Elope in Ohio to experience the heart of the Midwest, where the blend of outdoor adventures and rich arts and culture awaits, offering the perfect canvas for crafting an unforgettable elopement.
Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, Cincinnati beckons couples to embark on an extraordinary elopement journey. The city’s charm lies in its seamless fusion of outdoor delights and a rich tapestry of arts and culture. Picture exchanging vows against the backdrop of Cincinnati’s scenic parks, where nature’s beauty intertwines with the urban landscape. The city’s dynamic energy and historic architecture provide a captivating setting for intimate celebrations.
For those envisioning a blend of modern cityscape and classic elegance, Cincinnati offers a diverse range of venues, from rooftop gardens with panoramic views to historic landmarks steeped in character. Weather in Cincinnati varies, with warm summers and chilly winters, so couples can tailor their wardrobe to the season. The city is generally accessible, but it’s recommended to check specific venues for wheelchair accessibility to ensure a seamless celebration for everyone.
Destination Highlights
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Why is Eloping in Ohio awesome
Unveil the magic of Cincinnati as the ultimate elopement destination, where timeless charm meets contemporary allure. With a rich cultural tapestry and picturesque landscapes, Cincinnati promises a wedding experience like no other.
Scenic Diversity: From the banks of the Ohio River to the enchanting parks, Cincinnati offers diverse backdrops for your ceremony and photoshoot.
Cultural Vibes: Immerse yourselves in the city’s arts and culture scene, with museums, galleries, and theaters adding a touch of sophistication to your celebration.
Urban Elegance: Revel in the blend of modern amenities and historic charm, as Cincinnati’s urban landscape sets the stage for a stylish and memorable elopement.
Find your perfect Ohio elopement package
We’re firm believers that there’s magic within each and every wedding that takes place.
SeedStarting Price
You, your SO, and someone to make it official. For couples all about the essentials, the Seed package sets you up for a simply perfect day.
The Sprout package offers a professional officiant, one hour of photography, your Personal Elopement Planner and access to our best-in-class tech platform. Your stress-free elopement starts here!
Why should big weddings have all the fun? If your dream elopement includes an exotic photo sesh, a first-look video, and a dedicated glam team, Oasis is your destination.
You might not be able to point it out on a map, but Ohio is one of the most underestimated states in the midwest. With its heavy European influence, vast stretches of untouched nature, and a penchant for amusement parks, Ohio is the lovable underdog of the Great Lakes region. From its bustling Amish community to its IPA obsession and ubiquitous pie shops, the state of Ohio is one-of-a-kind — and centrally located, with the city of Cincinnati being less than a six-hour drive from nine major U.S. cities.
The Buckeye State is naturally stunning, from its sheer sandstone cliffs and over seven million acres of timberland to the shores of Lake Erie. Some parts of the state seem frozen in time, with roads still peppered by the Amish horse-and-buggy. Bucolic scenes of rolling green pastures pass you by on the way to a German beer hall. Ohio also sports four distinct seasons, two world-class amusement parks — Cedar Point and Kings Island — and one of the most laid back attitudes in the Great Lakes.
Just ten miles east of downtown Cincinnati is Mojave East, a gorgeous venue that’s 11,000-square-feet of industrial beauty. All exposed rafters and polished concrete, this Palm Springs-inspired space is chic and modern and has both indoor and outdoor options. Throughout the city’s elaborate network of verdant parks are also a handful of secret gardens and quiet spots to recite your vows. For more intimate options, you can’t go wrong with the Hinkle Gazebo or the Vasey Garden. We are also partial to Ault Park’s Brumm and Rose Gardens!
You can’t get a more rustic and charming venue than the Centennial Barn. Originally built in 1899, this two-story venue is home to an impressive open atrium, an outside patio, and a beautiful green space out back that is perfect for photoshoots. Lastly, the newly refurbished Factory Events space comprises a 4,000-square-foot building with a sprawling banquet hall and a luxurious private courtyard lined with gardens. The entire place has an industrial-chic vibe that ties together the building’s modern and historic elements.
Ohio is still a pretty well-kept secret, so eloping here is still very affordable. If you would like to pick and choose from our offerings, get in touch and we can create a custom quote for your Ohio elopement. We pair you with a Personal Elopement Planner to help you manage all the logistics.
For custom pricing for your Ohio elopement, visit our quote builder.
Unless you are the very hardy type, steer clear of Ohio in the winter, when temperatures hover around freezing and strong winds whip across the relatively flat terrain. Spring in Ohio is often rainy and summers tend towards hot and humid, so the best time to visit Ohio is in autumn, when it rains the least and temperatures are milder.
Marriage licenses are issued through each county’s Probate Court Office and if you are a resident of Ohio, you need to apply for your marriage license in the county where you reside.
The cost of a marriage license in Hamilton County is $75 plus an additional fee if you pay with a credit card. You can also begin the application process online and complete it in person. Your marriage license is valid for 60 days, so it wouldn’t hurt to get it sorted out well before your elopement date. You and your partner will each need to present some form of identification along with payment in full at the time of your application. You will also be asked for your Social Security numbers, places of birth, and occupations. You should also know your parents’ birth names and the name of the person who will marry you.
Nope! Witnesses are not required in the State of Ohio.
As of February 2001, there is no longer a five-day waiting period requirement. You may get married as soon as your marriage license has been granted.
We define an elopement as a wedding ceremony with 20 guests or less. Elopements are usually an intimate, high quality, generally outdoors ceremony that is personalized to the couple (as opposed to a traditional cookie-cutter wedding ceremony).
You never know the magical moments that can take place when you're eloping!
We think there are 1000 reasons you should elope, but here are a few of our favorites:
1. We don't believe a wedding has to be stressful. There is far less to coordinate (and we take on most of that wedding planning anyhow), and your realm of responsibility consists of making a few decisions and getting your marriage license. It's hard to beat a wedding that is actually...wait for it...relaxing!
2. Cost-conscious: Let's be honest, there is so much uncertainty right now! Economic recession? Inflation? Rising cost of living? Save your money for a honeymoon or buying a house and still have an intimate wedding ceremony you'll remember for the rest of your lives.
3. A Ceremony should be About YOU and YOUR LOVE:
When did a wedding turn into a party for everyone else? We personalize every aspect of your experience – from the vendors to the vows. We'll even cry real tears with you. We're here to celebrate the core of what makes a wedding ceremony special: you making a lifetime commitment to the one you love. That's a big deal – and we treat it as such.
An elopement package is a bundle of services designed to help couples tie the knot conveniently with one price tag. Elopement packages offer the very basics (like an officiant and venue), but couples can add in a variety of other services, such as an elopement photographer, a musician or flowers.
Simply Eloped has been in business for almost 8 years, and we've married over 13,000 couples. With the combination of our amazing team, nationally renowned wedding vendors, and our innovative technology, we've streamlined the process of planning high-quality, personalized, and cost-conscious ceremonies. We're honored and excited to work with couples to create the most magical day of their lives! Here are a few more reasons why you should choose us:
We've been doing this longer than any elopement company out there— 8 years!
We've performed more ceremonies than any other company—over 13,000 ceremonies.
We personalize every ceremony we do—we don't believe in cookie-cutter weddings.
We vet every team member and vendor to ensure they embody our values and maintain our quality standards.
We're passionate about weddings, and our enthusiasm shines through in everything we do.
We've spent 8 years building our technology, which enables us to do what we love—just better!
Our wedding packages include 20 guests or fewer, but every venue we offer varies in how many guests we're allowed to invite. Just ask us!
We make the process of getting married extremely easy!
We'll work with you to establish your destination, venue, date, time, guest count, and the package you'd like to book with us. Then the rest is on our plate! We offer 250 venues around the US, and in most instances, we coordinate on your behalf.
We'll pair you with exceptional vendors, an elopement planner who will guide you through every step of the process, and set you up with a dashboard where you can manage your elopement day from A to Z.
Your biggest responsibility is getting your marriage license, and we'll handle the rest!
Of course! We have all sorts of packages that can offer whatever vendor you're seeking to hire for. We do not, however, just coordinate a venue. You do need to book a package for the rest of the perks of working with Simply Eloped.
Oh my goodness this is such a personal question and one you and your honey must answer together. We highly encourage you to have a deep heart-to-heart about what you each envision for your big day and discuss what's realistic AND exciting to you both. If you ever need additional guidance, our CEO donates half-hour increments to help you ensure you're asking the right questions. You can learn more about that program by clicking here.
Do you mean to ask how stress-free? Generally, elopements are considered a stressless way of getting married.
Since 82% of the ceremonies we perform are destination weddings, the average planning time is 3-9 months in advance of the ceremony date. However, we've planned as far as three years out and with as little notice as a few days. We're flexible, it's one of our biggest strengths as a company!
A huge reason why we designate our ceremonies as twenty guests or less is because we definitely want your clan to be in attendance (should you desire them to be). But once you have more than 20 people, you really start needing infrastructure. Larger groups begin to require things like chairs, ample parking, multiple bathrooms, etc. At that point, you really need a venue that can support larger groups, which is where the cost really begins to add up. Not to mention, it requires more and more vendors to manage larger groups.
While an elopement costs $1,000 to $5,000, the average cost of a traditional wedding in the US is $35,000. That's a big difference! We highly encourage you to ascertain what's the best route for you!
Yes! At Simply Eloped we offer over 250 venues (private venues, national, city and state parks, etc) around the nation! While there are some venues that prefer to work directly with couples, we coordinate any that we are able. Just ask!
That hugely depends on the date, time of year, or budget you have in mind. Simply Eloped is here to help you find the best place to say “I Do”!
You can use our venue finder to help you determine the best fit for you!
Absolutely! Whether or not your venue is in a destination we offer, we can definitely do our best to provide vendors or a team based on the services and experiences you're after.
When you're using our quote request process, a lot of the venue fees are grouped into the final package offering. That's why you may be unable to see a line item or specific breakdown of how much the venue costs. If the venue requires you to make the reservation, we let you know in our quote builder how much that costs and how to do that. Everything else is included in the package quote. Just one less thing for you to worry about.
If you cancel services with us your deposit is nonrefundable. The reason for this is the moment you book our services, we get to work! Your Customer Experience Rep will start the wedding planning process; we'll introduce you to your vendors and team; we even get started on coordinating with a venue or a permit. Because of this, there is a lot of time and often upfront costs that we front as soon as you book with us. When you cancel your booking with us, that doesn't change the time or money we invested to begin the planning process for your wedding day. Thank you for understanding! If you need to postpone, change your venue/date/time, your deposit remains as your placeholder. There are no penalties or fees to change details for your elopement. Our deposits range from only $250 to $450.
Simply Eloped is by far the most flexible wedding company in the nation! Because we are set up in over thirty destinations in the US, not only can we postpone your big day at any time, but we can also easily move from one destination to another! There are no fees or consequences to postponing with us? we understand sometimes life just happens!
Yes! When we save your invoice you have the opportunity to pay in installment payments at 0% APR, and in any amount you like. Just ask us!
We are not fans of hidden fees, and we do our best to be as transparent as possible. If you have more than 20 guests or desire additional services, there may be added fees. However, we are always communicative about them and give you the opportunity to work with us!
For some services like our hair & makeup, if you happen to be staying at a hotel or Airbnb outside of our area, there may be fees to get our hair & makeup artist to where you are. You just never know how far away things are in some areas until you are in the planning stages!
There are a lot of variables to consider with whatever type of ceremony you're planning.
82% of the ceremonies we perform are destination, meaning couples don't live in the area they're choosing to get eloped. Therefore, additional costs like airfare, hotel, eating out, and activities are all line items that should be considered in your budget.
No two ceremonies are the same, so be sure to understand all of the costs associated with performing your ceremony prior to booking with any company!
Yes? every state requires you to get a marriage license IN the state you are holding your ceremony. So if you live in Michigan, and are getting married in Hawaii, you'll need to get a license in Hawaii. You will then submit the license to the state of Hawaii and they will mail you a marriage certificate which will then translate to a certificate in the state you live in. If you are holding a symbolic ceremony, you can get a license in your state, but if you intend for your ceremony to be legal you'll need to abide by state guidelines to get your marriage license in the state you are holding your ceremony.
All Simply Eloped packages include 20 guests or less. The reason for this is because when you have more than 20 guests, you end up needing more infrastructure, planning and teamwork from my vendors. While we do have some venues that can support larger groups, we do charge extra for any guests above 20. Short answer? Yes you may, it just increases your cost.
Absolutely! We have a wide variety of vendors in each destination and can definitely work with you to find someone you're excited about. We don't confirm prior to your booking but once you confirm your date, your Customer Experience Rep will be in touch and can guide you through the process of expressing your preference.
For lighting, we recommend holding your elopement ceremony in the morning or in the evening. Direct lighting can create harsh lines or shadows and isn?t very flattering on anyone. We definitely recommend holding your ceremony prior to 11am or after 4pm. Feel free to ask us for timing based on your date and destination!
Due to our nationwide setup, we do not provide custom flowers. If you choose to book a wedding package with us that includes flowers or add-on florals to your custom package, we offer a variety of selections for your florals:
1. Flowers by Palette
We have arrangements based on a color palette, which means the types of flowers may not be exactly as pictured, but the colors and arrangement style will match. You can explore our options for Flowers by Palette here (excluding Hawaii).
2. Hawaiian Arrangements
Hawaii is a unique destination, and we have our stunning tropical arrangements for ceremonies taking place in Hawaii. You can view these arrangements here. Please note that these arrangements are only available in Hawaii.
While no company can legally obtain your marriage license on your behalf, we are very familiar with state guidelines and simplify the process for you by walking you through all of the steps, documentation and information you?ll need to acquire your marriage license. We?re also always here for any questions you may have at any time!
Every state has different guidelines for whether or not you need a legal wedding officiant or any witnesses. When you book our services, we'll send you a guide that walks you through these details on a state-by-state basis. However, *most* states do require an officiant who is registered in the state and a witness or two (which cannot be yourselves or your wedding officiant; but can definitely be your photographer!).
As soon as you book our services, we get to work!
We'll immediately introduce you to your Personal Elopement Planner, who is kind of like your best friend between the date you book and the day you elope! Your Pep will be ensuring every step of the process is smooth and delightful. They will introduce you to your team, answer any questions you have, put your schedule and invoice together, and much more!
We'll also begin the process of personalizing. You'll work with your officiant to ensure your ceremony matches what you envision and dream of. Your photographer will ensure they understand the kind of shots or photos you're hoping for. Your hair & makeup artist will inquire about the style you're going for with your hair and makeup. Your dashboard is also customized to meet your needs.
We offer many tools to help you feel at ease about your decision to book Simply Eloped, including your personalized Elopement Checklist, your marriage license guide, your Wedding Page, and more! You can even make installment payments on your invoice at 0% APR. Weeks prior to your ceremony, we'll send your itinerary with all the details you and your guests need. Your team will meet at your ceremony site, and the rest, as they say, is history.
First off, know that every moment of your elopement day, we are available to you for whatever you need! We're very prompt on timing with floral delivery, hair & makeup, etc.
Your team will always meet at your venue prior to your ceremony time to ensure everyone is collected, introduced, and ready for a gorgeous ceremony right on time. Your officiant will kick off your ceremony and ensure that all of your requests are beautifully exhibited in your personalized ceremony. It's important to note that your dedicated Personal Elopement Planner will not be present at the ceremony, but will definitely be accessible by phone or text for your day-of needs.
Ceremonies generally last 15-20 minutes, which will then kick off into your portrait session with your photographer (if you booked one with us). The main task you need to be mindful of on your wedding day is bringing your marriage license, and we do the rest! 🌼👰🤵
The right answer to this is, whatever you envision! We've seen it all: casual, themed, color Uncoordinated. We think your attire is a great way for you to personalize and make the ceremony your own. (But for inspiration here's a video of some of our favorite and most unique elopement styles we've seen our couples exhibit:
Many of the venues we perform ceremonies at do not have a traditional aisle, but we can definitely create a faux aisle or use the natural settings as a path for you to approach your honey! You?re welcome to have anyone you please walk you down the aisle ? including yourself. We want you to do whatever you feel is right for you!
Absolutely! Just be sure to check with us about what kind of florals (or not) your flower girl can spread at the venue.
Oh we sure do love a first look moment ? they can be so romantic! Be sure to coordinate with us directly if you?re interested in having this moment as it does change the timing of your day. We?ll have to work with your team to ensure everyone is on the same page about the incorporation of that moment.
It's a fair question. When you're bringing people together for an event, there is a chance things can go, not exactly according to plan. We've experienced undesirable weather, popped tires on a vehicle, a global pandemic? we've seen it all! One of the strongest reasons to book Simply Eloped is because we are PROS at adapting and being flexible. We have an armada of backup vendors, a slew of backup venues and we have a contingency plan for whatever comes our way. It goes without saying that we'll be there for you on your big day, no matter what turns our twists happen.
We wish we could control the weather, but alas, there are some things quite simply out of our realm of power.
In our experience, most weather passes quickly, and we can be flexible about timing. However, we do have recommendations or options for indoor venues, and if worst comes to worst, we can move your ceremony to another day. We'll work with you individually in the case of poor weather.
Pro tip: Though weather can be daunting or scary, some of our FAVORITE ceremonies happen in thunder, rain, or snow storms. Being open-minded about undesirable weather can create an extremely memorable ceremony. Sometimes it's all about perspective.
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