Brenna and Josh got married at The Wexford at Emerald Greens in Hastings on October 24, and they spent the whole day reaching for each other. A hand on his shoulder at the waterfall. Her palm on his cheek, nose to nose by the pond. His face pressed to hers under the veil. And in between, a lot of laughing, the kind that bends people in half and pulls everyone nearby in with it. The photograph at the top of this post has all of it in one frame. Walking back up the aisle married, Josh stopped, dipped Brenna into a kiss, and everybody on both sides of the aisle lost it.
I already knew these two. We made their engagement photographs almost exactly a year earlier, and Brenna’s circle of friends is a group I’ve photographed a few weddings for over the years. Amy, whose wedding to Joe at Stonebrooke Golf Club I photographed in 2022, stood up with Brenna this time. There’s a different kind of trust when the people in front of the camera already know the person behind it. They stop noticing me a lot sooner, and that’s when the real photographs start.
Getting Ready at The Wexford at Emerald Greens
The bridal suite was loud in the best way. Gold mirrors on the walls, champagne and snacks crowding the counter, bridesmaids in matching orange pajamas squeezing into mirror selfies with Brenna. At one point Brenna tipped her head back and laughed so hard that every woman around her went right along with her. Across the room her lace gown hung on a mirror, and two small vow books sat waiting: a rust one marked His and a cream one marked Hers. They would matter later.
Then the gown came off the hanger and the room changed. Once Brenna was in it, a woman in black floral lace took her by the arms, and Brenna wiped her eyes, the two of them caught in a tall mirror. It’s a quiet frame in the middle of a loud morning, and it’s one of the truest of the day.
Josh’s morning had its own energy. Before the suits went on, he was grinning down the barrel of an orange-tipped toy gun, then lining up with his groomsmen, golf clubs in hand. Once they were in cream suits and rust ties, he was knotting a tie for one of the guys, and a minute later one of them was straightening his collar in return. When the orange ranunculus went on his lapel he could not stop smiling. Out on the lawn, one groomsman reached down for Josh’s “leg” and the whole line folded up laughing.
A First Look and Private Vows at The Wexford Waterfall
Brenna’s first look was with her girls. Twelve women stood with her, most of them in rust satin, and when she walked out onto the lawn they clapped and covered their mouths. A few minutes later they were all laughing over armfuls of orange, white and burgundy bouquets, with Brenna right in the middle of it.
Then Josh. He waited with his back to her on the stone patio in front of the waterfall, between two tall columns of rust and peach flowers. Brenna crossed the footbridge and rested her hand on his shoulder. He turned around, she opened her arm toward him, and he just grinned.
Then the vow books came out. No guests, no microphone, just the two of them by the pond. Brenna laughed and cried at the same time reading hers, brushing a tear away with the little book still in her hand. When Josh read his, she wiped her eyes again. I stayed back and let them have it. Those few minutes were theirs, and the photographs feel that way.
The vows they read by the pond were for each other, not for a crowd. You can see it in every frame: nobody was performing.
Afterward we made portraits around the pond. I give couples clear direction during portraits, where to stand and what to do with their hands, so nobody has to wonder whether they’re doing it right. Then I watch for what happens in between. With Brenna and Josh, the in-between was the whole point: Brenna nose to nose with him, grinning, her hand on his cheek; Josh pressing his face to hers under the veil while she smiled with her eyes closed. When the wedding party crowded back in, Josh dipped Brenna in front of the waterfall and the whole group went up in a cheer.
A Waterfall Ceremony Across the Pond at The Wexford
By four the wind had opinions. Three ring bearers in little cream suits and rust ties came down the aisle with their hair blown straight up, and a flower girl in lace and tulle stopped at the end of the aisle as the boys leaned in around her. Guests filled the tiered benches on the lawn across the pond.
Brenna came out of the white building with the arched dormer on the arm of a man in a cream suit, walked the paved aisle and crossed the wooden footbridge, her veil trailing the whole way, to where Josh stood grinning at her. From the far bank the whole ceremony floated upside down in the pond: the bridesmaids in rust on one side, the groomsmen in cream on the other, and the two of them in the middle.
When it came time for the kiss, Brenna took Josh’s face in both hands. They walked back over the footbridge married, and halfway down the aisle Josh stopped and dipped her into the kiss at the top of this post, with their people laughing and clapping on both sides. Then it was straight to the bar for a round of shots with the bridesmaids, and back to the suite to sign the license. Brenna sipped a martini over the back of a navy chair while her gown was bustled, looking right at me like it was the most normal thing in the world. That one frame tells you a lot about Brenna.
Evening Portraits Under the Willow and on the Stone Bridge
We went back out a little before six. The sky had gone soft and overcast, and the wind still hadn’t let up. Under a big willow at the edge of the lawn, Brenna laughed with her head thrown back while Josh kissed her cheek, and then they stood forehead to forehead while her veil blew sideways. Walking back, her hair went everywhere and she just laughed. We finished on a fieldstone arch bridge, the two of them kissing on top while the water below mirrored it one more time.
A Ballroom Reception at The Wexford in Hastings
The ballroom at The Wexford has tall windows and a wood-beamed ceiling hung with chandeliers, and the head table sat under a big installation of peach, rust and blush flowers. The wedding party danced their way in first. Then Brenna and Josh came through the doors with their joined hands over their heads, and a moment later Brenna was laughing so hard her head went back while Josh pulled her across the floor.
Josh took the microphone to welcome everyone, and Brenna wrapped her arms around his neck for a kiss right there at the head table. During the toasts she leaned her head on his shoulder and laughed with her eyes closed. Before the first dance, Brenna, Josh and a few of the wedding party tipped back a long wooden shot board together. Then the first dance ended the way the ceremony did, with a dip and a kiss.
The parent dances slowed everything down for a few minutes. Josh rested his forehead against his dance partner’s, both of them smiling with their eyes closed. Brenna sat with her head against one of her bridesmaids, the two of them watching the floor together. Quiet moments like those sit right next to the loud ones in this gallery, and that’s how it should be.
After that, Sweet Life DJs kept the floor full. Bridesmaids threw their arms in the air and shouted along to the music. Late in the night Brenna, martini in hand, was pointing at Josh and singing right at him, then bending over laughing while he danced in front of her with his hands behind his head. That is how I’ll remember them: married, a little worn out, and having more fun than anyone in the room.
The Wedding Team
- Venue: The Wexford at Emerald Greens, Hastings
- DJ: Sweet Life DJs
- Photo booth: Magic Mirror MN
- Photography: Tim Larsen Photography
Planning a Wedding at The Wexford at Emerald Greens?
Most of my weddings are in the Brainerd Lakes, but I photograph in the Twin Cities often. The Wexford at Emerald Greens sits on the Emerald Greens golf course in Hastings, and the thing I’d tell any couple there is that you don’t need to leave the property. The waterfall and pond, the footbridge, the willow and the stone arch bridge are all a short walk from the bridal suite and the ballroom, so the time you’d spend in a car goes into photographs instead.
For a fall date, plan couple portraits for the middle of the afternoon and again just before sunset, which comes a little after six in late October. And if private vows appeal to you at all, leave room for them on the timeline. Brenna and Josh’s few minutes by the pond made some of the most honest photographs of their day.
I take a limited number of weddings each season. If you’re planning a wedding at The Wexford or anywhere else in Minnesota, reach out and tell me about your day.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Wexford at Emerald Greens is a wedding venue on the Emerald Greens golf course in Hastings, Minnesota, southeast of the Twin Cities. Brenna and Josh got ready, read their private vows, made portraits, were married and held their reception there without leaving the property.
Yes. Brenna and Josh were married on the stone patio in front of the waterfall, with guests on tiered benches on the lawn across the pond, and held their reception in the ballroom, which has tall windows and a wood-beamed ceiling. The bridal suite where they got ready is on site too.
The waterfall and pond are the anchor, and calm water gives you reflections from the far bank. A large willow, a fieldstone arch bridge, the wooden footbridge on the ceremony aisle and open lawn ringed with maples and evergreens are all a short walk apart. Inside, the gold mirrors in the bridal suite and the tall ballroom windows both photograph well.
In late October the maples around the pond turn red and the other trees go yellow and orange. The weather can swing: Brenna and Josh’s October 24 wedding was windy and unusually warm, and the evening turned overcast. Sunset comes a little after 6 p.m. then, so I plan couple portraits for the middle of the afternoon and again just before sunset.
Yes. I’m based in the Brainerd Lakes and photograph Twin Cities weddings regularly, including The Wexford at Emerald Greens in Hastings and Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee.
