Carillon Park Wedding Photos & Information
July 22, 2024
Carillon Park Weddings
Choose this living history venue, Carillon Historical Park, if you love Dayton and want to be surrounded by historic buildings and vintage transportation. The property is large enough that two weddings can be on-site simultaneously. A full-size train operating around the property’s historic buildings can provide an activity for early-arrival guests. While this won’t be running after hours, it may also be available for use as a backdrop.
My Take On Having A Wedding At Carillon Historical Park:
Dayton History’s main campus is a great wedding venue in western Ohio. This national historical landmark and museum features some of the most important buildings and vehicles in the City’s history. For a history buff, this park is a fun and unique place at which to have your wedding and reception. The wedding parties below were so much fun and allowed me to photograph them on a carousel and at historic buildings across the property. A Carillon Park wedding is a must-do wedding venue for any person who loves Dayton as much as I do.
2025 Carillon Park Wedding Film
Eichelberger Pavilion
The Eichelberger Pavilion is the newest and largest event center on the property. Added just a few years ago, this gigantic indoor two-story reception hall is great for large wedding, receptions, and corporate parties. The first time I walked in I audibly said “Oh my gosh, this is huge!” It is an open-concept space which allows for whatever table setup you can dream up. The second floor is a balcony overlooking the main floor and can be used for other purposes at a reception.
Wedding Couple Preparation Suites / Getting Ready Rooms
The bridal suite is located upstairs and is one of the largest in the Dayton area. I walked in and was blown away by how large it was. There is a full kitchen, kitchen table, restroom, and tons of space. It was not nicely decorated, which is fine. It served the purpose of giving the bride and her bridesmaids a place to get ready for the wedding.
The groom’s suite is located on the ground floor next to the event office.. It was smaller and was basically a room with some chairs.. I think it is mainly used as a storage room since there was a bar and television stands in there. It served its purpose for the groom and two groomsmen. I wouldn’t want to have too many more people in the room, however.
Wedding Couple Photos, Family Photos, And Wedding Party Photos
Dayton History makes available a golf cart and driver to drive the wedding couple and photographer around. Due to the multi-acre size of the property, this saves a ton of time. On this wedding day we when to several of the historical buildings, the transportation center, and the covered bridge. We didn’t have a lot of time, but the golf cart made our time significantly better.
Transportation Center
For more than a decade, the Carillon Park Transportation Center has been my favorite indoor venue. This small event space, situated at the western edge of the property close to the Reynolds & Reynolds clock tower, features a variety of vintage buses, train cars, and trolley cars. I have always loved public transportation, so I loved this venue. Due to logistical complications and the opening of the pavilion, Carillon Park no longer hosts weddings at the Transportation Center. However, it can be used for wedding photos during operating hours.
Other Backdrops And Things To See
Since this is a working historical center, there are dozens of buildings saved from Dayton’s past. I have favorites such as the piece of the Old River pool from when I was child. If you are having your event here, take a look at all the structures and have in mind some you like. I’ll incorporate them into your wedding photos. There is a vintage carousel inside that can sometimes be used for wedding photos too. There isn’t much space for the photographer to stand, so don’t expect a wide angle of the entire thing. Close-ups and medium shots look great here, however.
Tip: It is a long walk to the Transportation Center, so guests with disabilities may need assistance. They offer a golf cart service, but I am unsure if there is a cost. Inquire with the booking folks about extra services. Weddings in the Eichelberger Pavilion inside the main building are easily accessible from the parking lot.
Spring Wedding At Carillon Park’s Eichelberger Pavilion
At the end of March, 2025, I photographed my 246th wedding, this one at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. The couple rented the Eichelberger Pavilion for the day to have their wedding and reception. It was my first time photographing a wedding in the pavilion, and it did not disappoint.
Wedding Ceremony
The wedding ceremony took place on the ground floor of the pavilion near the double staircase. The couple had a custom made wooden arch as the centerpiece of their ceremony. Roughly 125 guests attended the wedding, and everyone was on time. The couple went an extra step and had the ceremony mic’d so everyone could hear. Nice touch!
Cocktail Hour Upstairs
After the ceremony and some family formals, everyone made their way to a delicious cocktail hour catered by Bernstein’s Fine Catering. Their food is excellent and their food artistry is the best in town. After the ceremony, seating was swapped out for dinner tables, it was time to head downstairs.
Wedding Reception
While this isn’t a typical bland, boring reception space, the reception was typical. It was a lot of fun and had dinner, toasts, and dancing. The dance floor is gigantic because the venue is large. I’d love to photograph a wedding here with 300+ guests.
Carillon Park Wedding Couple Photos Spring Day In Dayton Ohio
So far in 2022, I have photographed some really great wedding couples at really great Dayton wedding and reception venues. The couple who left me a five-star review for this day only had me for 4 hours, but it was a blast. Their wedding in Kettering Ohio was very nice and didn’t last very long. They were determined to get to the park to knock out a list of photo locations before my time was up. I was about to speed-create numerous awesome Carillon Park wedding couple photos or portraits.
Overview Of What I Did To Create Carillon Park Wedding Couple Photos
As soon as the family photos and formal photos were complete, the three of us headed to Carillon Historical Park just south of downtown Dayton. The couple’s reception was to be held there later in the day, so we had free reign of the historic property. With several ideas of their own, we set out to create fun and interesting wedding portraits. Once my four hours were up, we finished photographing in the Eichelberger Pavilion, and I went home. I was genuinely excited about how great these Dayton wedding portraits turned out.
Before The Wedding
Before the start of the wedding, the bride and groom were getting ready in separate spaces. All the normal wedding day prep took place in the bride’s suite. In the room where the groom and groomsmen got dressed, they were playing a back-and-forth game with lint rollers. It was pretty unique for me to see this, so I made sure to get some fun pics of it. I can’t remember if they were hitting something back and forth or pretending to play with lightsabers. Check this off the list of things I have never seen before.
This Was A Great Wedding Couple With A Plan
This was a rare, no-nonsense couple who knew every detail of their day. It was also one of the only weddings I have done where the groom was my contact. When he first contacted me, I thought it might be spam. Nearly every time it is the bride or mother of the bride who contacts me. He was awesome to communicate with and great at the wedding.
My First Eichelberger Pavilion Wedding
Eichelberger Pavilion
My first ever Eichelberger Pavilion at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio, took place in the first half of 2025. I photographed a fun couple who hired me in 2024 for their 2025 wedding.
They did a fantastic job with me at their Dayton Grotto Gardens engagement session. Being very into each other in terms of posing and attitude made my job so incredibly easy. I knew that from their engagement session, they were going to be great at the wedding. Often, I get couples that simply act like friends, which is fine. The couple did a great job with their engagement session. We had lots of fun, and I knew that their wedding was going to be good.
I had been looking forward to their wedding day for months and months. Finally, their wedding came around at the Eichelberger Pavilion. I walked in to the pavilion, and it was beautifully set up for the wedding. The tables were set up on the lower level with the ceremony location set up at the eastern end of the room. It provided plenty of space for guests and plenty of options for me to photograph. The space was huge for the number of guests they had, but it worked out well since they could have a giant dance floor. They had places for people to go off and talk by themselves, etc.
They held cocktail hour upstairs on the balcony, which is standard for that wedding venue. Cocktail hour is really nice because it gives people time to chill out and congregate after the wedding, just prior to the reception. When cocktail hour takes place, you can look down on the reception area to see what it looks like. It kind of gives you a preview and gets you excited.
Once the wedding had begun, they all walked in for a beautiful ceremony. It was beautiful. You could hear everyone, which was very nice. It was awesome! At the majority of my weddings, you can’t hear the ceremony very well, which kind of stinks for the guests. The remaining pictures were afterwards.
Earlier, we did a first look just outside the main building on the north side patio. The first look went really well. I love arranging first looks! Sometimes people have ideas sometimes they don’t. This couple did not, so I suggested a place that had good lighting. I was able to capture several great pictures of this special moment. They were excited to see each other. They loved on each other for a couple minutes and then we proceeded with the formal pictures.
Golf Cart Access
We got on the golf cart provided by the pavilion and walked around well. Riding around to various parts of Carillon Historical Park, we took photos in front of structures that I thought would look great. We did some in front of old buildings and some in the transportation center. Then, I had the idea to put them in the covered bridge, which sits on a hill on the south side of the park. It’s a place that I always try to take my wedding couple because I love the darkness of the covered bridge. The brightness at the north end of the end of the covered bridge contrasts nicely with architecture on the inside. There is an arch that goes from the north side to the south side and provides a nice natural frame for the couple.
We made our way to the bridge overlooking the transportation center, and I had done weddings on this bridge before on one of the hottest days of my entire life. Everyone was melting, that day but today, it was just the three of us on a beautiful day. After that, we made our way back to the pavilion, had the wedding, had cocktail hour, had reception.
The reception was great. There was tons of fun with a lot of the guests dancing. This alwys makes the evening better for the couple and for me. I was able to capture several dancing photos and numerous people talking to each other. I like to capture everything that was is on and everyone having fun.
So Much Space
My suggestions for the pavilion would be to only book this place if you have a lot of guests because when you have a few tables in this giant facility, it can look empty. This couple had just the right amount of guests and their wedding was great. I have seen before, where people book giant venues for 50 to 75 people, and it can look odd, and like something is missing. So, pick this place if you are having hundreds of guests.
The most unique caterer in town services Carillon, Bernstein’s Fine Catering. As I have said many times, they have the most artistic and unique offerings of any caterer in Dayton or Cincinnati.
The sepearate cocktail hour area is always nice to have. At the pavilion, the groom’s room (partner 1 room) was just a storage room on the ground floor. It was nothing specials but was big enough for the guys. The bride’s room (partner 2 room) is upstairs, and was huge. It features a kitchenette, a bathroom, mirrors, and tons and tons of space for the wedding party to get ready. Both were adequate but were not the most asthetically pleasing in the area.
Always important, the air conditioning is sufficient! Of course, the historic buildings don’t have any air conditioning. So if you’re going to do outside photos and photos in the old school house, etc, be prepared to be hot on hot days. All in all, Carillon is a really nice place to get married. It is a good place for a reception. People will have a lot of fun and it’s very unique.
