Our Team

Dora found her passion for weddings and events after a 10-year career in sales and marketing, most recently working as a national account manager for a Fortune 500 company. Realizing she had found her calling, Dora left her corporate career to launch viva bella - and hasn’t looked back. Dora’s professional background, coupled with an exquisite sense of style and an eye for fashion, make her a natural for the event planning business. She’s a born leader, loves building relationships and helping others to be their best. Her warm personality and genuine love of people shine through in everything she does. Dora is also passionate about enjoying her life: she enjoys gourmet cooking, international travel, and running marathons. She is also fluent in Spanish. Dora savors spending time with her husband, Steven and two daughters, Joy & Ada. She considers marriage and parenthood to be two of life’s most beautiful experiences!

Steven is viva bella's creative "ace in the hole": his flair for visual impact and creative harmony have garnered him raves from everyone who sees his work. Steven Manuel has both music and communications degrees, has been designing and executing creative experiences for over ten years, as well as more than fifteen years of experience creating content for presentations. His first experiences in staging unique events came from his background as a touring musician, playing alone and with bands throughout the south and in the midwest. His years as an arranger, band leader and writer have served to give him a unique perspective, which he brings to the viva bella team. Steven loves to design immersive experiences to inspire or instruct, incorporating all senses into an imaginative moment of beauty. "I believe there's something transcendent about beauty, and when we can infuse beauty into the practicalities of our lives, we make those practicalities transcendent, too. I believe every human wants that, and discovering and creating beauty is what I want my life to be about." viva bella's Creative Director for six years, Steven continues his passion to write and record music, and give life coaching to men. He's trained in video production and editing, sound engineering, and design layout. Steven also writes for television and film, loves to travel, and has an almost religious allegiance to chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

Since the age of ten, Monica Kurlemann has been designing and planning events. As a child she envisioned and pulled off themed birthday parties for her younger sister. Since the age of fourteen she’s planned specific menus for her extended family’s holiday meals (and cooked them, as well). While studying in Munich during college, she put on American-themed parties for her new German friends. And now, Monica uses her talent for planning and execution to help create inspired events and weddings for viva bella. With a knack for helping turn themes, dreams and visions into practical realities, Monica is viva bella’s go-to researcher for efficient and effective execution of ideas. She’s the one who investigates various venues and vendors to find the right feature…at the right price. Monica’s zeal for perfectly realized events and weddings fuel her detail-oriented pursuit of wonderful elements which, together, create a beautiful whole. When not teaching a weekly Pilates class, Monica spends time with her family, roots for the Reds and the Bengals, and bakes the world’s greatest brownies — Kahlua brownies… a recipe of her own creation.

With a background in marketing and anthropology, Sara Ranson has a genuine passion for people and the things that are most important to them. Sara's energy and natural leadership make her an exceptional addition to the viva bella team. Sara brings excellence and an attention to detail in everything she does. Her warm and calming demeanor come from a love of relationships and a desire to not only put on the best events, but to ensure the best experiences during the entire planning process. Sara and her husband Kyle are enjoying first hand the joys uniquely found in marriage and parenthood with two young sons, Ben & Eli! She loves traveling with her family, engaging with friends, and is an active participant in bringing love and hope to those in poverty. Sara is also crazy about freshly baked cookies, which she ravishes once a week!

With a genuine desire to exceed clients’ expectations and a wealth of experience, Hanna is a perfect fit for the viva bella team. Her experience includes wedding and event planning for the Cincinnati Art Museum, Conference Manager for the InterContinental Hotel Chicago, and Catering Manager for the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. Hanna considers it an honor to be a part of such special occasions. She believes all brides should be able to relax and enjoy their wedding day. She likes to say “when again will you have all of the people you love in one room? Relax and cherish this moment!” Hanna and her husband, Will, enjoy life with their daughter, Molly and beloved dog, Moby. She loves crafting, yoga, and taking Molly & Moby for strolls around Hyde Park. She is a serious Cincinnati Reds fan and even has an impressive baseball card collection!