Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Kathy Niesen of Kathy's Wedding Showcase in Rough and Ready discusses wedding and reception options with bride-to-be Amy Summers and groom-to-be Nic Paolini.
Kathy’s Wedding Showcase has moved back to the family ranch in Rough and Ready, where owner Kathy Niesen is honing her boutique style of wedding consultations.
Niesen brings brides, grooms and mothers into the warmth and comfort of her home for food and wine tastings, to look at invitations, talk to music DJs, review photographers’ portfolios, ponder floral arrangements and consider other details of weddings and receptions.
“It was always my favorite thing to work with brides,” said Niesen, who for years was known for her Kathy’s Hallmark store in Grass Valley.
She now works with 60 vendors, most in the local wedding industry, and offering product samples and portfolios. She tailors her introductions to those she thinks would most suit her bride and groom.
“I take them everywhere. I take them by the hand” over a year of planning she typically spends with the women she calls “my brides.”
Niesen charges $250 for her services and receives 1 percent or less commission from the vendors she represents, she said. She sees her work as bringing business into the county by highlighting local venues and vendors.
“I would like to represent every person in the local wedding industry,” Niesen said. “I am not in competition with them.”
For 18 years, Niesen ran Kathy’s Hallmark in the Kmart shopping center in southern Grass Valley — five of those years in a corner location she didn’t want, she said. “It nearly destroyed me,” she said.
She already had shifted from Hallmark products to weddings when she moved to Bank Street downtown two years ago. Her window dressing caught the eye of the folks filming Sony commercials, and they sent a camera bouncing down the street in front of her shop.
After two years downtown, Niesen in February moved to the Ennor Niesen ranch; six generations have lived there since founding it in 1852, she said.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
Niesen brings brides, grooms and mothers into the warmth and comfort of her home for food and wine tastings, to look at invitations, talk to music DJs, review photographers’ portfolios, ponder floral arrangements and consider other details of weddings and receptions.
“It was always my favorite thing to work with brides,” said Niesen, who for years was known for her Kathy’s Hallmark store in Grass Valley.
She now works with 60 vendors, most in the local wedding industry, and offering product samples and portfolios. She tailors her introductions to those she thinks would most suit her bride and groom.
“I take them everywhere. I take them by the hand” over a year of planning she typically spends with the women she calls “my brides.”
Niesen charges $250 for her services and receives 1 percent or less commission from the vendors she represents, she said. She sees her work as bringing business into the county by highlighting local venues and vendors.
“I would like to represent every person in the local wedding industry,” Niesen said. “I am not in competition with them.”
For 18 years, Niesen ran Kathy’s Hallmark in the Kmart shopping center in southern Grass Valley — five of those years in a corner location she didn’t want, she said. “It nearly destroyed me,” she said.
She already had shifted from Hallmark products to weddings when she moved to Bank Street downtown two years ago. Her window dressing caught the eye of the folks filming Sony commercials, and they sent a camera bouncing down the street in front of her shop.
After two years downtown, Niesen in February moved to the Ennor Niesen ranch; six generations have lived there since founding it in 1852, she said.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
