Wedding Photographers & Videographers at National Museum of the Great Lakes, Toledo

A wedding at the National Museum of the Great Lakes puts the Maumee River beside you in Toledo, with a 617-foot freighter tied up at the edge of the grounds. The museum's riverside campus has eight spaces to rent inside and outside, and the open decks of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker look out over downtown and the Veterans Glass City Skyway Bridge. That gives your wedding photos and video a river view with a ship and a skyline in it.

Your wedding ceremony can be held outdoors in Cliffs Great Lakes Maritime Park, a green space with river views and paths lined with artifacts that connects to Glass City Metropark next door. The Community Plaza is a riverside pad made for tents, so an evening wedding reception under canvas can face the water. Indoors, receptions and dinners take place among the museum's exhibits, and the galleries can be reserved as a weather plan for the plaza or the park. The light-filled Cook Leadership Center opens onto the plaza for a cocktail hour.

Plan the ship carefully with your photographer and videographer. Its decks give you portraits and a wide film clip with the skyline behind you, but the Schoonmaker is a historic artifact that isn't ADA accessible, and the ship and galleries can't be used during museum hours. Tables and chairs come with the rental, along with linens and basic A/V. Parking is free, and you may bring a licensed caterer with the museum's approval. Two hours of setup and one hour after are included, which helps your vendors plan the wedding day.

• Request your date through the museum's rental form and ask which spaces fit your guest count (the campus hosts up to 500).
• Walk the route from the ship to the plaza with your photographer and videographer.
• Ask about photo and video guidelines and when the ship and galleries are open to your party.

A little about the National Museum of the Great Lakes

The museum grew out of the Great Lakes Historical Society, founded in Cleveland in 1944, which first ran a museum in Vermilion before moving to the banks of the Maumee in Toledo. Visitors can step aboard two preserved museum ships in season, the Schoonmaker and the Tug Ohio.