numerous places. Oddly enough, The Willow Room was actually the first placed I emailed. I had attended a cousin’s baby shower last spring, and it was fantastic…so I knew it was definitely near the top of my list. They were also one of the few venues, that actually followed up with an email and a phone call…which I think just goes to show how customer service oriented they are. We quickly set a date to tour the venue and so one Friday morning… Dan and I, along with my parents and sister (after a night of Jimmy Buffett fun) visited the Willow Room. I had totally forgotten that the outside looks more like an office building, so I think some of our party might have been a little skeptical at first. But, when you take the elevators and arrive at the top floor and exit…it’s like this little Aha! Moment. One where there should be someone welcoming you with a tune on a grand piano or something (hmm… wonder if I can work this into our budget?!) So, it’s just like I remembered…absolutely gorgeous…it will be perfect! We are still in our beginning stages of working with the Event Coordinators, but so far it’s been great and we are thrilled to be working with them. We’ve checked off many more of our major “To-Dos,” but I’ll save more for another day!
P.S. On a random side note…we just bought a house! Not just any house, but my Grams’ house…so I actually feel as if we’ve already bought a home. We’re excited to make it our home and build upon the already existing great memories. So much has happened for us this year…but I guess timing is everything! So, in addition to the craziness of planning a wedding, we’ve added this house buying/remodeling thing to the mix! Life sure is busy… 🙂
Heidi and Dan's 1st home
November Recipe from Chef Haberle: Cranberry Cherry Relish!
For all of you putting hours of effort into cooking a memorable Thanksgiving dinner, then opening a can of cranberry sauce PLEASE STOP! Here is a very easy recipe that will have your guests shouting “GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!” – Chef Haberle
Cranberry Cherry Relish
6 cups fresh whole cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cup cranberry juice
2 cups dried cherries
Procedure
Combine all ingredients except cherries in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally until cranberries pop, about twenty minutes. Let cool and mix in dried cherries. This may be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 week before serving. Makes 4 ½ cups.
Words of Willow 