Emily and Darren’s wedding at Berwood Hill Inn in Lanesboro, MN.

As a wedding photographer, I use my camera to immortalize a wedding ceremony or an engagement session once every two weeks. That quickly makes a huge number of events! Some remain more special than others. This is especially true for Emily and Darren’s wedding. It took place at the charming Berwood Hill Inn in Lanesboro, MN.

She is a scientist and he is the smart guy who managed to seduce her. They met at the university and his first step to approach her was to pretend he needed help with a lesson he didn’t understand properly. Given that she is a caring person, she couldn’t resist and agreed to help him. That’s how their relationship started. A couple of years later, he proposed to her and she said yes.

I first met them at a Bridal Show in Rochester, MN, and convinced them. For their engagement session, we went to Centennial Lake (in Edina, southwest of Minneapolis). It was an extremely cold day, but we shot photographs for almost 3 hours!

Luckily, they decided on a summer wedding, and this time, the weather was nice. For their big day, they wanted to take advantage of the historic heritage of Minnesota and chose some historical venues in the southeast of the state.

Berwood Hill for Outdoor Weddings

Located about 50 miles southeast of Rochester, MN, Lanesboro, MN, is a historic recreational city. Minnesotans can enjoy the countryside, the river, and a renovated charming city full of beautiful Scandinavian and Victorian houses. With Red Wing, MN, and Albert Lea, MN, these are 3 cities that I really enjoy visiting in the southeast of the 10,000 Lakes State.

Anyway, the hilly landscape, with bluffs and falls, reminds me of some Wisconsin scenery. So, next time you go to Spring Valley to enjoy a dinner at the Four Daughters Vineyard Winery, push 15 minutes further to the east to discover this beautiful rolling countryside.

Just for the record, another historic town that works especially great for photography is Stillwater, MN. But it’s located far away in Washington County!

Preparation at the Habberstad house

A Victorian styled home

The Habberstad is a real jewel. It’s a historic Victorian styled home, all wooden made, on 3 floors. Today it’s been renovated and turned into a Bed & Breakfast. They kept many authentic parts that are gorgeous. Furthermore, Helaine and Mark, the owners, are doing a lot of positive efforts toward keeping the home in good condition and enhancing the decoration. In other words, let’s say that this home looks like a living museum. You can really understand the work that has been done by looking at the garden where they have installed a fountain. The house porch features a remarkable sign dated from 1897 and hosts a swing bench. The home’s colors (off-white, green, and pink, very British) are highly improbable and, of course, remind me of British taste.

It’s in this historic house that the bride was getting ready. Actually, the preparation took place in the adjacent Carriage House, which is more modern and offered all the amenities of a modern hotel. During this time, the bride was surrounded by her maid of honor and bridesmaids.

The Bride and Her Bridesmaids

When I arrived, I started taking pictures of the details, and given how beautiful the location is, I had a lot of pleasure. First, I hung the dress in the living room, using the windows and the leather couch. Then I also staged a picture with all the bridesmaids’ dresses on the Habberstad’s porch. I love the shot of all the girls taking care of the bride while she is sitting on the couch. At one point, one of the groomsmen came to deliver the flowers. When I saw that they put them in the refrigerator, I couldn’t resist taking a picture.

The Groom’s Preparation in Town

The groom was getting ready at Stone Mill Hotel downtown. The room, with a Spartan Amish style, didn’t have a lot of natural light, nor a lot of space, but I managed to take some pictures anyway. I like how the guys were disorganized. They obviously partied a lot the night before, and one of the groomsmen had a deep hangover.

The groom, who wanted everything to be perfect, needed to manage each of them. He gave a lecture on how to properly fold a pocket square. He had to repeat his explanations a couple of times to make sure everyone understood it properly.

The Bride Gets Dressed

Since the weather was pretty hot with a lot of moisture in the air, the bride waited until the last minute to get dressed. She decided to get dressed in the Habberstad living room, which was an amazing background for my pictures. That took a while but it was really worth it. During this time, the groom and his best man were waiting outside.

First Look and Pictures

When she was finally ready, the bride and groom had their first look in front of the house. Then I staged the bridal party and family pictures, taking advantage of this unique home.

Emily, who knew what she wanted, had scouted another very lovely home (The Scandinavian Inn) and negotiated with the owner to access it for a few minutes. If, like Emily, you want to take advantage of the other Victorian house, you could have a look at the Sacred Clay Inn.

Thus we ended up taking pictures on a kind of gazebo nestled on the top of the house.

It’s not easy to relax just before their ceremony. Nevertheless, the engagement pictures taken in front of their wedding photographer‘s camera and the experience they gained helped them to quickly have good images.

Then we went to the top of city hill, behind the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, where you have a unique scenic view of Lanesboro falls. We took advantage of the landscape, and I included the dam in the background of their pictures. Then it was time for the entire bridal party to head to Berwood Hill Inn.

Berwood Hill for Your Once-in-a-Lifetime Event

Let’s quickly present this charming venue. It’s also a historical Victorian house that can be used for the bride and groom preparation. Nevertheless, the part you might be more interested in is its cottage gardens, protected by century-old trees, which have been designed to welcome marriage rituals. As a result, it’s a perfect place for wedding portraiture. An adjacent rustic barn can also be used as the backdrop for some images. The land is covered with sculptures.

The property features a spacious lawn with an open view of the valley, where the guests enjoyed yard games if they were not enjoying the patio. The main reception room itself is located inside a rehabilitated building that was previously probably a warehouse. It’s a large room with nice polished concrete floors covered with a wood timber frame. It offers an open view of the valley through glass doors. Finally, the interior decoration is an accumulation of different kinds of styles: some European paintings, lampshades, vintage bright ceiling glass lights, LED bulb garlands, wood panels, etc. Thus it has the charm of an antique dealer’s shop!

Wedding Ceremony at Berwood Hill

The bride had decided to have an outdoor ceremony with two symbolic rituals. They decided to confine a bottle of wine in a box for the future and plant a tree that symbolizes their love. When we arrived, all the chairs were already installed in the garden, as well as all the decorations. At the entrance of the garden, a big sign indicated to the guests to sit on both sides, explaining that people were gathered to celebrate love and not to choose a family.

Once all the guests were seated, enjoying the fresh air offered by the pine trees, two cellists seated on the side of the garden started to play classical music. People became quiet, and the groom started to walk down the aisle with his mom. He was quickly followed by the entire wedding party and finally the bride. It was an emotional moment, and you can see some tears in the pictures. I did what I love, took candid shots like a photojournalist.

Then the officiant (a friend) celebrated the ritual. The best man read a short text, after which the bride and groom exchanged their rings. They were introduced as a married couple! The husband and wife kissed and walked down the aisle to the Berwood Hill porch where they set up a receiving line. After greeting every guest for coming, the entire bridal party escaped to the Habberstad.

Getaway during the cocktail hour

The initial plan was that the bridal party would escape during the cocktail hour. After a quick stop at the Habberstad Inn to sign the marriage certificate, they were supposed to go to a bar downtown. After having fun, they would finally have gone back to the venue using a horse carriage.

Horse Carriage, an Amish Specialty

You might know that Harmony, MN, hosts a large Amish community. Some Amish offer their vintage carriage services for weddings. Unfortunately, things didn’t happen as expected. Indeed, after the bridal party opened a bottle of champagne and the witnesses signed the certificate, the bride and groom discovered that the horse carriage (which was supposed to pick them up) was lost. That’s the problem when you hire some Amish with their horses! They might not understand everything and not be on time. So, the bridal party ended up driving to the horse carriage and then went back directly to the Berwood Hill Inn for their grand entrance.

Sunset

Then I managed to have the bride and groom in front of my camera doing couple pictures using the sunset light.

The Party

After their remarkable arrival by stagecoach, we staged a picture with the bridal party and the horses. Then, all the guests were invited to enter the dinner room.

Some speeches and toasts took place during dinner. Parents’ speeches were emotional, while friends’ ones made everyone laugh. During dinner, I “kidnapped” the bride and groom for a 10-minute photo session in order to take advantage of the sunset light on the Root River Valley.

Then the DJ turned the patio into a dance floor and step by step, everyone started dancing. Finally, the bus came to pick up the bridal party.

Complementary to my photojournalist style, I also like to stage some more artistic pictures. Given the location inspired me in my creative photography process, I had a lot of fun with this decor.

Before leaving, all the guests stood in line with sparklers for the grand exit. That’s always a great picture! After that, it was time for me to drive back home to Rochester, MN.

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Discover other historical venues

If you like historical venues, you might also be interested in discovering these wedding venues.

Conclusion

It was a nice wedding in a wonderful location that features all Minnesotan history. I am glad the bride and groom trusted me to create memories of their big day!

I hope they will enjoy their pictures for years to come. If, like them, you want a relaxed wedding in a nice Victorian house, just call me and send me an email.