Weddingbee Blog

After the disappointment of our previous encounter, Mr. DE and I soldiered on with our venue search. We are practical people and we were aware of our limits. That’s why I knew it would be a waste of our time to look at venues out of our price range.

Our options were thinning out as dates were filling up and reasonably priced reception halls were few and far between. We started to think that we would have to pay slightly more than what we had originally budgeted.

In January of this year, Mr. DE, my mom, and both of my Deviled Sisters joined me in attending a women’s expo and bridal fair sponsored by the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce. (Yes, ladies, you read that right. Mr. DE came with me to a bridal fair! He’s such a good sport!) It was held at The Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle, PA. While we were tasting cakes, signing up for drawings and checking our vendors, I was telling Mr. DE about how The Cathedral was my oldest Deviled Sister’s wedding reception venue.

Her reception was held in one of the building’s lower-level ballrooms in 2000. Back then, they paid a room rental fee and were able to bring in the caterer of their choice. Their wedding reception was beautiful and the food was great. The icing on the cake was her price. She really got a great deal on everything since she could shop around for food vendors.

Fast forward a few months and we learned that the building made changes to how it rents its facilities. They now require renters to use a specific caterer and the packages and price per person now start at almost 3 times what my sister paid only 8 years ago.

Still, I crunched the numbers. With what we needed, this place was still one of the best bang-for-the-buck reception venues we came across. I especially liked how everything—food, facilities rental, tax, gratuity, cake cutting, cookie traying, security services and linens—was included. There were no hidden fees and no surprises.

We did an official tour of the place in March where we met with the catering coordinator, who was very helpful. Our date was available, but due to my indecisiveness and hope for a better location, we didn’t submit a deposit until May. Lucky for us, it was still available!

This building was originally built in 1926 by the Freemasons to provide a large enough meeting space to accommodate the entire membership of their organization. The Great Depression resulted in unpaid taxes, the sale of the building, and the formation of The Cathedral Foundation, a non-profit organization who took over management in 1944. The main attraction is the 2,800-seat auditorium, which, in its time, featured the largest stage between New York City and Chicago. The stage is currently the home away from home for The Pittsburgh Symphony and the meeting rooms and ballrooms also serve as venues for local trade shows and expos.

For our reception, we will be using the lobby of the auditorium. I love the look of the tall pillars and the marble floors. It will be a tight fit with all of our guests, but I love how the room is unique and elegant.

Enough chitchat. Let me show you some photos! Here’s the lobby set up for a reception:

source

Sorry, the picture from their website is a little blurry. Here are some photos I took:

Our rental also includes the mezzanine floor, which provides an overlook of the lobby and extra seating if we need it.

I really like that it is a bit of a non-traditional reception site. The pillars are beautiful and the natural lighting from the picture windows will create a great atmosphere as the sun goes down.

Are any of you straying from the traditional ballroom or banquet facility?