ANN & JEFF

We had a traditional Catholic ceremony. It was held at Ascension of Our Lord Church in the Westpark neighborhood of Cleveland, OH. We are both parishioners there, and that is the main reason why we chose it for our ceremony. The unique layout of the church as well as the warm, earthy dÄcor was an added incentive to have our wedding ceremony there. The reception was held at St. Clarence Catholic Church in the Pavilion. The venue itself was beautiful; the sliding glass doors open to reveal a huge patio with trees and other greenery surrounding the back of the building. This venue uses Ahern Catering exclusively. I was a bit nervous about not having a choice in the matter, but the food was delicious. 

Despite my calling and changing things several times, the flowers were perfect. I have to admit, I had no idea what I really wanted for the flowers, but Judy talked to me about what I like and what I don’t like, and somehow managed to design beautiful bouquets, centerpieces, corsages, boutineers, a flower girl basket and headpiece, a piece for the alter, and loose flowers for my hair. We used Floral Images, based in Kamm’s Corners. 

Total Eclips Salon and Spa in Parma did hair and make-up for myself, all of the bridesmaids, and the mother of the groom. They offer several bridal packages, and I chose the on your Wedding Day package. It includes hair and make-up as well as fruit, bagels, coffee, tea, and mimosas. It was the perfect beginning to the day. 

The cake was done by Cakes by Jo Anne. We wanted the cake to be pretty, but to also look like a cake, not a sculpture. We also wanted the cake to be much more than just a forgettable plain white cake. We had cassata cake, peanut butter cup cake, spice cake with apple filling, chocolate cake with chocolate filling, and white cake with raspberry filling. Jo Anne told us that she would make sure that there would be more cake than we actually needed, just to be sure that there would be enough. Jo Anne and I agreed that when it comes to food, it is better to have too much than not enough, but at the end of the night, there were maybe five pieces left. Our guests were getting seconds and even thirds! ╩Thinking back on all of the weddings I have attended over the years, I cannot remember a single wedding cake, but four months later, I am still getting compliments on mine.

To be honest, using anyone besides Michaelangelo’s never entered my mind. Cheryl and Ed had worked with my father on various commercial advertising projects through the company he worked for, and when my father was remarried in March of 2001, he and my soon to be step-mother chose Michaelangelo’s again to photograph their wedding. My step-mother also chose Michaelangelo’s to take a series of family portraits of her large family (about 70 people). My much smaller family (5 people at the time) also enlisted Cheryl to take our family portrait. Two of my four step-sisters chose Michaelangelo’s as their wedding photographers, and I had no doubts that I would do the same. My confidence in their ability was reinforced throughout the entire wedding day. Cheryl was not only incredibly professional, but also, as it turned out, was a skilled wrangler of the slightly unruly (and possibly tipsy) groomsmen.