A Misty Cincinnati Wedding: The Real Wedding of Danielle Belgiovane and Jonathan Pankiw

Danielle and Jonathan love to travel—so it seems only fitting that after dating for years, they got engaged during a trip to Morocco. “While we were there we traveled to the Sahara Desert and he proposed while we were on a camel ride in the desert!” Talk about an exotic destination engagement!

 

This couple wasted no time and started to plan their wedding as soon as they got engaged. They knew they wanted to get married in a church and be surrounded by loved ones, but not much else! But the lack of overarching plan didn’t stop Danielle and Jonathan from immediately contacting reception venues! Once they found the perfect spot, they set a date. Danielle says that they were so organized during this process, they even created a spreadsheet detailing the budget, the guest list and to-do tasks! We love that this couple stayed on top of planning during this whole process.

 

We love the unique shape and back of that dress! Danielle says, “I didn’t really have a specific style in mind when I went looking, I just tried on a bunch. I think I went to eight shops before I made a decision on a dress. I really liked the back detail on this dress and it’s the reason why I chose it.” 

 

The reception venue was the inspiration for the rest of the wedding. Danielle says, “The design and architecture of the building is so beautiful and unique, we knew we didn’t want to add too much and let the venue speak for itself. We knew we wanted to keep the style classic.” Since the couple had gone to work functions at the hotel before, they were already familiar with the location, which made choosing it a no-brainer!

 

We love the Art Deco style of the venue. That was definitely a stylish plus! “We had a lot of friends and family traveling from out of state for our wedding, so we wanted to make it easy for our guests to be able to stay at the same place as the reception,” Danielle explains. “The Hilton Netherland is a beautiful historic Art Deco hotel, we knew our guest from outside of Cincinnati would love the look of this hotel just as much as we do.”

 

 

What we love

Danielle’s aunt and uncle showcased their musical talent in the ceremony, with her aunt playing the piano and her uncle playing the violin. We love that Danielle took the traditions of weddings and spun them around in her own unique way. 

Danielle says, “I walked down the aisle with both of my parents instead of just my dad. I didn’t want to have my bridesmaids wearing the same dress, so we did mix and match. We didn’t have our maid of honor or best man give speeches at the reception, (but we did have them during the rehearsal dinner) we didn’t do parent dances, or a bouquet toss–and no one seemed to notice!” This couple wanted to get their guests to the dance floor as soon as possible!

As a familial touch, the couple filled escort cards with Jordan almonds to bring a touch of a traditional Italian wedding. Danielle adds, “The crackers also had crowns in them, so it was fun to see people wearing their crowns at the reception.”

 

 

Advice from the couple

Danielle urges brides to not get caught up in the little details that a vendor can handle. “They’re the pros and know what will work best,” she says. “When we met with the florist I gave her some broad ideas of what I liked and told her to do whatever she wanted. The same with our cake. We told the baker she could design our cake however she wanted. It saved us a lot of mental energy and time and both the flowers and cake were beautiful!”

 

 

 

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