Meet Kelly Palencar of Cleveland

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Palencar.

Hi Kelly, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve been an artist my whole life. Most of my skills were self taught and fell into drawing, but I have also dabbled in painting and mixed media during my younger years. Even in my high school years, I only took one art class which was a drawing class my freshman year at Chagrin Falls and hated it. After that, I constantly worked in my free time and learning from practice. I wanted to be an artist in some way or work in art somehow. When I think back, in 2007 is when I got my first phone and it had a camera and it was my first experience with my own capturing device. Then in 2011 is when I first got on Instagram. This was when Instagram was for the artsy kids like me and that is when I started documenting the nuances around me… a hangout room, an ashtray, my friend holding a candy apple. I absolutely loved it. A friend of mine approached me my Sophomore year saying how I should apply with him to a post-secondary program that our high school and neighboring high schools provide called Excel TECC. We both applied to the Audio, Video and Production Arts at Aurora High School and got in. This changed everything for me. I became obsessed with photography. I loved capturing nature and documenting the world around me and was able to learn video and audio alongside it. My teacher, Pat Fenner, was incredibly knowledgeable, encouraging, and attentive. We are still in contact occasionally to this day. I was grateful for being able to rent out cameras to shoot outside of school hours. I learned about lighting, studio equipment, editing softwares. I started getting asked to shoot senior portraits for friends and ended up doing a couple. That’s when I decided I wanted to go to college for photography.

I first attended Kent State University with an intended major in Photojournalism. I didn’t want their Photojournalism program, I wanted their photography program. My advisor discouraged me from making the switch, but I was in a bad place already from having one of the worst summers of my life to this day and then being shut down at my school concluded me in failing out and leaving after the first semester. I did research into art schools and found The Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) and very quickly complied my years of drawings and photographs. I got in. I absolutely loved being there. Being surrounded by other artists and constantly in a creative atmosphere was an enrichment I don’t know if I will ever feel again in that way. It only lasted a couple years until I found myself in need of new knowledge. I transferred back to KSU for their Hospitality Management Program.

My first job was at 15 in a local Chagrin Falls restaurant. Not a great job, but it kick started working in food service. After high school graduation, I began working at Dunkin Donuts and completely fell in love with working in a coffee shop environment (as a fellow coffee lover). I still have dreams of opening my own coffee shop someday. It’ll turn into a blend of all the things I love, a coffee shop below and a studio above. Someday. This is what guided me to go back to KSU, to learn business and the innerworkings of hospitality. I told myself that I could do photography on the side and teach myself over the years like I had before with drawing. It was a good decision, but it also got me jobs that put photography on the back burner. Over the years, I got asked to do senior or family portraits, and I even attempted to launch a business… may 2 or 3 times. I never followed through. It is so incredibly vulnerable to market yourself and create boundaries. I didn’t learn how to separate business from personal life. I felt embarrassed in a way.

After working over the years at restaurants, a casino, catering, things started to click when I worked for an event center. I learned the inner workings of being behind the scenes at weddings and events and it completely shifted my perspective of the hospitality industry. I fell in love. Captured my first elopement at the venue on new years even 2024. I worked first as a Venue Coordinator and was then promoted to an Event Manager, and i absolutely loved my job and the venue. I had ideas on incorporating my photography as an add-on service for the venue, and shot an in house event for them in July 2025. Shortly after, a good friend of my husbands reached out to me to shoot his wedding. I was ecstatic. Weddings used to scare me off because I didn’t have the knowledge of how they worked before I started working at the venue. I agreed for their wedding in October 2025. That was when it all came crashing on me at once. I was tired of kidding myself putting photo on the back burner. I was ready to commit. I began behind the scenes building and applied for my LLC in July 2025. In August, my work cut my hours down drastically which made me work on my business even more, and then my job let me go in September which made me completely dive in. I pushed harder than I ever have before. I marketed everywhere, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. I was on everything. It paid off in the most amazing way. My goal was to book 10 weddings for 2026. At the end of 2025 I ended up booking 12.

It has been incredibly rewarding. I have plans on what I will grow into. I am about to officially launch boudoir services in April 2026 with major plans for that as well. There is a lot that goes into my background and story, but it shapes how my business started. My hospitality program and working at the venue are huge factors that I believe are a part of my growing success within the first 7 months of business.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Many. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at 17 after I attempted to take my own life. I dealt with self harm and issues with my self worth since I was young and I found art to be nurturing and beautiful. I also dealt with traumatic instances over the years that I believe held me back and gave me issues in self confidence. The summer before college, I was sexually assaulted and got pregnant. This continued my self worth issues and led to more self harm and hospitalizations over the years. After the assault when I attended KSU, I met a man that I was with until days before the new year of 2020. I am extremely lucky to have gotten out of that situation before the 2020 shut down. The relationship with him had me locked in too long because he was 50/50. Where 50% of the time he was perfect and loving and amazing and then the other 50% made me spiral many times. Living with him was physically and verbally abusive and he was abusing a high dose of medication with alcohol regularly. It took years to begin to ease up on triggering situations. I got diagnosed with Complex PTSD from that relationship and still deal with it to this day.

Luckily, I am in the most amazing and loving relationship with my husband now. I rarely ever get panic attacks or triggered episodes anymore.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a photographer and I specialize in weddings and engagements and soon to be boudoir. I also work in lifestyle, branding, corporate, events and portraiture. My wedding packages are unique. I have two add on services that are different from traditional. First is my Pre-Coordination service. This service is where I work with the couple to help them organize, create their timeline, communicate with vendors, run their rehearsal and create an itinerary for their day. This is all done prior to the wedding and the itinerary is handed off to a designee. On the day of, I am their photographer. Many photographers fall into the role of a day of coordinator to keep things on schedule. This is when couples don’t hire a planner or coordinator. I give the option of prior support and having all the knowledge the day of. But i do not perform day of coordinator duties. this is for couples who need a little more support but do not feel they need a day of person. With my background working at a venue and doing day of coordination services and walkthroughs, it gives me a unique look on how to best serve my clients.

Another unique service I offer is called “Our Home Video”. This is not traditional videography service. I provide a camcorder throughout my time at the wedding where the friends and family can pass around the camcorder to create a home video feel for the couple. It can be used during getting ready, during dinner, during dancing. People can just record what is going on around them or many may leave a message for the couple. It is a free for all and completely depends on the crowd. I have no control. I then take the footage and simply compile it into one single video. No editing, no clipping, no change in color or light. All raw. I am about to offer the option of a digital Super 8 camera for video coming soon. I got this idea because this is what I did for my wedding day.

I am proud that I am okay with trying things that are out of the ordinary. Some people may doubt these options or see them as a bad idea in the long run, but I see that clients love the options. I hope to have a team one day and be able to have the option for a day of coordinator!

Any big plans?
Yes, many. I am only looking to work between 10-15 weddings a year and growing my boudoir services. My boudoir services are beginning with just me and a rental space, but I hope to have a hair and makeup artist one day and eventually have my own studio one day. I hope to have my studio above a coffee shop so clients can simply go downstairs for a drink and snack while I work on their same day image reveal. I also want boudoir to be an add on service for my wedding packages. I hope to have a day of coordinator partnership for wedding packages.

Pricing:

• Half Day Weddings starting at $1,500
• Full Day Weddings starting at $2,500
• Boudoir starting at $1,200
• Engagements $450

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kellynicolastudio.com
• Instagram: @kellynicolastudio and @boudoirbykellynicola
• Facebook: facebook.com/kellynicolastudio and facebook.com/boudoirbykellynicola
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellynicolastudio/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kellynicolastudio