see all the details here!

After over 8 years of dating and 15 months of planning, to say we were looking forward to our wedding day would be an understatement. Being Cincinnati natives, it was important to us to have our wedding in our hometown and we wanted to show our out of town guests why we had been raving about our city for so many years. From welcome baskets at the hotel that were filled with locally made treats to a late night snack of Skyline Cheese Coneys and Graeter’s Ice Cream, our love for our city definitely showed. We got ready at a downtown hotel and then spent the afternoon riding around a trolley to capture the spirit of Cincinnati. We wanted our portraits to be different from the lush garden of our venue.

My favorite moment of the day was doing our first look. Our videographer and photographer arranged for us to meet on the stairwell of the hotel. Walking down the hall and then up the stairs to meet my soon to be husband was one of the most surreal moments. Our team perfectly captured the moment for us in pictures. We really wanted a different venue for our wedding, while still being convenient for our guests and we found that at the Taft Museum of Art. A museum that was converted from the old Taft residence, our guests were able to view all the artwork on display throughout the evening while also enjoying the gorgeous garden space. We were married outdoors in the garden and really did not want to compete with the natural beauty of garden. Inspired by my bridal gown, all our design elements sought to capture a light, airy, and romantic feel. We used an abundance of baby’s breath, lush flowers for the bridal bouquet, and over 300 candles throughout the garden to achieve this vision.

Guests were greeted by the Bride and Groom’s favorite drinks before the start of the ceremony: Root Beer for the Bride and Sweet Tea for the Groom. A specialty cocktail of gin gimlets were adorned with “Love is Sweet” stirrers for guests to enjoy during the cocktail hour. Guests found an envelope at their seats that read “Smiles Go Here” to be used to carry their photobooth strips home at the end of the evening. In a nod to my career as a lawyer, we included a quote from the California “In Re Marriages” case on our program. We tried to include subtle, little touches that reflected our journey together as a couple. While I loved planning all the details during our engagement, at the end of the day there is nothing quite like seeing your friends and family kicking off their shoes to dance the night away. We ended up not even doing a special send off because we didn’t want to leave our reception a minute early.

Photography: TM Photography / Cinematography: Poetic Cinema / Flowers: Katie Elfers of Inspired Floral Designs / Make-Up: Nancy Dawson / Hair: Jennifer Nally / Event Planning: Cincy Event Planning / Ceremony and Reception Location: Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio / Invitations: Giddy Ink / Dress: Melissa Sweet, style: Sidney from Priscilla of Boston / Bridesmaid Dress: Melissa Sweet / Band: Airwaves

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Post tags: Airwaves, cincinnati, Cincy Event Planning, Giddy Ink, Inspired Floral Designs, Jennifer Nally, Melissa Sweet, Nancy Dawson, Ohio, Poetic Cinema, Priscilla of Boston, Taft Museum of Art, TM Photography
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

When capturing your very special day, wedding filmmakers have many tools in their proverbial shed! One of the increasingly popular formats right now is what’s known as a Super8 style. Here’s what Steve from Glass Eye Video had to say on his blog recently …

I’ve been so excited to make this post and announce that we have entered the world of Super 8 film! This has been a long time coming as I wanted to make sure I chose the right equipment and processing lab to handle my productions. After being inspired by the giants of the industry, I knew this was something I had to get into as well. The look, the feel, the raw emotion that is pulled from the film is something that simply cannot be imitated and is truly breathtaking. I filmed my first wedding a couple weeks ago and the bride was completely blown away by it.

More from Steve at Glass Eye Video … “Without a doubt, one of the greatest weddings I’ve had the honor of being a part of was Christy and Tom’s. St. Xavier Church was just the beginning that night. The reception at Music Hall was incredibly unique and insanely gorgeous, thanks to Brigid Horne-Nestor of i-do! Weddings and Events! Not one, but TWO live bands kept the guests entertained throughout the evening, including my favorite local band, The Rusty Griswolds. I’ve never seen a dance floor come alive like the one that night, it was AMAZING! I had the great pleasure of working along side Tine Hofmann, who was there snapping beautiful pictures one after the other! This was the first wedding I filmed in Super 8 and it was the perfect wedding to cover in this beautiful medium. It’s truly amazing how the film brings a whole new life to the images in a way that simply cannot be achieved with any other medium. I had the film processed in widescreen format to give it a modern twist and to help it flow with the HD footage that I shot that day as well. I hope you enjoy their teaser! The song is ‘Love and Some Verses’ by Iron & Wine.”

We, too hope you enjoyed the clip from Christy and Tom’s wedding. For more examples of Steve’s work, check out his website and blog.

A huge thanks to Little Black Book member, Tine Hofmann at TM Photography for providing the very lovely photos!

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Post tags: cincinnati, Glass Eye Video, i-do! Weddings and Events, Music Hall, Ohio, St. Xavier Church, Super 8 Film, The Rusty Griswolds, TM Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Vintage Chic, Wedding Photography, Wedding Style

And a HUGE thank you to the other vendors that helped make this wedding gorgeous…the fabulous Alison Wenstrup of Aviva Events and Little Black Book members, tm photography who captured the amazing images and Courtenay Lambert who designed the STUNNING florals and who owns The Bridal Studio, a one stop shop for any style savvy bride.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, cincinnati, Courtenay, Letterheads, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

the stunning photographs are by tm photography

From Nancy of the fabulous Brideface…

Our caterer passed cocktails and appetizers before the ceremony, and then had a variety of pastas as entrees, as well as a dessert buffet.Of course we had to have s’mores, since my father had recently landscaped his backyard, adding a firepit that begged to be christened. He outdid himself on the lighting, stringing every tier of the deck with tiny white lights. We added plenty of lanterns and torches as well.

More to come!

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Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, cincinnati, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

images by tm photography

From Nancy…

For the tables, I just used random personal collections I had amassed over time; mercury glass, crystal doorknobs, milk glass, cloche jars, vintage china, and Ohio buckeyes. I found a great fabric that I used for table runners and had a wonderful Etsy seller put that same pattern into my daughter’s(flower girl) and niece’s(maid of honor) dresses. My boys wore tuxedo tees, (at their request), and I made both of them ring bearers.

More to come!

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Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, Cincinatti, cincinnati, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

all of the gorgeous photographs were captured by tm phototgraphy

From Nancy…

My own dress is a Calvin Klein, found for nearly nothing on a clearance rack (after weeks of searching!) I made my haircomb, my earrings were made by a dear friend, my cuff was J Crew, and my shoes were Kensie.

More details on the way!!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, cincinnati, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

So incredibly beautiful. The photographs, shot by the oh-so-talented Tine Hofmann of TM Photography, are exquisite…showing the candid emotion, the simple beauty, the sheer lovliness of the day. And, we have so much more from Tine and Nancy on the way!

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Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, cincinnati, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

But, what I really loved was the glowing reviews that Tine, the photographer, had to say about Nancy, today’s bride and owner of Brideface in Cincinnati. Seems that everything she touches turns into something beautiful…from the brides that she works with to her own real wedding…

From Nancy…

Rich was living in Brooklyn when we met, and we were engaged at the Brooklyn Bridge, so Kristen Folzenlogen of LetterHeads did a brilliant sketch to bring that element to your invitations. I gave Courtenay Lambert full reign with the florals-I knew I wanted succulents and golds and lots of interesting texture. She blew me away with what she came up with! She even surprised me with a tiny image of my late sister nestled into my gorgeous bouquet.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aviva Events, brideface, cincinnati, Cinicinnati, Courtenay Lambert, Letterheads, Ohio, The Bridal Studio, TM Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance