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Anywhere near Presque Isle would be beautiful for the wedding. You could get married on any of the 13 beaches facing Lake Erie or they have a paved area at the Perry Monument that would be on the water looking off the peninsula towards the bay and downtown Erie. There is also Dobbins Landings (at the downtown pier) and am outside platform at the Bayfront Conventaion Center. Both are on the bay side of the lake and within walking distance to the Sheraton Hotel and numerous restuarants for out of town guest. We had our guests stay there and everyone loved it. Let me know if you need any other information on Erie area. Congrats!

I just got married Friday at Lakeshore Country Club. Had the ceremony and cocktail hour outside and the reception inside. Everyone loved it. The ceremony and cocktail site overlooks the water. I wanted the same as you in terms of being by the water, but having the reception indoors made everything easier because didn't have to worry about renting tables, linens, etc. Just rented chairs for ceremony then had them moved inside for reception to keep garden look. There are some shots of the venue on my photographer's blog (she was awesome too BTW). Oh and the other outdoor photos are at Erie Yacht Club which was also an option but they were booked so we just took some pics at friend's boat. Good luck! http://www.daniellehartland.com/blog/?p=8684

Maybe you would like Sunset in. I've heard they are very reasonable and you can have your wedding out side. You'll be able to see Lake Erie and get married on grass not sand!! http://my.sunsetinnerie.com/
Hope this helps
Melissa Chivers

Thank you so much everyone! I believe we looked at Lakeshore? It was extremely pretty. Do you mind me asking how much the venue was? Or how much your photographer was? We are trying to do this as affordable as possible!!!! The Lakeview has very reasonable prices but I have not visited it so I don't know what it looks like yet. I am going to check out Perry Monument and Dobbins Landings. I appreciate your input!

There are different packages at Lake Shore, and we liked that it was all per person including the open bar so there was far less planning for us. The catering director, Lisa took care of so much for us, including laying out all of our materials that I had made exactly the way I asked.
Packages can go from $45 pp to $65 for set menus. We went with something more customized because we wanted to do food stations with a mingling atmosphere rather than plated dinner. It was great and it was easy to work with them on that.

Our photographer was about $2300 which was a very competitive price for the quality of work she did. She was amazing. I was willing to pay a lot for a photographer as pictures were really important to me and I still don't think she charged as much as many of her competitors. She also has varying packages and we chose the most basic but still had her for up to 8 hours.

What I learned throughout the process was even going with some of the more expensive vendors, you can still try to keep costs down--just about the choices you make. For example, at first I thought Allburns for flowers was really expensive but in the end I'm so happy I went with them. I simply told Melissa I wanted to work with a lower budget and she offered lots of ways to make it less expensive without altering the look. She is full of great ideas and is a big help on the day of, going above and beyond what a typical florist would.
All of the vendors are willing to meet and talk pricing and details before you've even committed so it's worth it to sit down with them and go over everything you are looking for. Good luck!

Hi! You can rent chairs from "Presque Isle Tent and Tables", Simply Unique Weddings & Events offers chair covers, table linens and more to rent if you need those as well. I agree with others with The Bayfront Convention Center (Sunset Terrace, Lakeshore, Sunset Inn, Presque Isle beaches, and etc. Some have also gotten married on the Victorian princess boat as well, there is also the Sheraton Hotel that is next to the bayfront convention center. There are lots of photographers in erie you can choose from and some are budget friendly. If you need assistance in locating other vendors let us know. Good Luck! :)