Megan+Renee:love

I met Megan a few years ago through my husband, he does her hair and has for many years. I am now happy to call both Megan and Renee my friends.  I knew right away Megan was a ton of fun.  When she and her beautiful bride asked me for my help on their wedding day I was beyond excited. There are a few reasons to my excitement. One, because Megan and Renee are absolutely amazing people. Two, because it was my first same sex wedding. I have been trying to inch my way into same sex marriages/unions/ceremonies for YEARS now. Marriage equality is one of my passions and I feel as if I can not do enough to show my support.
Megan and Renee opted for a simple, traditional style for their ceremony and reception. They wanted all of their guest to focus on their love then have one hell of a party to celebrate it. They achieved their goal!
Megan and Renee, thank you so much for trusting me to pull your plans together, your wedding was awesome.
Here are a few photos by Red Photo Fusion:

Vendors:
Flowers: Marti's Floral Design
Venue: The Sanctuary
DJ: Jay Downs
Caterer: Be Creative
Hair: Shane Weber Salon
Photographer: Red Photo Fusion
Photobooth: Showtime PhotoBooth

Karen+Dan=badass

Ohhhhhhh....Where to start...Karen and I had starting emailing about a year prior to her wedding. From the very first contact email I received from her I felt a good connection.  Karen and Dan were planning their Cincinnati wedding from Virginia. Which is stressful on any level, but when we finally met in person, I knew this girl was on top of the game. She handed me a folder containing about 40 pages of info. From photos and bios of each member of the bridal party, music playlists, invitations, inspiration boards and all kinds of goodies. I felt as though I just met with a wedding planner who was getting married. This girl was organized and I LOVED it. Aside from the organization Karen offered I immediately noticed how her and Dan compliment each other so perfectly. Respectfully asking each others opinions on things and just being in love.
Looking forward to their wedding, the day finally came and I was blown away. First because Karen did an AMAZING job at planning her wedding. She left out not even the smallest detail. Everything was beautiful and the love surrounding Karen and Dan was absolutely perfect. They have so many awesome friends who wanted to make sure this day was flawless and everyone did!
I have to start showing photos now, because there are so many fantastic images. Congratulations Karen and Dan and I hope you are adjusting well to your new home in Atlanta.

Vendors:

Photographer: Innovatory Photography

Hair: Drea Naschke

Makeup: Heidi McKenna

Bouquets: Etsy (KateSaidYes)

Officiant: Steve Means

DJ: Brian Childs

Cake: Spoon Fulla Sugar

Venue: 20th Century Theater

Some Unique Centerpieces for your Wedding

While planning your wedding you have many fun and creative things that you and your fiance can make look really unique.  That being said the center pieces for your tables where your guests will sit is something that you want them to remember and to also be a conversation starter.  The center piece is very important because it bases off of what your wedding theme is, the colors, and what you all as a engaged couple enjoys.  There are so many different types of center pieces you can do that are different, such as of course the traditional flowers like roses, lilies, tulips, daisy's, carnations, and more but with either an edge, modern, or soft look to them.  The types of add ons that you can use are ribbon, different shapes and colored vases, bottles, candles, fish bowls, and etc.  Putting some thought into your center piece is important because everyone sees it and it is a main attraction when your guests walk into the reception hall. Here are some eye catching center pieces to help create a unique look.

http://www.bhg.com/wedding/centerpiece
http://pinterest.com/all/?category=wedding_eventss

Trendy Wedding Hair styles for the Bride and her Bridesmaids

Deciding how to wear your hair out to work, to school, to an event, or out on a Saturday night can be frustrating at times especially when you don't know what to do with it, but how you and your bridesmaids wear your hair on the wedding day makes all the difference.  For a trendy look there are many things to consider when choosing how to style your hair.  The theme of your wedding as of what you are going for, your dress whether you want to show the back of the dress or the neckline, and of course what styles look good for your facial structure.  The hair styles that are trending right now are defiantly braids, colorful feathers, gem like clip ons, jeweled head bands, and pearls.  Fresh flowers in the hair are also very in style.  The beautiful fresh colors gives the look a brighter side and also some elegance. You can tell your florist what colors you want and they can fashion some gorgeous flowers for you and your bridesmaids.  Hair is a very important factor for you and your girls having a style that is easy yet fun is the perfect way to go.  Here are some neat ideas to take a look at!

http://pinterest.com/search/?q=wedding+feathers
http://pinterest.com/

erin + jeremy

Erin was a client I had met because she was a friend of two of my previous brides, which I adore. When I met Erin I learned that her mom was used to New York weddings. Weddings which were full of glitz and glam and that is what she wanted. Also, that is what she achieved. An intimate wedding at the Hilton Netherland Plaza is still a beauty. With the French art deco decor at the Hilton and the huge floral designs by Courtenay Lambert there was nothing left small about this wedding. It was beautiful. Erin and Jeremy are an adorable couple and their families are as well. Check out the photos below and i know you will love what you see so lets give some credit to the amazing vendors!
Hair : Sam Hills, High Five Salon
Makeup: Nancy Dawson, BrideFace
Floral Design: Courtenay Lambert Florals
Venue: Hilton Netherland Plaza; Continental Ballroom
Cake: the BonBonnerie
Lighting: Goodwin Lighting
Band: The Chuck Taylors
DJ: Greg Lee

erin + jeremy by urweddingbyjen

love+bash

OK OK.. I have been waiting to do a blog post about love+bash for awhile now so here it is.
Many of you know that Nikita Gross of Nikita Gross Photography and I worked our butts off to organize Cincinnati's first ever alternative bridal expo. We put many, many, many hours of planning into this event and I think in the end it showed. It was awesome! When we said "bad ass" we meant every syllable of it.
Honestly we had no idea what to expect. We had many bi-polar moments where we were so pumped and excited than we would start to panic and freak out a little. Our vendors were great and every time they said they were excited it gave Nikita and myself a little boost of confidence.
When the day finally came, it was raining, which made us even more nervous! As we were all unloading onto the sidewalks waiting to get into the Leapin Lizard every moment that passed we got more and more nervous, excited and anxious. So many emotions!
Once we got in it was "game-on."
Every vendor knew exactly what to do when it came to their displays. We were so excited to see everyone bring it, in terms of creativity and using love+bash as an outlet for that. Everyone got our vision perfectly.
As time went on, all of the fashion show models were upstairs getting their hair and make-up done. Downstairs was shaping up to look "bad ass" Nikita and I were running around like crazy checking everything and someone yelled "you have a line outside!" We were so excited, Nikita's motto through this whole adventure was "if we build it, they will come." From day one she said that, and I believed it and it happened. The turn out was awesome and so many brides, grooms, moms, and friends had FUN! It was not stuffy and people wanted to talk to the vendors. They loved what they saw and asked questions. It was exactly what we wanted. I know I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and pride once the day came to an end and I am 100% sure Nikita did as well. We could not have done it without the amazing vendors who participated and the bad ass couples who came to see. Thank you to everyone who was involved in making love+bash a success.
We are excited to start planning love+bash 2 and have many bright new ideas and BIGGER plans for the future. So take a peek at the 1ST annual love+bash!

love+bash by urweddingbyjen

love+bash

Oh the things I have been working on.. CRAZY! I sometimes wonder why I feel the need to keep busy every second of my life. I do know that love+bash is the coolest thing I have worked on in a long, long time.
What is love+bash you may ask? Well let me give you the low down.
A while back I met with Nikita Gross, from Nikita Gross Photography simply as a networking kind of meeting.. at a bar..We both knew going into this meeting that we had to make time for a LONG meeting, because after looking at each others work, we knew we would be chatting for awhile. So we met and in all of about 20 minute we were talking about an "alternative bridal show" something that would attract the kind of clients we would love to work with. A show that would NOT showcase the "generic" vendors, but something that would show off the awesome artistic talent in this area. The talent that can make a wedding friggin' awesome! The kind of vendors that you see in blogs and swoon over. The kind of vendors who know that there is more to a wedding than a zilllion dollar budget and who can make awesomeness happen.
After our initial meeting and the "holy shit we HAVE to do this.." we met again at my house, and love+bash was born. Not only was a friendship created but a passion was sparked. We knew that we had to show brides in this area that there is more to bridal shows than what they are used to seeing. We want to show brides that not all bridal shows have to be scary! And they are. I know, I went to one of the bigger ones a little while back and I was scared to even look at a vendor! I felt like an asshole! And to be honest, I felt bad for the vendors that were there! WHY in the hell do people feel like they have to whore themselves like that? If you do good work, you do not have to attack poor brides like vultures and make them think weddings are still like they were 25 years ago! THEY ARE NOT!! Weddings now are all about you! What you like, your style, your love for your love! Not some generic, stupid, cheese-ball gathering. The kind where people are saying"oh shit we have to go to a wedding this weekend." In their "oh crap" voice. We don't want your guest to think that at all!
We are 100% committed to making love+bash a party for both brides, grooms, moms and dads, as well as the vendors involved. We want brides to be able to see ideas rather than hear about them. We want brides to walk away with do-it-yourself ideas and direction. You will see some cutting edge and alternative fashions at the fashion show. You will rock out to some serious tunes, have a drink and have fricking fun! This is not a bridal show that you will be attacked at. Brides will want to talk to the vendors, and will not be afraid to make eye-contact! We want to achieve an event like atmosphere, where people are proud to show off work in a non-booth setting. Also where brides want to chat it up with the vendors! We want you to have an awesome wedding whether you use us or not! That is the point of love+bash! Get inspiration, meet amazing vendors, have fun! So make sure to mark your calendars for May 15, 2011 at Leapin Lizard in Covington, KY! You will not want to miss the tri-state area's first and only badass bridal show!
Oh one more thing.. where would we be without facebook? Go "like" the page to keep up with the details and other useful wedding tips, inspiration, and ideas! Visit love+bash's facebook page!

sarah+matthew

How terrible is it that I am just now blogging a wedding I did last May!?!
I am going to tell a long story about Sarah and Matthew, because I worked with them for almost 2.5 years! I met Sarah and her mom at a bridal show I used to do when I was in the wedding mall in Covington. When Sarah said her wedding was well over 2 years away I did not think I would hear from her any time soon. Mostly because I had never had a bride who allowed for so much time to plan. Well need less to say, I did hear from her and booked her and Matthew.
I knew when I met with Sarah, her mom and Matthew, that this crew was going to be a hoot. I laughed with them at pretty much every meeting we had. Matthew was DEAD SET against having pink in his wedding. He was a manly military kind of guy. He was not in the "ok, she is the bride and wants it" kind of stage yet. We toyed with many color schemes starting with navy and silver. Which was very elegant. Sarah knew what she wanted. I knew she knew, and I also knew that eventually Matthew would agree. :)
Sarah was a girlie girl when it came to her wedding. She wanted pinks, glam, vintage, and sparkle and there was no changing that. After I got to know Matthew a little better I saw how he was a funny guy who just wanted to have a fun, elegant wedding for his guest. A few months (maybe even a year) went by and the next thing I knew we were having a pink, black and ivory with a vintage twist kind of wedding.  I loved it. I loved this couple so much. Their humor and how they laughed all of the time was inspiring. I knew I had to add in some manly touches to this pink wedding, I didn't want Matthew to feel like he got shafted at all. Matthew loves good cigars and good beer. Sarah loves reading and vintage. With the two put together I came up with some fantastic centerpieces. I took thrifted books, thrifted beer mugs, wooden cigar boxes and a lot of pink florals and went to town. Myself and Katie Elfers created a perfect mix of girlie and manly. It was perfect.
To add to Matthew's needs as a guy, we provides a smoke room with cigars. I am pretty sure I got this couple from hello. I just had to help Matthew see that it is ok for a guy to have some pink at his wedding.
Sarah grandmother provided the pink peonies from her garden and Sarah's necklace.  Matthew's aunt made the crazy chocolate grooms cake which had like 5-7 different kinds of chocolate and it smelled amazing! Sarah's step-mom made the table numbers. I loved how the family came together to create little special touches.  Check out their photo board!
Vendors were:
Reception: The Syndicate
Florist: Katie Elfers
Cake: Tres Belle
Photography: Varland Photography
DJ: McFadden
Stationery: Giddy Ink

sarah+matthew by urweddingbyjen

Finding a venue that doesn't suck.

I'm not going to lie, Cincinnati is NOT over saturated with awesome venues for a wedding. Especially if you are a bride who wants something different and affordable. It seems that most venues are your typical brass chandelier, dropped ceiling, hideous carpeted standard venue. Unfortunately brides think that is what is expected. WHY? It is so not required to have an ugly venue for your wedding reception. Believe it or not there are a few good places in the area and I am sure this applies to any area. You really have to think outside of the box. Stop putting "wedding venue" in your google search if you are not finding something amazing! Start putting in art centers/galleries, parks, historic homes, theaters, vineyards, meeting space, loft space, even night clubs!
You will be surprised at how many of these places will host a wedding reception. AND be within your budget! I have no idea why some brides think a venue like this is even close to being acceptable..

Let's look at everything that is hideous about this place..
First of all those chairs! UGH! Who even came up with this idea? Yes they can be covered, but that is not free. Next what the hell are those artificial trees doing besides looking tacky? Let's not even talk about the lighting or the carpet. How about that pillar in the middle of the room? Pretty useful huh? This is a standard wedding reception venue. WHY? Why do people even do this? I mean if some place is going to charge say a $12,000 minimum food and beverage why not make the space look awesome? I am not saying this space requires this. As a matter of fact I have no idea where this space is, but it looks like many other places in this area.
I will be brutally honest, the wedding industry is a hard nut to crack. With price mark ups, and an over saturated vendor market it is hard for a bride. Even with the bazillion websites and blogs out there it is hard. Why? Because they are not realistic. I mean sure, many websites and blogs have tons of BEAUTIFUL photos, ideas and inspiration but where are the ones that are realistic in terms of budget? They are few and far between. And lets face it most of us are not working with a $100,000 budget. So you need to find the best bang for your buck. Is a venue that looks like that above what you would call your best option? NO! Even for a traditional bride this is not a good buy. When I am working with clients I NEVER, EVER send them to a cookie cutter venue. EVER! There are other options. Affordable options at that. So even if you are not working with a planner please keep looking before you settle. You do not have to have your wedding here.

Out of Town Clients.

I'm not going to lie. I LOVE clients who are coming from another place to get married here in Cincinnati. The story with most is they lived here as children, went off to college and now live in another state. Leaving their families behind can only mean coming home for the wedding.

Anyways, I booked Kristin and Andy this past summer via conference call. After emailing Kristin a few times I knew I loved her and definitely wanted to work with them. They live in Chicago, ummmmm... jealous! Chicago is my favorite day trip vacation spot. I would totally live there if we could pick up everything and relocate our businesses on a whim. Well that is just not realistic in my world.

Kristin was talking to me about her vendors and said her photographer is kinda new and she is going to travel down from Indianapolis. In my brain I was panicking. A newer photographer traveling all the way here.. hmmm... okay if you say so.

 Well they had the engagement shoot and sent me a link. My mouth hit the floor! FANTASTIC! What an awesome surprise. First of all the locations they went to... LOVE! Next the photographer did a wonderful job all together. I wanted to share a few of Kristin and Andy's shots. If you want to see more go on over to Jenna Davis Photography's website by clicking here.

Coming soon....

Yes, my blogging time has been cut to pretty much zilch but I promise there are some good post on the horizon. 
Some posts that are long overdue and coming soon are:

Sarah and Matthew

Ari and Jeremy

Krystie and Norb

Andrea and Zach

That is a good start.