Holy Cross Immaculata Church

Ceremony

The Monastery Event Center

Reception

When driving to the venue, use your phone for directions because there are many one-way streets in historic Mt. Adams.

Our Wedding

Our love story began on a date at a local Mexican restaurant. Neither of us could have imagined that this one meeting would lead to such a beautiful journey together. As we got to know each other, we discovered that we had more in common than we thought - starting with our alma mater, the University of Louisville. Our connection deepened as we learned more about each other's passions. Diego pursued a career as an engineer, while I set my sights on becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner. We bonded over our shared love of learning and our mutual enthusiasm for new adventures. Travel has been a cornerstone of our relationship. One unforgettable trip took us to the Galapagos Islands, where Diego surprised me with a proposal. The natural beauty of the islands mirrored the joy I felt in that moment, knowing I had found my partner for life. Today, we share a cozy home in Louisville but dream of exploring new horizons. After I graduate, we plan to move to a new city, and we've had countless conversations imagining all the places we might go. Diego’s parents have welcomed me into their family with open arms, and our visits to their home in Ecuador have been heartwarming. I love practicing my Spanish with them, and it’s been a joy sharing our life together with our families. We feel blessed to have found each other, and we’re thrilled to begin this next chapter, hand in hand, ready to face whatever comes our way.

Beginning Our Journey

Our Story

Photos

Allie is my little cousin. I used to babysit her just as her mother used to babysit me. She graduated from University of Cincinnati with a teaching degree. She will be a great teacher!

Allie Hart

Maria is Diego's younger sister. She currently resides in Ecuador and is completing her medical residency with a plan to pursue dermatology! 

Maria Ordonez

Becca and I met in nursing school. We both studied, laughed, cried, and finally graduated together! She is a great friend.

Becca Gleichman

Jade and I met through mutual friends years ago. Our shared love of cats made us fast friends! She and I always babysit each others cats when one of us leaves town. You know someone is special if you trust them with your pets!

Jade Lockridge

Maria and I met on the inpatient psychiatric unit.. where we were both nurses. She was my preceptor as a new graduate nurse. She continued her education at The University of Louisville, and recently graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice specializing in psychiatric mental health. I am following in her footsteps and entered the same program in 2023. She has been a wonderful mentor!

Maria Siegel

Alex Acaro 

Reinaldo Gonzales Reyes 

Wesley Dadosky

Eduard Fincken 

Wedding Party

Hyatt Regency Cincinnati

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

The Westin Cincinnati

Hampton Inn & Suites Cincinnati-Downtown

Travel

The Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo is a Cincinnati tradition. There are beautiful light displays as you walk through the botanical park at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

The Union Terminal has a beautiful Christmas display! A must see!

Cincinnati Union Terminal

The Nutcracker is a Cincinnati tradition that is performed every year at the historic Cincinnati Music Hall.

Cincinnati Music Hall

Winterfest is featured at Christmas time every year at Kings Island. Beautiful lights, shows and more!

Kings Island

Things to Do

Registry

THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY CROSS IMMACULATA CHURCH The limestone church was built in 1859, just before the&nbsp;American Civil War, for the&nbsp;German&nbsp;congregation in the city's Mt. Adams neighborhood. Archbishop&nbsp;John Baptist Purcell&nbsp;decided to build the church while praying during a severe storm at sea. He promised God that if he survived, he would build a church on the city's highest point.&nbsp;The nearby&nbsp;Holy Cross parish&nbsp;primarily served&nbsp;Irish immigrants. When the Holy Cross monastery closed in 1977, the parishioners joined with Immaculata to become the Holy Cross–Immaculata parish. The Mt. Adams Preservation Association raised enough funds to commission the restoration of seven paintings by&nbsp;Johann Schmitt. The paintings were mounted over the main altar and side altars between 1863 and 1870.&nbsp;&nbsp;A painted scroll stretches above the main altar across a depiction of the Immaculate Conception. In&nbsp;German, it reads:O Maria, ohne Suende empfangen, bitte fuer die Bekehrung dieses Landes, Amerika.(O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for the conversion of this country, America.)On December 29, 1978, the&nbsp;Immaculate Conception Church, School, and Rectory&nbsp;was listed in the&nbsp;National Register of Historic Places. The school and rectory have since been closed.In August 2005, workmen began chipping out bricks and glass block where a rose window once stood. The original had been lost in a storm. The new window came from&nbsp;Saint Bonaventure&nbsp;Church, which was closed and torn down in 2003. Fr. Neiheisel and Holy Cross Immaculata pastoral assistant Bill Frantz salvaged a colorful, round,&nbsp;stained-glass&nbsp;rose window that had stood over the altar. Neiheisel then raised $44,000 to have the window reinforced, enlarged with an 18-inch ring of additional glass, and ultimately set into the Holy Cross-Immaculata wall behind a layer of strong, protective glass.&nbsp;&nbsp;TraditionsFurther information:&nbsp;Steps of Cincinnati The church's statue of St. Patrick.The Immaculata Church has served since 1860 as a pilgrimage church, where on&nbsp;Good Friday&nbsp;the faithful ascend 85 steps&nbsp;to the church's front door from the neighborhood below while praying the&nbsp;Rosary. An additional 65 steps start at the base of Mt. Adams, with a pedestrian bridge over&nbsp;Columbia Parkway&nbsp;connecting the two paths.&nbsp;The steps were originally made of wood, but in 1911, the City of Cincinnati helped the church build concrete steps.&nbsp;Each year in February members of the&nbsp;Ancient Order of Hibernians&nbsp;knock on the church door and ask permission to remove the statue of&nbsp;St. Patrick. The Priest invokes the&nbsp;intercession&nbsp;of St. Patrick. With&nbsp;bagpipes&nbsp;leading the way the six-foot statue of St. Patrick leaves the church and starts his Mini Parade through&nbsp;Mt. Adams.

THE MONASTERYBetween 1873 and 1977, the Holy Cross Monastery was a Roman Catholic monastery atop&nbsp;Mt. Adams&nbsp;in&nbsp;Cincinnati, which served a&nbsp;parish&nbsp;of the same name. It was founded by the&nbsp;Passionists, who were first brought to Mt. Adams in 1871 by&nbsp;John Baptist Purcell, the&nbsp;Archbishop of Cincinnati, to run&nbsp;Immaculata Church, founded in 1860.&nbsp;The first Passionist&nbsp;pastor&nbsp;of Immaculata Parish, Guido Matassi,&nbsp;C.P., immediately saw that the&nbsp;rectory&nbsp;of the parish would be inadequate to their needs as a semi-monasticcommunity. By chance, the building which used to house the Mitchel Observatory (later the&nbsp;Cincinnati Observatory), located only two blocks away from Immaculata Church, was being abandoned due to the effects of industrial pollution.&nbsp;The terms of the will of the donor of the property which had housed the observatory, however, required the return of the property to his heirs. When Matassi approached them about purchasing the property, they demanded a price which he would not pay. With the encouragement and support of&nbsp;Sarah Peter, daughter of an early&nbsp;Governor of Ohio&nbsp;and a noted convert to Catholicism, the city stepped in and purchased the property from the heir. The following year Matassi signed a 99-year lease with the City of Cincinnati for a building and a property atop Mt. Adams. The Passionists remodeled the structure and added a third floor.The Church and Monastery of the Holy CrossThe first Church of the Holy Cross, made out of wood, was finished in 1873, standing next to the monastery, but in 1895 it was replaced by a large, permanent structure. It served mostly Irish immigrants. Holy Cross added a grade school in 1891. A weekly novena in honor of St. Gabriel began in 1929.&nbsp;In 1899 the monastery was condemned as unsafe, and a new edifice was built in the same location. It was dedicated on June 9, 1901. Underneath the monastery was "The Grotto". Immaculata parish had a Holy Week tradition of people praying the rosary while climbing the 125 steps to the church. After "praying the steps", they would then proceed to "The Grotto" at Holy Cross. It was believed that praying there would enhance the possibility of a cure, and there was a wide assortment of crutches at "The Grotto".Sale and RedevelopmentIn 1970 Holy Cross Parish was merged with Immaculata Parish, also located atop Mt. Adams. The combined parish has since been known as Holy Cross-Immaculata. When Holy Cross closed, a statue of St. Patrick was surreptitiously relocated to Immaculata. The Ancient Order of Hibernians annually re-enact St. Patrick's "liberation" and celebrate with a luncheon and Mass at Immaculata.&nbsp;By the mid-1970s, the Passionist community decided to consolidate their operations to Chicago.&nbsp;The Passionists made the decision to close Holy Cross Monastery in 1976 and the building was sold.&nbsp;After passing through a couple of owners, the monastery is now the corporate headquarters of Towne Properties, a property management company. The church was renovated in 2014 as an event center hosting weddings, receptions, and corporate functions.[6]&nbsp;A chapel garden was installed to complement the newly renovated former church. With the assistance of Towne Properties employees, a statue of an angel was installed the property by parishioners of Immaculata on a pedestal that previously held one of St. Gabriel.&nbsp;

Emma & Diego

Emma & Diego

Wedding Party