Charlie and Jess’s Wedding Information

Please RSVP at http://jessandcharlie.anrsvp.com/ by May 13th.

Ceremony and reception

June 4th, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Family photos at 4:30 pm

Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve

614 Dorseyville Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

We will have a participatory ceremony in which formal programming will be minimal, but any who are moved to speak or share in other ways (such as music) are welcome to do so. We want the event to reflect and involve our community of friends and family.  We hope you will share a few words of wisdom or reflection, a poem, a song—however you are moved to celebrate, advise, or commemorate the occasion.

Our ceremony format is loosely based on that used by Quakers, who don’t have officiants at religious services (a.k.a. meetings) because they view all people as equals.   At Quaker meetings, anyone can speak or sing as the spirit moves them.  Quaker weddings are like regular Quaker meetings, except the couple also speaks their vows in the presence of the meeting.

One of the benefits of living in Pennsylvania is that, because it was founded by Quakers, it is legal to self-marry without a minister or other officiant.  As we speak our vows to each other, you, the attendees of the ceremony, are the legal witnesses of our marriage and you all sign the marriage certificate, which we can keep and frame to remember the occasion.  In the Quaker tradition the witnesses are the Quaker meeting community; for us it will be our community of friends and family.

The reception will include a vegetarian dinner and desserts.  We will also follow the southwestern Pennsylvania tradition of having a cookie table; if you are inspired to contribute cookies, let us know!  If you are not familiar with this excellent Pittsburgh tradition, see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/dining/16cookies.html.

Additional weekend events

For out-of-town guests we have two additional events:

• Friday evening dinner and games, 5:30 pm
  Charlie’s house:  303 S Winebiddle St, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
  Interfamilial teams may be required.
• Sunday morning brunch, 10:30 am
  Charlie’s house:  303 S Winebiddle St, Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Gifts

In lieu of gifts your presence alone brings us tremendous delight.  If you do feel moved to give something, here are some ideas:

• We would love to create a wedding garden of native plants. For the plant to be a true native plant, though, you must buy the plant from a native nursery in Pittsburgh. We recommend two sources, listed below. We are happy with most natives, but we don’t have space for trees or shrubs. Here is a list of preferred plants (and a few plants we don't want) if you want further guidance: https://goo.gl/F09zoJ (it does include 3 shrubs, the favored few!).

• Beechwood Farms Native Plant Nursery, at the wedding location. The plant store is open 9-5 pm on Friday and Saturday. Hours for other days available here: http://www.aswp.org/Store/
• Sylvania Natives, at Ira Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.  (They’re located near the end of an alley in an otherwise residential neighborhood.  Yes, that’s their address.)

• An artistic, whimsical, or decorative item could find a happy home in our household.  We already have well-established households with the usual practical home items.
• Donate to a community charity:

• Northside Coalition for Fair Housing:

• http://www.northsidetenants.org/index.html
• http://www.northsidetenants.org/donate.html

• Pittsburgh Art House:

• http://www.npr.org/2016/01/24/463859455/young-artists-find-home-and-healing-at-a-pittsburgh-art-house
• http://lovefrontporch.com/

• Nine Mile Run Watershed Association:

• http://ninemilerun.org/
• https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1436691

Lodging for out-of-town-guests

We have reserved a block of hotel rooms very close to our houses.  These rooms are super convenient but a bit pricey, $169-189 per night.

• Walking directions between the hotel and Charlie's house:  https://goo.gl/7B1DFR
• Reservations must be made by May 4th to get the group rate.
• Bloomfield Hyatt House, phone:  888-545-8207.   Tell them you are a part of the McPherson/Garrod wedding to get the block rate, or you can reserve online at:

http://pittsburghbloomfield.house.hyatt.com/pitxpgmcga2016.html

Other housing options:

• AirBnB might be a good combination of location and value. Try searching their website with our zip code, 15224.
• Hotwire.com is a good place to look if you are searching for something cheaper than the hotel block. Hotwire, though, doesn’t tell you where you are staying until you make the reservation—they just tell you the neighborhood the reservation is in. The neighborhoods (as Hotwire lists them) that we recommend as reasonably convenient are:

• Downtown Pittsburgh area
• North Pittsburgh—PNC Park—Heinz Field
• North Hills
• Pittsburgh North—Harmarville—O'Hara
• Oakland—Pittsburgh South Side  (This is pretty convenient if they put you in Oakland, but if they actually put you in the South Side you might be up to 30 minutes away.)

The U.S. Open golf tournament is unfortunately happening just north of Pittsburgh (not far from the wedding venue) the week after the wedding, which is making hotels more expensive than they ordinarily would be.  If you have any questions or want more information to figure out lodging, don't hesitate to get in touch!