The Roost Event Center | Mahaffey, PA

Talk. About. Details. The Slater + Rikal wedding was absolutely packed with personality and thoughtful gestures. From the activities to the cowboy hats, there were really too many favorites to narrow down to just ten, but we’ll do our best!

ten. Champagne Wall
What better way to start off a wedding, than being greeted at the beginning with a crisp glass of champagne to sip on. Morgan and Ryan truly prioritized the guest experience when planning each detail of their day. This started at the very beginning, the second guests arrived, when they were met by our champagne wall – the perfect way to set the vibe and get the night started. 🤌🤌🤌

nine. Bet.
It’s hard to find ways to meet the personalities of every guest, when you have over 200 people in the room, but these two took it as a challenge. It seemed that perhaps there may be some sports betters in the bridal that influenced this, and if so we’re thankful for that, because having guests bet on what the first dance song would be was so much fun! They had guests pay 1 dollar to write their name on the board by the song that they thought it was and after all was said and done, one lucky guest won a vase full of cash! This and the scratch-off ticket favors at each table really gamified the night, with guests winning some money, anndddd… probably a few free tickets. 🙂

eight. Reception Entrances
Haven’t gotten the hint that this wedding was truly a vibe yet? Let’s fix that. The bridal party entrances begun with sports-like introductions including fun facts about each of them, and loaded with humor. They hand-wrote these for each of their 16 bridal party members, and clearly had a blast doing them. But wait, there’s more. Rather than going to their seats, they all joined at a table on the dance floor, where the newlyweds met them for their first married game of flip cup, battle of the sexes style. It was a close race to start, but the ladies brought their A game and ended up sweeping the guys. A++ on creativity and fun, and congratulations to the winners!!

seven. Caricatures
Have we seen this on tiktok? Sure, but have we gotten to experience the magic of having an activity like this in person? Not until October 11th. Harlan is such a talented artist and was able to get guests in and out in only a couple of minutes. Everyone was obsessed with their hand drawn portraits, and it made such a nice personal touch for the guests. He even stayed through the reception which made a perfect alternative to dancing. A quick break outside, and a custom piece of artwork made for a fun memory and a great wedding favor. PLUS, he’s from right here in little ol’ DuBois, and you know we love supporting some of our own!

six. Food
No for real, we still think about this almost everyday. The macaroni and cheese, the creamed corn, and the bbq sauce flavor – it was all unmatched. BBQ at a formal wedding isn’t the easiest of feats, but Chillin’ N Grillin’ sure knew what they were doing. How can you not love BBQ at a wedding?

five. Family
Let’s be honest, the individuals who are closest to the couple end up working with us as much as the couple (if not more) the weekend of the wedding. You see on tv and in movies how sometimes, this can go sour, but that was NOT the case for us. Their parents were so sweet and super involved helping any way they could early in the day, but then were able to switch that off and be in the moment after the ceremony. You could tell they enjoyed the time with their loved ones, and being able to be fully present, and we’re so happy to be able to help families enjoy these moments, rather than work the day away.

four. Favors
Ah! As a dog parent, you know we’re about to play favorites. We love how many couples are starting to include little touches of their four-legged family members in their day, especially when they can’t physically have them there. Morgan and Ryan have 4 pups, so they outnumber them twofold in the house. It wouldn’t have made any sense to not have the photos, the napkins, and especially the homemade dog treats for guests to take home to their furry friends. You can tell that Cooper, Copper, Cora, and Casper are oh-so-loved and probably super glad to have their humans back home now!

three. Vendors
We rarely include our vendors in the actual top 10, but this was an absolutely star studded team. Working with The Roost is always bound to be a great night, but add in the others, and especially the unique additions, and it really brought the whole day to life. DJ Andrew was SUCH a party-starter and we could tell that he LOVES his job. He effortlessly managed the fun intros and each formal detail with ease, making the night the level of energy that Morgan and Ryan were hoping for. All of our vendor team truly went above and beyond, and with such a large wedding, we really couldn’t have done it without each of their help and expertise.

two. Horse and Carriage
It was giving Enchanted, by Taylor Swift. Through all of our BBE weddings, there has never been a ceremony entrance quite as grand as this one. The new garden that they’ve added to The Roost made for the perfect walkway for the bride and her father to be dropped off at. The beauty of the incredible white carriage was only enhanced by the warm fall day and the long walkway – truly making it all the most picture-esque moment. We can’t wait to see was was captured by the photographer, Cassidy, because we were honestly too in awe of the moment to remember to record it.

one. First Touch
There are just no words. This was such a great personal touch to share an intimate moment without being in front of everyone. It took away the pressure of standing in front of the crowd while they read their private vows and share the emotion of the day with each other, but without any sneak peek – that had to be saved to be saved for that grand entrance. We were hiding with the photographer to keep out of the moment, but hearing the love that they have for each other made it emotional for all of us.
& The kicker? They chose to do this where Morgan is the most comfortable – of course, behind the bar!

honorable mention: Hide and Seek
Right after cutting the cake, we were working through our task list, when none other than Ryan comes up to us with some jaunting news – his ring was missing. Both of us and Cassidy are looking around, scrolling through photos to find the last time he had it, and trying nearly everything possible to help him remember. As we’re walking back towards the getting ready suites, we’re stopped by Morgan who tells us that he set it down and the groomsmen found it and were now holding it hostage to mess with him. We played along for a couple more minutes before one of them caved and told Ryan that they had it. Did our hearts stop for these moments? Sure, but we love a good sense of humor, and this was a pretty good prank. Maybe he’ll be more careful next time he takes his ring off…

honorable mention: A moment for the cake
A stunning five teir cake by the fabulous Marta sat in front of a beautiful white floral heart backdrop and it lined up so perfectly, you would have thought it was on purpose. Just another example of how perfectly the pieces fell into place for this wonderful couple

Morgan and Ryan were so much fun from the meetings with Brittany, to the big day with Haley and Missy. We all had so much fun working with them, and hope that their life together is half as energized as their reception was, because that was one heck of a party! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Rikal!!