Morning Glory Inn

Review of the Morning Glory Inn, South Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I became engaged in February of 2008. Both my fiancé and I decided to have a quick but still formal wedding and all the details that type of wedding entails. We decided on late April and began our search for a venue.

I had lived in the South Side and as a runner, had frequently run past the Morning Glory Inn and on several occasions witnessed a wedding. From what I saw, it was beautiful: lush garden landscape, beautiful flowers and stained glass within a well-restored Victorian bed and breakfast with gorgeous brides. So when it was my turn, and getting married in Ireland wasn't an option for us due to elderly relatives and the short time frame, my heart became set on the "fairytale" wedding I imagined would occur within the Morning Glory Inn.

At the Morning Glory Inn, they do a really good job of selling you on how inclusive the package is, how much money you save, how accommodating they are, etc. Be warned.it gets really expensive really fast. You pay for and provide pretty much everything. Dave and Nancy drive home to you constantly that they handle everything and you worry about nothing but showing up (check out their website www.gloryinn.com). In their contract, they say their fee is a comprehensive package. I could go on and on about how NON-inclusive their "package" is but then this would be 10 pages long. Essentially, you are paying to use someone's backyard and wine glasses. My parents have a large enough backyard with beautiful gardens.I could have easily done the same thing at their house.

We decided to not stay at the Morning Glory Inn on our wedding night - as we had an early flight the next morning - so we booked a suite at the Hyatt at the airport. However, in the "honeymoon suite" .the bed folds out from the wall.how romantic on your first night as husband wife! You are actually sleeping in the innkeeper's home (it is a separate house from the inn) and their kitchen is directly off of the "bedroom" - which in the daytime functions as their meeting space. The space is also used during your reception as a lounge area.

Dave is extremely unfriendly, arrogant, confrontational, mean, gruff, abrasive and gives the impression that speaking to you inconveniences him. Unfortunately, you only deal with him and not Nancy prior to your wedding day. As a bride, on the night before my wedding day, he was downright nasty to me, rude to my mother and had an attitude that was wholly unbelievable for a man who touts himself as a wedding coordinator for a "destination celebration" inn. Nancy herself told my mother that she is well aware of Dave's attitude and we weren't telling her anything she didn't already know as her daughter and all of her friends were always terrified of Dave.

It is a nice courtyard and yet one can't help but notice that it could be better especially if the bricks were fixed.a number of guests tripped on the uneven bricks.my heels and those of the other girls got stuck in the cracks a number of times. The retractable roofing that was there in the event of rain (it had rained a little in the morning) was dirty and over the arbor was a cheap white tent that you buy at Wal-Mart and use for tailgating. This "tent" was filthy and directly over the place in which you are married. The "sound system" is nothing more than a glorified iPod docking station (but wait! If your iPod isn't charged you will be in trouble because you are really just hooking up your iPod to a stereo with no charging capabilities) with speakers and there are no wired outdoor speakers thus making your music next to impossible to hear.and though Dave says he is in charge of your music.he isn't. My uncle did it for us at the last minute. Dave is responsible for making sure no one touches his precious Bose system but not to ensure the listening pleasure of your guests.

They also tell you that they provide a parking lot for your guests.but no one bothers to tell them how to get there. Many guests parked blocks away because there was no direction, yet we were promised that someone would be standing out front to direct people to the parking lot. My mother has said it best in regard to how instead of you not even knowing they are there (as Dave and Nancy will constantly tell you prior to your day) they are like the Gestapo, constantly there with a scowl. You can't even hold the key to the room where your belongings are - you must constantly hunt Nancy down so that she can let you in - so make sure your wedding gown has utility pockets! And the lovely Dave is scowling in quite a number of my wedding pictures looking as if he has missed an important tee time.

I would never recommend to someone to get married here. It was a beautiful day for us, in spite of Dave and Nancy's attitudes - but I can't help but wonder how much better it could have been if we had not gotten married there.

They don't accommodate you in every way; don't take their word that they are going to assist you in more ways than you imagine.as their contract letter states. I wish I had looked into the reviews and details more thoroughly before I agreed to all this. I had a beautiful wedding because of my husband and my guests.it had nothing to do with the location or Dave and Nancy.I'm just glad that we didn't let them ruin everything. If you are thinking of having any type of function here.don't. It isn't worth the tears, the stress or the regret.

We have just returned from having our wedding at the Morning Glory Inn. The inn itself is very charming and located in a beautiful setting. However, the owner is beyond belief - rude, unaccommodating and very difficult to deal with. I totally agree with everyone else's comments regarding his attitude. On our initial visit, he was very nice and seemed to be willing to accommodate any request. As the wedding day neared, his attitude changed 100% and it became apparent very quickly that his initial demeanor was simply to charm us into giving him an outrageous amount of money to rent his property. Our guests found him to be extremely rude and made many feel very uncomfortable.

We dropped by some supplies the day before the ceremony and had a brief run through of what to expect the next day. Since the weather was not cooperating and it was quite chilly - in the upper 40's, we asked that the owner be sure to have the outdoor fireplaces lit and ready to go for our reception, which was to begin as soon as the ceremony was over. He would only light 2 of the fireplaces which did not warm the area in the least, so all of our guests, especially the women, were freezing in the courtyard. The courtyard itself is brick but not done properly at all so it is very uneven and makes is difficult to walk. Several times my heel was caught in the brick and I almost fell. I am amazed that no one has fallen and hurt themselves on this uneven surface.

We were from out of town and the added stress of having to deal with the owner just about ruined the day for us, but thanks to a great caterer, minister and florist, everything was wonderful, and we just tried to ignore the owner. The most interesting thing is that each one of our vendors, as well as the manicurist who did our nails, had nothing good to say about the owner. They all said he was a jerk, and that his reputation was very bad. We certainly can attest that this is the case. He seemed to almost go out of his way to make things more difficult than they needed to be which caused a great deal of upset at a time that should have been only positive.

The only good thing I can say about this location is that it is beautiful and that the owner's wife is pretty nice, but it is obvious she is told what to do by him, and doesn't have much influence or control over him.

My advice is not to use the Morning Glory Inn for any special event as the cost is very expensive and you do not get the value for your money. Research other venues and talk to others before even considering using this location. We have really only heard negative things, and only wish we had known this before we booked our wedding here.