Elegant Garden Wedding at Pinecroft Mansion

Emily + Kenny celebrated on a beautiful late summer day at Cincinnati’s historic Pinecroft at Crosley Estate. Their wedding invitation features gold foil accents on natural cotton paper with a delicate hairline border. Each invitation was wrapped in a translucent vellum printed with a soft marble design and finished with a rose wax seal. The monogrammed seal was also included on the dinner menus in silver, gold, and rose to indicate menu choices. Invitation and enclosure cards were tucked into a soft blue envelope and an outer formal ivory envelope completed the ensemble. We asked Emily ro share reflections on her wedding day and paired them with gorgeous photography by Chelsea Jordan Photography.

How would you describe the style of your wedding?

In terms of the style we were going for, it was definitely elegant, classic, timeless and romantic.

Wedding reception tablescape for Cincinnati wedding

Tell us about you and Kenny.

Being that it is the 21st century, Kenny and I met on a dating app-Hinge- in March of 2019. After briefly chatting on the app, we were surprised that we had not met sooner. Our groups of friends overlapped as we were both born and raised on the westside of Cincinnati. Right before we met, Kenny and I both moved back to Ohio after being relocated for our jobs so it definitely felt like fate. We met 5 months after I moved back from Charlotte, NC. After "talking" for a few months, we made our relationship official in July 2019. As a couple, we enjoy spending time with our families, babysitting our nieces and nephew and if the weather is nice, you will find us on a golf course.

Tell us about the proposal.

Both of our families decided to vacation in Hilton Head Island in July of 2020. Towards the end of the trip, we decided to get family photos on the beach as my sister-in-law, Brittany, is a talented photographer. Unbeknownst to me or my sister-in-law taking the photos, Kenny took this opportunity to drop to one knee in the middle of the photo session to propose in front of both our families. Fortunately, my sister-in-law did not let the surprise distract her from capturing the entire proposal. We now have those photos as a great memory of our special day! We were engaged on July 14, 2021--almost a year to the day we officially started dating.

wedding invitations with wax seal by Poeme

Tell us about your wedding vision and how it came together.

When planning the wedding, the vision we (I :) ) had was "romantic garden". I envisioned A LOT of flowers, candles and twinkle lights. We also wanted a pretty classic wedding and we were so lucky that our vendors captured the vision perfectly! From the vellum wrapped and wax sealed invitations and wedding day stationery to our floral install over the dance floor and vineyard tables lined with flowers and taper candles, everything came together perfectly!

What part of the wedding planning process was the most fun or interesting?

We also did some DIY projects and one project in particular was building a 10ft x 10ft boxwood wall for inside the tent. My dad, my future uncle and I spent a weekend building this wall and it turned out better than expected! It was great to spend some quality time with my dad and uncle during the planning process!

What part of the wedding planning process was the most fun or interesting?

The most fun part of the wedding planning process for me was transforming the tent where the reception was going to be hosted. I looked at the tent as a blank slate to really bring our "romantic garden"vision to life. With the help of my mom and our vendors, we completely transformed the tent and did some things that no other wedding had done at this venue! We also did some DIY projects and one project in particular was building a 10ft x 10ft boxwood wall for inside the tent. My dad, my future uncle and I spent a weekend building this wall and it turned out better than expected! It was great to spend some quality time with my dad and uncle during the planning process!

Tell us about your wedding day - take us back through it!

We were married on September 4th, 2021 (Labor Day Weekend) in Cincinnati. Our wedding ceremony was at St. Francis De Sales Church and our reception was at Pinecroft at Crosley Estate.

The day was perfect - we had overcast weather for the majority of the day which made the pictures turn out amazing! We had nearly 300 of our closest friends and family attend our ceremony and reception. As many brides that went before me warned me, the day truly does fly by so I tried to soak in every second and enjoy every moment of the day.

Advice to couples in the planning process?

Keep everything organized! Because we were planning such a large wedding, there were a lot of moving parts. GoogleDocs saved us! And lean on friends and family for help--if it weren't for our parents, we would have never pulled it off. They were an amazing support system for us as we were going through the planning process.

What detail of the wedding was most important for you and for Kenny?

For us, our wedding reception was the most important detail of the wedding. We really wanted it to be a big celebration! We wanted each guest to enjoy everything from hors d'oeuvres passed at cocktail hour, the delicious meal served for dinner to the entertainment and dancing during the night. We definitely appreciated that our vendors recognized that and they did everything they could to make it happen!