Every wedding I photograph gets the same attention — whether it's at Grand View Lodge or grandpa's backyard on the lake. Reach out with your date and venue, and let's talk about your day.
The Journal
Real Brainerd Lakes Weddings
Full wedding stories. Real venues. Real couples. Planning guides for your day.
Pine Peaks Event Center · Winter
Snow on the Pines: A New Year's Eve Wedding at Pine Peaks
The only true winter wedding I've shot at Pine Peaks — a New Year's Eve in gold sequins and a fur stole against snowy evergreens, a birch-arch ceremony indoors, and a sparkler send-off into 2017.
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Grand View Lodge · Summer
A Garden in Full Bloom at Grand View Lodge
Ben & Steph skipped the famous staircase for the gardens — a flower-lined ceremony aisle under the pines, a first look on the white Chapel walkway, and lemon-yellow blooms all the way to the ballroom.
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American Swedish Institute · Summer
Ali & Chris — A Wedding at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis
A summer wedding at the American Swedish Institute — stained glass silhouettes, stone arches, an outdoor courtyard ceremony, fuchsia bridesmaids, and a glow-stick reception.
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Summer
Family Formals in 30 Minutes — The Additive Shot List That Actually Works
Family formals run long because the set keeps resetting. Build them additively — start small, add people, never subtract — and sixteen groupings take thirty minutes. Five calls that make it happen, including the one person you absolutely need.
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Grand View Lodge · Summer
Isabella & Ryan — Two Donkeys, Five Hundred Balloons, the World's No. 1 Podcaster, and America's 250th
A nuptial Mass at St. Francis in Brainerd with Fr. Mike Schmitz, a wedding party made entirely of brothers and sisters, flower-crowned donkeys at cocktail hour, five hundred balloons overhead — and a red, white, and blue dance floor the night before the country's 250th birthday.
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Grand View Lodge · Summer
Andrea & Jason — A Birch Arch on Gull Lake and the Lantern-Lit Path
Ten summers ago at Grand View Lodge — vows under a birch arch with Gull Lake at the end of the aisle, tears she didn’t fight, and a dusk kiss on the lantern-lined path beneath the grand staircase.
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Grand View Lodge · Autumn
Kayla & David — Early-Autumn Light and a Pontoon on Gull Lake at Grand View Lodge
An early-September day at Grand View Lodge — a lakeside-lawn ceremony under the pines, pink begonias along the paths, a golf-cart-and-pontoon afternoon on Gull Lake, and golden hour on the lantern-lined walk up to the lodge.
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Grand View Lodge · Summer
Lauren & Jeremy — A Morning Wedding at The Chapel at Grand View Lodge
An 8 a.m. start at Lost Lake Lodge, a first look in the woods, an eleven o'clock ceremony at The Chapel at Grand View Lodge, and brunch at Cru — then back to the lake for yard games. Married before noon, laughing the entire way.
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Gale Woods Farm · Summer
A Midsommar on the Farm
A lake-view chapel ceremony, a Scandinavian folk procession of fiddles and bunads, sheep at the pasture fence, and golden hour over Whaletail Lake at this working-farm wedding west of Minneapolis.
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Cragun's Resort · Autumn
Becca & Jordan — A Day That Belonged to the Lake
An overcast September Saturday at Cragun's Resort on Gull Lake — a first look at the end of a long dock, lakeside vows under a floral arch, and a tribute band that turned the reception into a full-throated singalong.
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Cragun's Resort · Autumn
Brittney & Sam — A Day on Gull Lake, From a Dock to a Boat
A bright mid-September wedding at Cragun's Resort on Gull Lake — a first look at the end of a long dock, a church ceremony that ended with both their arms thrown in the air, and dusk portraits in a fishing boat on the water.
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Grand View Lodge · Summer
Lauren & Noah — A Golden-Hour Engagement at Grand View Lodge
Grand View Lodge runs across two lakes. We started on the quiet Roy Lake side — a hidden boardwalk through the tall grass — then headed to the historic main lodge for the famous staircase and a Gull Lake beach at sunset. Mostly, though, it was Lauren's laugh.
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