What a difference a wedding date makes.

When Pittsburgh became the host city for the G-20 summit, Phil McMullen and Rhianna Shea Reichard's plans for a Sept. 25 wedding at the Sheraton Station Square wilted faster than a fragile boutonniere.

While the hotel staff at first told the Bethel Park couple that the gathering here of 20 world leaders on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 24 and 25,would not affect their Big Day, the two learned the following week that their guests would be subject to background checks and security checkpoints.

Not very romantic.

"This was a big day for us," said Ms. Reichard. "All my family's from out of town. They're going to be fighting the traffic. They would have been subject to background checks. It was so ridiculous. That's the last thing you want to hear."

So the wedding was moved to another Friday at the hotel, Aug. 21 -- five weeks earlier. The disc jockey was busy, so a new one was found. Invitations with the new date had to be reordered. While the same florist and photographer were still available on the new date, about 30 of their 150 intended guests were not -- including key relatives. Moreover, the hoped-for honeymoon to Ireland now in the high tourist season of August would be double the price the couple had planned to pay.

And what will they do with the custom-made, monogrammed runner bearing the date of Sept. 25, 2009?

Such is one of the many fallouts from the biggest event to hit Pittsburgh in years.

Although people in the hotel industry are used to juggling dates almost daily to accommodate changes, it's not so easy for families on the booking end. Fortunately, because most people prefer Saturday night weddings, many Downtown hotels did not have weddings booked for that Friday.

Peter Cipkins, director of sales and marketing for the Westin Convention Center, Downtown, said a couple of groups that had room blocks at that hotel reconsidered after learning of the summit. American Eagle, for example, had scheduled its fall conference for employees that week.

"They are going to change dates or look at another city," Mr. Cipkins said. No wedding receptions were scheduled there Sept. 25.

Bob Page, director of marketing for the Omni William Penn, said the hotel's managers advised guests and groups with confirmed reservations about the G-20 summit and the potential for gridlock.

"Then it becomes their choice. Do they want to continue to reserve that date? We did explain to them that certainly the atmosphere would be different in terms of security levels."

Mr. McMullen, a union boilermaker, and Ms. Reichard, who worked at a rental car agency until she was laid off in January, are on a tight budget and chose a Friday night wedding because it's $10,000 cheaper than holding the event on Saturday.

The couple, both 26, got engaged at one of the scenic overlooks atop Mount Washington on Sept. 25, 2008. In November, they reserved the Sheraton's Reflections, Waterfront and Admiral rooms to host a sit-down dinner reception for 150 people. They also reserved a block of 25 of the hotel's rooms.

But once the Obama Administration dropped its G-20 bombshell on June 1, the political ballyhoo trumped bridal satin.

"I was so overwhelmed, thinking of all the people I had to call," Ms. Reichard recalled thinking after she learned of the conflict.

The hotel said it would refund a $5,000 deposit.

The groom got tough. He accused the hotel's general manager of breaching a contract and said he was thinking of hiring a lawyer.

The hotel offered four other dates -- the Fridays after Thanksgiving or Christmas of this year, a date in March of 2010 or Friday, Aug. 21. The couple chose the last option.

But a changed wedding date wreaks havoc on schedules and travel plans, especially when the bride's guests are coming from West Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Clarion County.

"We lost a lot of guests," Mr. McMullen said.

The worst part, Ms. Reichard said, was "calling all of our guests and hearing them say that they had set their vacation so they could attend our wedding and that they might have an issue with trying to reschedule their days off. It's just a hassle for them."

The bride's grandmother, a full-time greeter for Wal-Mart in Winston-Salem, N.C., may not be able to get time off to attend. Other guests of the bride may not be able to attend if they cannot reschedule their vacations.

With fewer guests, the couple worried they would not meet the $8,500 threshhold for a sit-down dinner, which is costing $80 per person. But the hotel, Mr. McMullen said, agreed to lower that benchmark to $6,500.

Andrew Sliben, director of sales and marketing at the Sheraton Station Square, said his staff explained to the couple that the G-20 summit might interfere with their wedding, adding that it could take an hour to get up and down in an elevator because of security.

"It's going to be like nothing we've ever seen," he said.

To accommodate the couple, the hotel lowered the room rates by $10 for the couple's guests and added a chocolate fountain and two cases of Guinness beer to the reception at no charge.

Barring any other schedule snags, the couple plans to exchange vows in the hotel on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. The groom's uncle, a minister who preaches in Evans City, will officiate.

And the honeymoon? Even though they had hoped for Ireland because Mr. McMullen is Irish, they're now looking at the Caribbean or Europe.

Still, they're trying to stay positive about the ordeal.

"Some days," said the groom, "we just joke around and say we should have gone to Vegas."