Hooked on Lyons | Aaron + Lauren

AdventureCincinnatiWedding DayElopementIntimate CelebrationOhioPortraitsUniversity of Kentucky

Jun 3

Meet Aaron + Lauren

They grew up in neighboring counties, shared mutual friends in pharmacy school at the University of Kentucky but went their separate ways after graduation. In 2016 they found themselves in the same city of Cincinnati and due mostly to “geographical convenience” in a new city- which is funny since they spent most of their lives living within 15 minutes of each other, they started hanging out more often. They found a shared sense of humor, a love of Hamilton the Musical, live -comedy shows, board games, craft beer, bourbon, shared stories of their mutual friends and the joy of getting to know their new city. Within the year they grew fond enough of each other to go on their first date and somehow a Gryffindor fell in love with a Hufflepuff. He tolerates her love of Harry Potter (obviously) and she tolerates his dislike of coffee and Christmas. With their tuxedo cats, Godric and Helga, in an industrial loft in Over the Rhine they built a life of neighborhood dates, weekend board game nights with friends and lots of bonding over beers at Madtree Brewery.

Then last June, very reminiscent of Monica and Chandler on Friends, Aaron proposed to Lauren in that very loft with a few of their closest friends. Decidedly non-traditional they planned a wedding that fit their personalities. On a very rainy Friday I joined them at their loft, watched them get ready under the watchful eyes of Godric and Helga, and joined them on a little joy ride as we location hopped to some of their favorite places in the city where they fell in love.

Aaron’s sister joined us at Alms Park for their exchanging of vows, we enjoyed a celebratory beer at Madtree Brewery, got caught in a truly torrential downpour at Smale Riverfront Park and spent the rest of the rainy day sipping cocktails in their favorites OTR dive bars. Sundry and Vice, an apothecary themed establishment, was the perfect setting for this pair that met in pharmacy school. After a shared shot with the friendly bar staff we hopped over to The Rook, a board game bar, to revisit where they had their first date and many more dates over the years. They enjoyed cocktails over Lauren’s choice of “Pretty, Pretty Princess” and ended the evening with cheese fries and a small gathering of family and friends at Queen City Radio.

The next evening I joined them at the Oscar Event Center for their party! A phenomenal taco buffet and donut bar fueled up their guests for a dance floor that partied hard until the end of the night. I don’t know if you can tell from the photos… but it was a blast.

Aaron + Lauren- I hope the photos of your non-traditional celebration captured all the fun and love you wanted out of your days! It was truly such an honor to share such an intimate day with you dodging thunderstorms, convincing you to take portraits in a bathroom and seriously appreciating those GCR cheese fries after a fun, adventurous and wet afternoon.

Find all the businesses/vendors/humans that added their special day at the end of this post because it’s PHOTO TIME! Enjoy! <3