It's no doubt that we live in a beautiful area. With the shores of Sandusky and Port Clinton giving beautiful views over the bay, to the nice open fields heading into Norwalk and Monroeville, or the wooded hills surrounding Milan. Surely, we all would love to get beautiful photos on our wedding day in these areas. However, with the hectic schedule of a wedding day, it can be hard to find the time to squeeze in some of the wonderful locations we've written about. However, that doesn't mean that you can't achieve beautiful wedding photos right on your wedding venue! This list is just a few examples of some of the best wedding venues in Sandusky, Huron, Norwalk, and more that have excellent environments for photography right on-premise.
Sawmill Creek has been a staple in the area for many years. The best thing about Sawmill, besides being recently renovated, is that they have enough amenities for just about everything right on the property! With a golf course, a private beach area, gazebo, bridge, and of course the massive resort, which includes small garden areas, there are so many options for places to take photos right around your venue!
Sandusky Yacht Club is, of course, right up on the shores of Lake Erie. This makes it ideal for a couple that wants photography with a beachy waterfront setting. There's a beautiful garden out back along with plenty of gorgeous windows for portraits indoors, making this a great option for a few snaps right at the venue.
Plum Brook is up there to be the prettiest golf course in the area. With plenty of trees, grass, hills, bridges, and other amenities, it provides plenty of opportunities for fantastic photos.
Located in Castalia, just outside of Sandusky, this venue is one of the most gorgeous places we've had the pleasure of shooting at. With a beautiful driveway that's flanked by trees, a creek in the back, and the sprawling, open property, there are endless possibilities when using this location for your wedding photography.
As per the name, this is a sister location to Millsite Lodge, located just down the road. Equally as beautiful, it is a fantastic, more rustic place for your wedding photographs.
In our opinion, Kilkerrin is one of the most underrated venues in the area. With a large barn, fields, and a large pond on the premises, it has everything you need for a great venue for both a ceremony and wedding photographs. See our blog post about it here.
The BGSU Firelands Campus has two locations that they do weddings, the Cedar Point Center as well as the Firelands Arboretum. Both of these locations are within a few minutes walk of each other and there are incredible opportunities at each for wedding photography. With ponds, flowers, trees and bridges, you can knock out all of your wedding photos right inside the arboretum. It's by far our most used spot for photos.
If you love rustic, Palm Tree Barn really is the perfect setting. Located on a spacious property with a large barn and plenty of trees, wood, a neat siloh and even some props, like a truck, it has a little bit of everything for the couple that wants something simple and rustic. You can check out some of our work on it here.
Right down near Cedar Point, Lyman Harbor is one of the premiere venues in Sandusky, known for it's spacious halls. It also has one of the best views in town, and the harbor makes a fun and relaxing place for some couples shots, and the large glass windows provide some great window light for indoor group shots.
Only available to Milan Residents or family members of Milan Residents, this massively underrated venue is one of the classiest looking places in town. To boot, it's directly across the street from the Milan Town Square, giving you a great place to go and take some classy photos. See the video we shot here.
There is a chance that you may not want to do your wedding photography session at your venue. Perhaps you'd like to go somewhere else! In that case, check out our list of some of the top places to take photos!
Sandusky, Ohio is one of the most beautiful little towns in Ohio, and if you're currently planning your wedding, it may be difficult to decide just which corner of the city to head to in between your reception and ceremony to have wedding photos taken! This list is simply designed to help shine some light on some of the top photo spots in Sandusky for where to take photos, along with some example photos that we at OneUp Creative have taken in these areas. This list is meant to be for the top areas in Sandusky, but we will also have lists for Huron and Norwalk coming soon!
Jackson St. Pier is one of the top choices because it's right in the middle of the Sandusky Shoreline. Recently renovated, the pier offers an excellent view of Cedar Point and Lake Erie, along with nice areas for photos, including benches and a large, grassy area. Two things to consider when selecting this area is the fact that the pier can sometimes be windy and it doesn't have much shade, so you may have to talk with your photographer on the best solution to shoot in harsh sunlight.
Shoreline Park is toward the eastern side of downtown, and is an excellent choice for some photos in the shade. This park has a little bit of everything, from nice bridges for group shots to beautiful views of the lake, shaded areas and easy parking. It's one of the most popular destinations for wedding photos in the area, and for good reason.
Washington Park is right in the heart of downtown, making it one of the centerpieces for many couples when getting there photos taken. The park spans a couple blocks around Columbus Ave, and has areas such as the Boy In The Boot fountain, The Grass Clock, the Gazebo, and plenty of other hidden gems. It's a great place to get a variety of photos all within a short distance of each other.
Peddler's Alley, also known to locals as Musician's Alley, has been one of the most popular destinations in the area for many years, due to it's unique, quaint, urban textures, along with it's unforgettable feature wall at the end. This location provides great shade most of the day along with good textures that makes for beautiful photos. However, the tight spaces in the alleyway can make it less than ideal for very large groups.
Osborne Park is a massive park with different trails that give tons of options when planning your photo session. From the grove of trees, to the extra wide path, to the open fields, there's plenty of options. However, one thing you won't find much of here is seating or water.
Sheldon's Marsh is one of the most beautiful locations to take photos. With a long, extra wide path, it's perfect for large groups as it's shaded and has plenty of texture. However, the biggest downside to Sheldon's Marsh is that two of its other top photo spots - the boardwalk and the beach, are all the way at the end, which is a decent walk away from the parking lot! This could be an issue if you're wearing uncomfortable shoes or are in a rush.
Battery Park can sometimes be looked over, but it shouldn't be! This park has a good amount of shade for photos in the grass overlooking the water, but is also only a stone's throw away from Springer's Warf Pier, which has one of the best views of Cedar Point that you can find in the city. If you want photos with coasters in the background, this is the best spot there is.
Schade-Mylander plaza is the main endpoint when you arrive downtown. Located right at the end of Columbus Ave., this large fountain could be considered the center of the downtown area. The fountain itself could be a decent backdrop for photos, along with the waterfront right across the street, and there are plenty of other nooks and crannies nearby that you can use for photos.
The Merry-Go-Round is one of the more unique and underrated places on this list. Inside the building has so many exquisite details to take photos with, and there's opportunities for unique close-ups. However, the space may not be ideal for large groups and there is one large catch - the light. The natural light in the space can be tough to work with, so you want to make sure you have a skilled photographer that can work with the environment.
Patina Creek rose to popularity extremely quickly for its unique colors and textures. The owners renovate and restore old furniture and hardware, and that is used to your advantage when you're looking for beautiful places to take photos. With gorgeous window light and plenty of different angle options, this place is an easy winner.
Sometimes, one of the best places to take photos can be right at your wedding venue! You check out our list of top venues at our Ultimate Guide to Weddings
If I could describe my impressions of Kelley when we first spoke, I think I would say “This girl is a Kelley’s Island kind of girl”. She spent a lot of time there as a kid, and she even works at Papa T’s Deckside every summer. I mean, she has a tattoo of Kelley’s Island on her shoulder! So, when Kelley and Christian met while on Kelley’s Island, it only seemed fitting that they had their wedding there too!
Their ceremony took place at Rocky Beach Seaway Marina, which is just a short walk from the ferry dock. The location overlooks the lake and was the perfect backdrop for an incredible wedding. Kelley wanted to emphasize a simple fall theme, so she added an archway with turning leaves and pumpkins as her primary decoration at the altar.
After the reception, we headed across the island to Kelley’s Island State Park, where we took photos before heading to the reception.
Their reception was at West Bay Inn, which is a short drive across Kelley’s Island. This bar provides a really unique location for a reception due to its proximity to the water and it’s very unique amenities. What do we mean? Well, aside from the volleyball net on the premises (that’s right, imagine people in their Sunday best playing volleyball!), they also are a full bar. So, instead of serving drinks behind a bar within the venue itself, as most venues have their own version of a bar, the way that West Bay does drinks is by handing wristbands to guests that allows them to order any drink available at their bar. The best part is that they let their couples fire the cannon over the water as the sun sets, which makes for an awesome photo opportunity.
Kelley said she wanted her wedding to be cute and unique. And on those two fronts, and many more, it definitely delivered.
Of course, it takes a team to deliver a wedding like that! Here’s some of the people that made her day possible:
When asked to describe their wedding, Chelsea told me “Simple. Like Us.” David is a farmer who lives in a simple farmhouse buried deep in the fields of Mercer, PA, and Chelsea is a professional Dog Groomer. Instead of investing money into a venue for their wedding, they decided instead to have the wedding in the barn they were building on the farm! Indeed, sometimes the best wedding venue is the one that is your own. They finished building the barn just days before the wedding, and it was perfect for their special day.
Of course, even with your own venue, it still takes an army to put on a wedding. Here’s some of the team that made it happen:
Maddie & Kyle are two extremely adventurous people. In the past year that I've known them, they've moved cities more times than many people do their entire lives! But they had their summertime wedding back in Maddie's stomping ground at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
I first met Maddie when doing her best friend Amanda's wedding. Maddie told me that after seeing how excited I got about my work while we were shooting, she knew that she had to have us capture her day as well. I'm so happy to have had that opportunity!
Because of their love for adventure, the entire inspiration for their wedding was nature. Their favorite activities involve hiking, backpacking, scuba diving (Maddie is a diving instructor!) and camping. Nature, being such a massive part of their lives, made it an easy choice for the central theme of their wedding.
Of course, the best place to plan a nature-inspired wedding is at a Nation Park! They chose Cuyahoga Valley National Park because it is the park that Maddie grew up visiting, and she just knew that she wanted to get married in her home park! She told us that she's "obsessed" with the park and was so happy to have her wedding there.
We're glad their wedding was there, too! It turned out absolutely gorgeous. Maddie & Kyle, it was an honor to be able to capture such a beautiful day. We hope that our work lives on in your family's memories for many years to come.
