Free Wedding Photography

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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 Cancun Riveria Wedding Part 1

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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!

Wedding Wire Award

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Weddings, Wedding Venues
2011 Bride's Choice Awards | Best Wedding Photographers, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Cakes, Wedding Florists, Wedding Planners & More

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. My past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

This means Nikita Gross Photography stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

Kinda cool, huh?  Thank you to all of my clients and their awesome reviews for helping me achieve this. :)

Jen and Paul Cincinnati Wedding Photographer

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If you follow my blog you might remember Jen and Paul from their engagement session I photographed earlier this year.  I absolutely adore these two.   I am a big fan of physical affection, especially in pictures.  The more kissing and touching the better for me.   I did not have to direct Jen and Paul at all during their portraits together. They are so into each other.  Their  affection is sincere.  When Paul gently caressed Jen's cheek and Jen looked passionately into Paul's eyes, you could see their love.  Jen was crying and Paul instinctively wiped away her tears, at that moment you could feel their love.   It was a real treat to be around two people who are so passionate about each other.  Thank you Jen and Paul for allowing me to capture all of these special moments for you!  Your wedding was magical. :)

We started the day at the Cincinnati Netherland Plaza where Jen and her girl's got ready.  Just look at these shoes, they are to die for.  I love, love, love when brides wear colorful shoes.  Jen custom made hers on Nina's website.

Apparently I have a thing for feet.  I take pictures of feet all of the time.  I don’t know where it comes from, but I think I am ready to admit it is an obsession. ;)I really like this picture.  When I first walked into Jen's hotel room I asked her how she was doing and she immediately broke down crying.  I think it was finally starting to hit her that she was getting married.  It was amazing to see her tears turn to utter excitement once she put her dress on.  The ceremony and reception were both held at The Redmoor, a swanky Art Deco event space in Mt. Lookout square.  Paul made this awesome movie poster that they used as their guest book.  So cool! I love when bridesmaids wear different dresses, especially when the dresses are this cute! 

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