Sara and Jeremy's Super Awesome Engagement Session

Sara and Jeremy are two very good friends of mine.  I cannot wait for their Fourth of July wedding coming up  soon.  For their engagement session they wanted to do something fun and different.  One night while we we were hanging out on their porch we came up with the idea of having a pool party in the their backyard with their good friends, Seth, Jamie and Emily.  Everyone dressed up and really got into the theme.  We cranked up the music and ran around the yard dancing and singing, it was so much fun!  Here are a few of my favorites.

See a behind the scenes video from out shoot here

Jeremy always has great stories.  These boots came from his dad.  He won them in a pool game, how perfect! 

Nia and Spencer's Cincinnati Engagement

Happy Monday everyone!

It has been an insanely busy past couple of months.  Though most of my time is spent at my computer when I am this busy, I really look forward to the time I get to spend getting to know my clients during their engagement sessions.  Last week I headed to East Walnut Hills for Nia and Spencer's laid back engagement pictures.   I first met Nia at a bridal event.  She was planning a huge winter wedding.  After lots of thinking,  she and her fiancé Spencer decided they were planning a wedding that did not fit their personalities at all.  They are both super chill.  They decided that is how they want their wedding to be...They changed the date, location, and cut their guest list down to immediate family and friends.  I love this so much.  Your wedding should be about you and what you want, not what you think you are expected to do.  There are no rules.  As long as you two are there, that is all that matters. :)

I walked away from this session smiling ear to ear.  I felt like I just hung out with friends I have known forever.  These two laughed, and laughed, and laughed.  Spencer is full of jokes, but he is also a total sweetheart who kept telling Nia how beautiful she looked.  Every time she looked at him, she would tell him how pretty his blue eyes were.  It was very sweet.  They like each other a lot and they weren't afraid to let me see that.  My favorite!  I can't wait to see them again next month!

Spencer proposed to Nia at Eden Park, they were surrounded by their close friends.  He got down on one knee, but then he froze up and didn't say anything.  Nia was just staring at him, like "do you have something to say?"  He is very animated, this was when he was telling me the story. 

Rebecca and Greg's Downtown Cincinnati Engagement

When I met Rebecca to talk about her wedding we hit it off right away.  I knew I really wanted to be apart of her wedding after just a few minutes of talking to her.  She smiled a lot, and she was very enthusiastic about the details of her wedding.  She is from a small town in Ohio and is heading back there later this year to marry her best friend Greg.

I met Rebecca and Greg downtown Cincinnati for their engagement session.  We hung around one of my favorite spots talking and getting to know each other better.    Greg told me the story of when he knew Rebecca was the one.  They went to college together.  It was Halloween and he wasn't feeling good.  Instead of going out with friends, Rebecca cancelled plans to stay home to take care of him.  He appreciated her giving heart, he said he knew she was the girl he wanted to be with.  They were both cracking up the whole time he told the story.  I am so excited for their wedding later this year, it's going to be such a good time!

Kate and Erik's Clifton Engagement Session

I met Kate and Erik in the gaslight part of Clifton for their engagement session.  Though they no longer live in Cincinnati, they spent a lot of time in this part of town throughout their college years.  It was nice getting to know them and hearing about how they met.   Kate and Erik met back in the Myspace days. Erik's band  at the time Till Plains had a show and Kate went to see them.   Little did she know she was going to meet her future husband that night.  They spent some time as friends, going to shows and hanging out.  Eventually friendship turned into love.  I am looking forward to their wedding next year. 

Megan and Ryan's Williamstown Lake Kentucky Engagement

Megan and Ryan's love story is so sweet.  Their parents have been best friends their entire life, so they pretty much grew up together.  It wasn't until they were stuck on a cruise ship together for a family vacation that they realized their life long friendship had turned into love.  And now they are getting married, how exciting!   We did their engagement photos at Megan's family lake house on Williamstown lake.  The wonderful thing about Kentucky is the farther south you go, the more beautiful it gets.  I love these photo.

Carly and Ryan's Boathouse Engagement

I took a beautiful drive up to Jamestown, Ohio for Carly and Ryan's engagement session.  They are getting married next year here at Carly's family vacation house.  The house sits on a gorgeous lake.  After a warm greeting by Carly and her family,  I was given a tour of the ceremony/reception location.  Talk about being giddy with excitement.  I love backyard weddings that are comfortable, laid back, and full of personal touches.  It was so nice getting to know Carly and Ryan and hearing all about their love story.  They were so sweet together, laughing and joking the entire time I was shooting.

I drove home with a huge smile plastered on my face, attitudes are contagious and being around love makes me happy.  I cant wait until their wedding!  This is Carly and Ryan's sweet daughter.  

Hannah and Jimmy's Military Engagement Session

August seems to be a tough month for soldiers.  Two members of my family have been called to duty and lately I have been getting a lot of inquiries from military couples who are interested in setting up a photo shoot before their significant other leaves.  I hate that these couples will be separated for such a long period of time, but I am very happy I get to help them create special memories they will be able to hold onto while they are away.  Part of what I love about my job and what I think I'm pretty good at is allowing the couples I photograph to really connect during the shoot.  I encourage a lot of kissing and touching.   Getting your picture taken can be a little nerve racking.  By finding comfort in each other I am able to capture real moments, and if kissing embarrasses you then I usually get to capture a pretty amazing laugh. :)  I like to give people a good variety of intimate images and nice formal pictures.

Hannah and Jimmy have been together for five years.  They are planning their wedding for next August.  I was happy to hear they wanted to sneak in an engagement shoot before Jimmy leaves for Afghanistan.  They were both down to earth and we had a great time driving all over Kentucky to take these images.  I just love how good Hannah's red dress looks with Jimmy's military fatigues.  Lots of love to you Jimmy, stay safe. :)

Laura and Eric's Cincinnati Engagement

Laura and Eric came all the way from Virginia Beach, where they are both architects for their engagement session.  Laura who is from Cincinnati met Eric while attending grad school at the University of Cincinnati.  After school they both got jobs in Virginia Beach, where Eric is originally from. They decided they wanted to have their wedding here in Cincinnati.  I was thrilled when I received an email from Laura saying she was looking for a photographer who is fun, has a bit of an artistic edge, and finds beauty in even the smallest things...totally me!  I am looking forward to their wedding next month at the beautiful  Krippendorf Lodge at the Cincinnati Nature Center.

Courteney and Drew Cincinnati Zoo Engagement

Last year Jen Weber of Your Wedding by Jen and I created Cincinnati's first alternative wedding expo, Love+Bash.  If you read my blog regularly I am sure you know all about it. :)  Because we were so excited to be bringing something so unique to Cincinnati we decided to have a contest to go with it.  I love to shoot alternative/offbeat weddings.  I asked couples to send me their wedding ideas/love story and I would chose one to shoot for free and Jen would offer them full planning.  Tons of other amazing vendors got on board and we ended up with a wedding giveaway worth almost $10,000.  I got some really awesome entries,  it was tough choosing a winner.

Courteney and Drew's story really stood out to me.  It wasn't just the fact that they are planning a carnival themed wedding with rides, a concession stand, and all of the fun games you see at a carnival. This did sound pretty amazing to me, Umm I want to take pictures on a carousel. It was also the love story Courteney sent in with her entry.   It was so sincere and heartfelt.  She admitted she thought Drew was a tool in the beginning, I loved her honesty.  She talked about all of the sweet things he did to win her over and prove her wrong.  He encouraged and supported her before he even got a first kiss.  She talked about how positive he is  and how eventually a friendship blossomed into love.  The story was about 5 pages long, but I enjoyed reading every bit of it.  Needless to say I found my winners.

I have really enjoyed getting to know Courteney and Drew through their planning process.  They are a blast to be around.  I cannot wait to work with some of my favorite vendors on their wedding in May!   Your Wedding by Jen planning/event design,  Marti's Floral Designs on flowers/event design, and the super talented Kristen of Five Dot Design is in charge of all of the paper goods, this will be a wedding to remember for sure!

For Courteney and Drew's engagement session they wanted to do something unique so we headed to the Cincinnati Zoo.  We got VIP access to some of the animals thanks to Drew's good friend Travis,  who happens to be one of my first clients ever!  Small world!!

p.s. For those of you wondering, Love+Bash 2012 is in the works...stay tuned!