Shelly and Kenny Cincinnati Wedding Photographer

Shelly and Kenny were married at St. Bernard's church in Dayton, Ky.  The day was filled with the most laughter I think I have ever experienced at a wedding.  Shelly has the prettiest smile and the sweetest Kentucky twang.  When I first met Kenny I had the impression he was Mr. Serious, I was dead wrong.  He is just as fun and silly as Shelly, they made sure above everything else, they had fun on their wedding day.  I was glad to be part of it. :)Shelly's maid of honor was helping put the garter on when her earring got stuck on Shelly's dress.  Gorgeous!

Shelly and Kenny are huge Kentucky Wildcat basketball fans.  The bus was a blast!  Jessica was the best maid of honor ever!  She made sure Shelly looked amazing throughout the day.  She was also my go to girl all day.  Thanks Jessica!

Cincinnati Wedding at The Bell Event Centre

I feel very fortunate for the opportunity I had to travel to Mexico earlier this year to photograph Shanean and Ryan's destination wedding.  I got another opportunity to spend time with this gorgeous couple at the Bell Event Centre for their reception recently.  The Bell, which is a renovated church/bell and clock museum/event space is loaded with charm; vaulted ceilings, antique clocks and bells, colorful stained glass, marble and terrazzo floors.    The Bell Event Centre offers the option to have your ceremony and reception in the same location.  There is a beautiful courtyard that overlooks the city that is perfect for cocktail hour and photos.  The food is so, so good.   I feel safe saying it is the best I have had at a wedding to date. :)  They can accommodate up to 350 guests and have a full service staff of chefs, servers, bartenders, ect. that are very professional and courteous.   It was wonderful working with such an outstanding group of people. :)

See images from Shanean and Ryan's destination wedding here, their sexy day after beach shoot here, and underwater fun we had in Mexico here.

Shanean is so beautiful.Inside The Bell Event Centre.  There is a huge collection of bells and clocks to admire throughout the venue. Shanean's mother made their cake.  So good!! Time to break it down! Shanean and Ryan have a super fun group of friends! :)I made a slideshow of the images from Mexico so that all of the guests could see the wedding.  I love this image of Shanean enjoying it at the end of the night.  Thanks to my assistant, Justin for capturing it. 

Free Wedding Photography

If you are  planning a  kick ass hippy/punk rock/romantic/home grown wedding I want to photograph it!

In honor of  Love+Bash, Cincinnati's first alternative wedding expo,  I am giving away free wedding photography to one special couple!!!

Here are the Details

Included is 8 hours of wedding photography by me and my assistant. I will be shooting digital and film photography (Holga, 35mm, Polaroid)  Digital Negatives, albums, additional time, and prints can be purchased.

Contest ends MAY 8, 2011 11:00 p.m.  I will announce the winner at Love+Bash on May 15, 2011 at the Leapin'Lizard.  You must be present at Love+Bash to win.

I am looking for a wedding that is unique, alternative, and loaded with character and charm.

To Enter send the following info to nikita@nikitagross.com with Love+Bash Giveaway in the subject line.

1. Your Name and date of your wedding
2. Wedding location
3. 2-3 pictures of you and your mate :)
4. A little about your love story
5. Unique ideas you have planned for your wedding. (DIY projects, clothing, colors, flowers, decor, etc.)

The type of weddings I love to photograph are

• full of antiques and vintage finds
• eclectic
• take place on a farm,  in your backyard,  in your home, at a gorgeous park, on a boat, at an alternative space such as a bar,  loft, or art gallery
• overflowing DIY projects
• green/eco friendly
• full of crazy tattooed people ;)
• full of people who love to dance and have a good time
• romantic and covered in flowers

**Update**  This wedding giveaway just got even better!!  Inspired Floral Design,  Your Wedding by Jen, Five Dot Design, and Cinci Makeup just sweetened the deal  bringing the total value of the giveaway to $8500!

Cinci Makeup will be providing free makeup services for the bride.

Five Dot Design will be giving away a $500 credit toward the purchase of your  paper goods!

Inspired Floral Design is offering complimentary florals for this kick-ass wedding, up to a $2000 value.  Here's the deal:

• You cannot currently be under contract with any other floral designer... we certainly don't want to offend another designer.  If you've already booked another floral designer, we'd be happy to help style an amazing engagement, bridal sitting, day-after or trash the dress session with complimentary florals.
• You agree to contract Inspired Floral Design for your wedding flowers.  The first $2000 of the order will be complimentary, anything in excess of that will be your responsibility. Depending on your "concept" we can absolutely work with you to keep you under budget if need be.
• Of course we want to know what you like and your vision for your wedding, but a whole lot of creative liberty from there is what we're expecting.  Trust us... we'll make it awesome, promise!
• All we ask in return is permission to use the images from your wedding after the fact for blog/website galleries and possible submission to other wedding publications.

Your Wedding by Jen is offering a Full Planning Package valued at $4000 which includes:

• Unlimited consultations via phone, email or in person during business hours
• Budget development and management
• Planning itinerary
• Assist in selecting and booking of ceremony and reception venues. (Must have final approval from client)
• Event design, theme, and décor concept development
• Etiquette advise
• Invitation, stationary and favor selection
• Recommend suitable budget appropriate vendors. (Music, florist, officiant, caterer, cake, photographer, videographer, ect.)
• Unlimited vendor referrals
• Arrange vendor appointments and accompany them with you if needed
• Contract review and negotiation
• Manage vendor relations
• Assist with menu selections
• Final site walk through
• Provide information on how to obtain marriage license and name change assistance.
• Assist with guest accommodations such as hotel and shuttle.
• Ceremony planning
• Rehearsal coordination and instruction
• Assist with rehearsal dinner location and arrangements
• Creating and distributing wedding day timeline to bridal party and all vendors
• Final vendor confirmation and distribution of driving directions
• Day of Coordination

**Date must be available and agreeable on other vendors participating. **

Love+Bash Promo Shoot

Love+Bash tickets are on sale!  They are $6 pre-sale and $10 at the door.  Head over to Cincy Ticket and get yours now.

Last week I had the pleasure of  photographing one of my favorite models, Ashley, for the Love+Bash promo shoot.  I love, love, love photographing her.  She is not only smoking hot, she also has the best wardrobe ever!  See more images of Ashley here and here.  Thanks for being so awesome Ashley!  I also want to thank Marti's Floral Designs for allowing me to borrow the colorful brooch bouquet for the shoot.  You will be able to see much more of Marti's work at Love+Bash, she just signed on as one of our featured vendors! :)

Love+Bash

If you follow my blog or my facebook page you have heard me talk a lot about Love+Bash lately.  I just realized I haven't properly explained what exactly Love+Bash is.  While I wait on my gorgeous model for the Love+Bash promo shoot today I want to give you a better understanding of how Love+Bash was created and let you know what to expect there.

I am new to the Cincinnati wedding industry so I decided it would be in my best interest to network with other vendors.  As I was searching the net  I stumbled upon Your Wedding by Jen an event planning/design company ran by Jen Pritchard.   I stalked Jen's blog for a while  and totally fell in love with the her style and attitude.  I emailed Jen and asked her to meet me for lunch.  Lunch never worked out, but eventually dinner and drinks did.  During our 5 hour dinner,  we were discussing the wedding industry and the direction it was heading in Cincinnati.  Weddings have changed a lot over the past few years.  People are no longer having the same wedding their parents had.  If you follow any of the most popular wedding blogs you know they are overflowing with amazing ideas to make your wedding a reflection of your style.  We wanted to find a way to bring these ideas and the vendors who are pushing the limit creatively to our clients in Cincinnati.   As wedding vendors we feel it is our responsibility to do so, most brides don't start researching wedding ideas until they get engaged, we do it every day.

Our major complaint over dinner was that the resources for  creative wedding ideas in Cincinnati were practically non existent.  Bridal shows have become very predictable and boring.  After seeing indie bridal shows pop up in all of the major cities we felt it was time to bring one to Cincinnati.   I am a firm believer in the saying, if you want change, you make change.  During our very first time meeting we made the decision to create an alternative wedding expo to showcase Cincinnati's coolest wedding vendors.  After a very long brainstorming session we came up with the name Love+Bash,  and started to develop the concept and research vendors.  Unlike most bridal shows there will be no booths or pushiness.  We have hand picked Cincinnati's finest to showcase at Love+Bash.  The vendors will be presenting their work as you would see it at a wedding.  There will be a fashion show featuring independent designers and vintage finds as well as DIY classes.  The response has been overwhelming from both vendors and brides.

I could not be more happy to be working with such an amazing person on this event.  Jen and I compliment each other well.  We feed off of each other and encourage each other.  Our style is so much alike that we have to call each other when we go out together to make sure we are not wearing the same thing. :) She is very organized and has great taste.  From my experience working on weddings last year I would have to say hiring a wedding planner for your day is one of the best investments you will make.  They take care of all of the details that far too ofter fall in the hands of the couple and their families.  Having someone there to take care of all of the details ensures you and your family will be able to enjoy the day without worry.  Visit Jen's website to find out more about her services.  She offers every thing from day of coordination to full on event design.

Here we are at the Live Click Photo Booth at recent vendor event.  It was too much fun!  See more images from that event here. Two of our featured vendors, Inspired Floral Design and Sweet Cakes Ltd. helped on the event design.  Thanks to Ciulla Photography for the beautiful images.

Featured on Hi-Fi Weddings and a beautiful French Wedding Blog!

Natasha and Hank's engagement session I shot at The Southgate House is featured on Hi-Fi Weddings today!   This blog is super cool!  They not only showcase some of the best wedding photography I have seen, but also offer great tools for creating a killer play list for your wedding.

While I was stumbling across the internet I found  a beautiful French blog that featured  some of these pictures of beautiful Ashley, how exciting!

Underwater Film Camera in Mexico

I brought an underwater point and shoot film camera with me to Mexico for Shanean and Ryan's wedding.  I figure it isn't every day that I get the opportunity to take pictures in such a beautiful place, why not have as much fun as possible with it.  It was a blast! :)

See images from their destination wedding  here and here.

Shanean and Ryan Part 2 Beach Love Session

Shanean and Ryan Cancun Riveria Wedding Part 1

He is the planner, she goes with the flow.  He is the observer, she doesn't even notice the entire room is admiring how gorgeous she is.  They are both beautiful people inside and out.  Their love feels good to be around.  Shanean and Ryan were married at the breathtaking Secrets Silversands resort in Cancun Mexico surrounded by their close friends and family.  I cannot thank them enough for not only giving me the opportunity to document their love, but for also being so gracious to me the entire time I was with them.  What a fantastic way to start off my wedding season!

She looked amazing!