About this vendor
Based in Dayton, OH, The Lift is a historic wedding venue boasting 20,000 square feet of event space ideal for your special day. Combing a modern-day aesthetic with Victorian charm, both your ceremony and reception can be held in this gorgeous 120-year-old building.
Husband-and-wife team Seth and Ashley Doliboa dedicated their home-building and interior design skills, respectively, to transforming the space into a chic, modern venue. Built in 1900, this former ice cream cone factory now offers fewer scoops, but a lot more opportunities to say “I do”. With space for up to 260 of your nearest and dearest, everyone you love will be able to attend.
With on-site accommodations and get-ready rooms, the space opens up to your every need. You’re more than welcome to book a tour of the building before your special day to get a feel for the space, and a 1-hour rehearsal is included in your wedding package. The team offers a list of preferred vendors for catering so you can select your favorites for the day. Tables and chairs are provided by The Lift, but you can source linens specially to match the color scheme of your event. With free off-street, private parking, and a slew of public parking to boot, your guests should have no trouble arriving in style. The premises are also wheelchair accessible. Needless to say, Ashley, Seth, and the whole Lift team would love to welcome you to the best day of your life.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Settings
- Industrial & Warehouse
- Loft
Venue Service Offerings
- Bar & Drinks
- Bar Rental
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.7
out of 5.06 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 6
I coordinated a wedding at The Lift last month and it was an absolute pleasure! The venue staff is so friendly and their preferred vendors were some of the best I have worked with....
The venue has an upstairs and downstairs, which allows for a great separation of events between the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. The bridal suite and groomsmen area are both large and very aesthetic for pictures. The white and black look of the venue fits with any wedding style and works if you have to take portraits/family photos inside, as my couple did due to the rain. I hope to work many more weddings here in the future!
The Lift was the perfect place to have our wedding! Limited decor was needed because it’s already such a beautiful venue in a lovely historic neighborhood. All of our guests loved...
it and the bridal/groom suites are to die for!
Having our wedding at The Lift was a DREAM. It was timeless, beautiful, and classy, yet simple; exactly what we wanted. We loved the space and really enjoyed getting to work with t...
he staff as well!! Honestly such a great experience overall and I'll definitely be recommending The Lift to everyone I know :)
This venue as w absolutely one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. If your looking for a classy elegant wedding this is the venue for you. I could not have asked for a better wedding ...
it was so pretty.
The staff we’re very helpful and amazing and makes the process very easy for you on your 30 day meeting and make things very clear.
Our wedding was on 5/21/22 at The Lift. (Ceremony only). Below are some pros and cons based on our experience:
PROS:
*The venue is STUNNING and exquisite and trendy and just gorge...
ous. And it’s HUGE.
*We had the option to book it by the hour and we did so for 2 hours. In addition, we had access to the building for an hour before and an hour after our 2-hr slot for set up and tear down.
*They gave us a thorough tour and booking the venue was easy.
*we received our $500 security deposit back very quickly.
CONS:
*The “Director of Operations” was not pleasant or accommodating at all. She was rude and appeared unhappy in her role-as she shared with us multiple times that she was an “hourly employee” therefore, she wasn’t about to do anything outside of her paid time. We were very uncomfortable each time she told
us this.
*The indoor temperature was absolutely UNCOMFORTABLE and HOT. It was 82 degrees INSIDE the building!!! Our guests had to fan themselves with our wedding programs just to cool off. The temperature issue was discussed at great length at our rehearsal the night before, and it was our ONLY request to have the place cooled to an appropriate and comfortable temperature. However, because their Director told us she was only willing to come in at her paid allotted time, she couldn’t adjust the thermostat until she arrived- so it didn’t give much time to cool things down in a building that size. It was absolutely miserable (especially in our wedding attire!), and we were very upset about this. It is a 22,000 sq foot building, but has new A/C units. She shared with us that “the thermostat didn’t work well” and the temperature was “difficult to manage and maintain”. We were miserably hot. Our guests were miserably hot. Instead of trying to remedy the situation, the Director of Operations told us “well, if it’s any consolation, I volunteered my own time to be here early.”
PRO-
We wrote a lengthy, fact-based letter to Ashley, the Owner of The Lift, about our not-so-great experience with their venue. This was our wedding day (and only the 2nd wedding to be held there since they opened), and while we expected there to be a few “hiccups”, we never expected to be treated so poorly or to have to deal with unbearable indoor temperatures, (especially since we felt our request for a comfortable temperature indoors was not unreasonable!) We were pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Ashley(the owner) the very next day. She hung onto our every word in our letter and took it to heart. She was devastated (that’s the word she used) that we had a poor experience and she couldn’t apologize enough. She was professional, compassionate and very understanding about our concerns. She assured us that they would address each item from our letter. We both agreed that we didn’t want other couples to experience what we did, so we hope our experience would act as a learning curve as The Lift books more events in the future.
Ashley (the owner) did reach out to us again the day after we talked, and asked for our home address. While we do not expect anything back (other than our deposit that we received back very quickly), we have yet to receive any correspondence with them since she asked.
The venue is stunning. However, we recommend that you check to be sure the above issues have been addressed before booking your event.
This is an absolutely stunning venue and was everything my partner and I were looking for. It has history as a former ice cream cone factory, striking features like the MC Escher l...
ike staircase, and it’s different than the other venues available in Dayton. When we signed up with The Lift the building was still very much under construction and we were not sure what we were getting into, however the finished product far exceeded our expectations. One of the best parts of the venue is it’s size. We were able to get ready, have the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all in one location without any tear down/reset of spaces. The size also makes it easy to do many different configurations. The bridal suite is beautiful with amazing natural light —perfect for makeup and hair. The grooms suite is nicely outfitted with leather couches and spacious lockers. The space speaks for itself in many ways, so if you have a minimalist style like we did, you won’t need much decor to make it “pop” but it’s neutral enough that you could really mold it to many different styles/themes. Overall, we were very impressed with the space and the communication from the venue throughout the planning process.
Contact
114 S. June Street, Dayton, OH