Located right on the shores of Lake Erie, Vermilion-on-the-Lake is an absolutely incredible location for any wedding. Located in a 100 year-old log cabin with an extensive history, this location is sure to be a gorgeous backdrop for your wedding. How do I know? I’ve shot over a half-dozen weddings at this venue and this is the venue where I personally got married!
The cabin was built in 1919 from the logs that were cleared from the same property to be named the Vermilion-on-the-lake Clubhouse; a location where the local bands would play for crowds of dancers who were looking for a fun night. During The Great Depression, the property would become a place for high-rollers to hang out, and later the property was handed over to an association specializing in the handling of the property as the landscape of the area changed.
After a serious decline in the health of the building, the board of the association set out a single goal – to renovate and preserve the health of this historic building. In 2003, they set out a plan to restore the property to its original glory. When you book your wedding at Vermilion-on-the-lake, the profits go directly into this very project.
The building is built from large, old logs and is perfect for a rustic summer or fall wedding. There are 4 main areas to the building, with a single large common room and 3 side rooms. One of these side rooms faces the water, overlooking the lake, which is absolutely gorgeous around sunset. In one side room is a bar, which is available for couples to use for serving drinks at their weddings, as well as a small prep kitchen. The venue doesn’t have a full kitchen, so catering and drinks must be provided by your own caterer. There are so many options in the area, such as Blue Ribbon Catering out of Huron.
Looking to have both your ceremony and reception at the same location? There is an adorable gazebo outside in the lawn, which is perfect for this smaller, intimate ceremonies. Then, you can head straight into to enjoy your reception and your guests don’t have to worry about traveling to multiple locations or having long time periods between the ceremony and reception (side note; this is what we did for our own wedding!)
VOL is one of the most popular venues on the coast, typically booking over a year in advance on Saturdays. They also host weddings on Sundays as well, for which availability is a little more common. According to their website, Saturday rates for 2021 start at $2400 and Sunday’s start at $1000, which makes this an affordable option for anyone looking to book a naturally beautiful and historical location.
Building #1 at the Erie County Fairgrounds right off of Columbus Rd. in Sandusky is an unsuspecting white building from the outside. However, after shooting over a half-dozen weddings at this venue, I can say with certainty that every single one of them turned out absolutely incredible! This venue is actually the perfect canvas for your wedding day, whether it’s a smaller gathering or you’re topping 300 people, this is a perfect building to spend your evening.
The property sits right on the middle of the fairgrounds, right between the Erie County jail and the Erie County National Guard. The property has parking for tons of guests, with an overflow area in the event you fill up the main parking lot.
Inside building #1, you’ll find two rooms. The first is a vestibule, which is perfect for setting up guests books or card boxes for your guests to interact with, as well as seating charts or table designations if you have them. In the main room, there is a lower ceiling area and a higher-ceiling area, both stretching parallel to the end of the building. At the end of the lower ceiling area is a bar that backs into a prep-kitchen for your caterers to use, such as Catering By Design. The main area can be set up any number of ways, but the most common is to use the back side of the long wall for the wedding party’s table, with the area in front of it open to the dance floor.
The size of the building makes it the perfect size to have a large dance floor and the ceiling height is ideal for putting up tule or décor on the ceiling to really give the venue your own personal touch. And you can afford to, because this building rents for as little as $1500, making it the perfect choice to go all-out on your décor!
At OneUp Creative, we can make sure your wedding day is captured from makeup to closing time. We want to help you tell your story.
Lauren and Jon grew up in Vermilion as natives to Ohio and transplants to Florida. When they asked me to do their Vermilion wedding, I was immediately down. Why? Because these two are awesome!
They wanted to hit up some of their favorite spots in Vermilion, including their highschool football field so they could pull out their instruments once again for some hilarious photos. They also wanted to hit up the Vermilion lighthouse to snag a couple of cuddly photos and the nearby rocks on the beach to snag some shots overlooking the water. One of the best parts about Vermilion is the people. When we were snapping photos, a family who was out on their boat made sure to give Lauren & Jon a healthy cheer of congratulations to the new couple. How cool is that?!
Lauren & Jon are big fans of Disney (remember the move to Florida I mentioned earlier?) And so Disney carried a strong theme throughout their wedding. From the Star Wars themed cake to the lightsaber entrance, and even smaller details, such as the figurines on their wine glasses. One particular detail is a small bottlecap that was on both Jon’s boutonniere and Lauren’s bouquet. Recognize it? When Jon went on his first date with Lauren, he gave her this grape soda bottlecap that matched the one that Ellie gave Carl in the movie Up. Later, when they got engaged, Lauren gave a matching one back to Jon. These bottlecaps became a huge part of their wedding day accessories as it represents such an important symbol of love to them, and I just love it!
Lauren & Jon got married at their church in Vermilion and had their reception at German’s Villa. German’s Villa is an awesome little building to have a wedding. They have some really good food, a great sized dance floor and enough space to host plenty of guests. It ended up being such a gorgeous day and I’m so glad they asked us to be a part of it.
When Alex & Andrew asked us to help them capture their day, we were elated. Despite COVID having massive implications on the size and complexity of their wedding day, they decided that they would get married no matter what. For them, this was so much more about sharing in the love of each other than it was about having a big wedding. So, they narrowed down the guest list to about 16 of their closest friends and family and moved their venue from their church building to the office of the church in Downtown Cleveland. And in order to make sure the rest of their loved ones could still enjoy their wedding day, they asked us to live-stream the wedding to a Youtube video for them. That way, their entire group of loved ones could still attend, even if not in person.
This venue was gorgeous! Located in downtown Cleveland, right on Superior Ave., the leaders of the church cleared off their office floor to open up the entire room of this rustic, industrial era building to the couple. With tall windows giving incredible natural light and beautiful hardwood, it was the perfect backdrop for a personal, intimate wedding.
They specifically had one goal in mind with their ceremony – to make the love of God know and exalted through their love. They wanted their guests to know who they are centering their relationship on, and how He has so radically affected their lives.
In addition to the live stream, they also had a drive-by meet and greet, where guests were able to drop by their venue to congratulate them on the big achievement. It was incredible to see the amount of people that rallied to support this young couple.
We’re so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend our day with this lovely couple. They were two of the kindest, most loving people I’ve ever met. Their Cleveland Wedding was fantastic. And it was evident that their families were all equally as kind and incredible. Alex & Andrew, thanks for choosing us!