What's Included at Cliffside Acres
Before we were venue owners, we were engaged.
While we were not touring venues when we built Cliffside, we were assembling a wedding, vendor by vendor, quote by quote. And what we kept finding was that the number at the top of the proposal was never the number at the bottom. Catering had a service fee. Rentals had a delivery charge. Photography had an album upgrade. Bartending had a setup fee. Every quote arrived looking complete. None of them were.
We are not the least expensive option in the Ohio wedding market. We have never tried to be.
What we have tried to be is the clearest: the venue where the number you see is the number you pay, and where every dollar you spend is working as hard as it can for your day.
When we built Cliffside's packages, we made one decision that has shaped everything since: every couple who books here should know, before they sign, exactly what they are walking into. No surprises on the invoice. No line items that surface in the final weeks. What is included is included. What is not included is not included. We will tell you both, plainly, and explain why the line is drawn where it is. Every decision here is made with purpose, and that purpose is to serve our couples well.
What is here when you arrive
The reception space is heated and air conditioned. This feels like the minimum requirement, and it is, but it is worth saying, because not every venue in this market can say it without qualification.
Tables and chairs for up to two hundred guests are set before you walk in the door. We mention this not because it is unusual but because of what it represents. Your family did not drive hours to spend the first hour of your wedding day moving furniture. They are here to celebrate with you. The tables and chairs are our responsibility. They will be done.
Black, white, or ivory table linens for up to two hundred guests are included and already down when you arrive. We include them because you cannot set decor until the tablecloths are on the tables. Couples should not be managing linen logistics on the morning of their wedding. Nor should anyone they love.
The outdoor ceremony space beneath the twin maple trees, whose canopies have grown into each other over decades, is included. The outdoor patio for cocktail hour is included. The bridal suite and groom's suite are included. Men's and women's restrooms are included. A catering prep area and vendor room are included. Outdoor parking, including paved handicap accessible parking, is included.
One Cliffside staff member serves as parking lot attendant before the ceremony and as in-house security through the evening. They are there so you do not have to think about either.
Facility access begins at 10:00 a.m. on your wedding day. You have thirteen hours of total access to the property and six hours of event time for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, concluding by 10:00 p.m. The distinction between those two numbers matters more than most couples expect. The hours before and after the event are yours for setup, getting ready, vendor load-in, and teardown. The six event hours are protected and unhurried.
Setup and teardown of tables, chairs, and linens is handled by Cliffside staff. You do not need to assign this to anyone in your wedding party.
One hour of property access for a rehearsal is included. We schedule it, we are there for it, and we make sure the people who need to know what they are doing on your wedding day know what they are doing.
Photo by Mallory Made
The only two add-ons
In six years and four hundred weddings, we have added exactly two line items to our base package: more time and more space.
Our thirteen-hour package was designed to be the right fit for the overwhelming majority of couples who marry here. For those who want more, additional time is available à la carte or as an upgrade to our Premier package.
The Glass House, our fully enclosed, all-season ceremony and reception space, is the only physical add-on we offer. It is a separate building, designed from a napkin sketch as a solution for weather uncertainty, and the only additional cost tied to the space itself. Couples who have added it and then faced an unexpected weather change have told us, more than once, that it was the best decision they made.
Two options. Both optional. Both priced transparently. Nothing hidden in the final invoice.
What is not included, and why
We do not include a wedding coordinator, and we want to explain that decision because it is the one couples ask about most.
A coordinator's job is to serve the couple. Only the couple. On a wedding day, when something goes wrong, and something always has the potential to go wrong, a coordinator should never be in the position of deciding between what is best for the couple and what is best for the property. When a venue employs the coordinator, that conflict exists whether anyone acknowledges it or not. We would rather you hire someone whose loyalty is entirely yours. We can help point you in the right direction.
We do not include decor. Cliffside was built as a blank canvas because we believe each wedding should feel like the couple it belongs to, and only them. We do not put our name on the walls. We do not have a signature look that shows up in every gallery. When you walk into your reception, what you see should be entirely yours. Decor is not our responsibility because it is not our day.
We do not include napkins. Your caterer does. We mention it because couples sometimes assume otherwise. Your catering team knows how to fold them. We do not, at least not in the way you would want.
What grows throughout your engagement
Thirty days before your wedding, we sit down together. One meeting, to walk through every detail. Not because we need the information, we have been paying attention since the day you signed, but because you deserve to walk into your wedding day knowing that someone else has thought through everything you have.
You have access to Cliffside's planning concierge by email throughout your engagement for guidance on anything venue-related. You have access to Aisle Planner, the planning platform we use to keep everything organized and visible.
Up to one hour of property access for an engagement photo session is included, scheduled Monday through Thursday. The maples in bloom, the limestone cliffs, the Glass House: these are yours to use before the wedding, not only on it.
And then there are the Cocktail Hours.
Eight times a year, Cliffside hosts an evening that is unlike anything else we offer. Dinner, drinks, and an intentional selection of our most trusted vendors, photographers, florists, coordinators, musicians, gathered in the space where your wedding will happen. These are not open houses. They are curated evenings, limited in size, designed to feel like a dinner party rather than a sales event.
When you walk through the door, we know your name. We know your parents' names. We know your wedding date. We know that you mentioned, once, that you love Lenox doves, and we have not forgotten. That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the standard these evenings reflect.
Past the wedding day
Cliffside couples have lifetime access to the property for anniversary photos, family portraits, baby announcements, and whatever the years bring.
We built this place while we were engaged, before we knew what it would become. We have never forgotten what it felt like to be on the other side of the contract. That memory is built into every line item on this list, and into every line item that isn't.
The relationship we build with our couples doesn't begin at setup and it doesn't end at teardown.
The maples will be here when you come back. So will we.
Photo by Morgan Anderson
Photo by Jen Kruskamp