Hailee and Jonathon got married on a late-May Saturday with a ceremony at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Brainerd and then a Madden's on Gull Lake wedding reception — the spring shoulder season, when the lake is quiet, the lawns have just gone green, and the resort feels like it belongs to the people who booked it. A bouquet of white peonies, garden roses, and eucalyptus. Bridesmaids in deep teal. And, late in the day, the two of them under her veil on a footbridge over the water — the frame at the top of this post.
Here's the day in the order it happened. Tim Larsen Photography photographed Hailee and Jonathon's wedding at Madden's on Gull Lake in East Gull Lake, Minnesota — a thousand-acre resort peninsula with the lake on three sides — after a ceremony at their church earlier in the afternoon.
MorningGetting Ready at Madden's
The day started, fittingly, at a mailbox — the Geisenhof family sign with a hand-painted loon on it, the kind of detail that tells you where you are before anyone's in frame. Inside, Jonathon got a boutonniere pinned on; across the property, Hailee's gown hung on a personalized hanger between five teal bridesmaid dresses and two small flower-girl dresses, her white peony and garden rose bouquet resting on the beaded gown nearby.
The getting-ready hour ran on the quiet moments. Hailee leaned in to kiss her mother. She showed off her necklace to the smallest critic in the room, a curly-haired flower girl on the couch. Her mom fastened the veil; her people fanned the train across the floor; and when she turned to the mirror and saw herself ready, she laughed. Then the reveal — her father and her bridesmaids, hands to their chests — and a kiss with her dad before the walk, a flower girl peeking between them.
AfternoonThe Ceremony at St. Andrew's Catholic Church
The ceremony was at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Brainerd — Hailee on her father's arm, beaming the whole way down the aisle, a big white-and-green bouquet in her hands. They said their vows at a stone altar, kissed to their bridal party applauding on both sides, and walked back up the aisle just married. The recessional is always the exhale, and theirs was a wide, unguarded grin at each other.
AfternoonBridal Party and Veil Portraits at Madden's
Then everyone came out to Madden's, and the day opened up. The bridal party gathered on the green lawn and lost it the second the kiss landed — arms up, everyone in on the same laugh at once. We worked a tree-lined path with the bridesmaids in teal, then slipped away with Hailee and Jonathon for portraits while the light was soft.
The frames I keep coming back to are the veil ones. In the garden, then on one of Madden's wooden footbridges over the water, Hailee pulled her veil around the two of them — and in that little pocket of light and tulle, with the spring green going soft behind them, everything else fell away. That footbridge frame is the cover of this post. It's the kind of picture the property makes possible: a quiet, contained spot a few steps off the path where a couple can have thirty seconds alone on a day that belongs to everyone.
She pulled the veil around the two of them on the footbridge, and the whole property went quiet for a second. That's the one. That's the cover.
EveningThe Reception at Madden's
The reception lived under Madden's exposed beams and cafe lights. Hailee and Jonathon came in hand in hand — that look she gives him when the day is finally theirs and the room falls away. The toasts did what good toasts do: Jonathon read his speech off his phone and had Hailee laughing and wiping a tear before he'd even hit the punchline. Then the first dance under the beams, a laugh she couldn't hold back, the whole room leaning in.
DuskLast Light on the Dock
We stole the last of the light down at the water. Jonathon twirled Hailee out on the dock, her tulle skirt swinging over the still lake, and then the sky did the thing Gull Lake skies do in the evening — went orange and teal all at once. A kiss in silhouette at the end of the dock, a hand-in-hand walk down the sandy lakeshore, and the day was theirs. Madden's faces west across Gull Lake, so the evening light comes straight off the water; in late May it lands close to 8:30, and it's worth building the timeline around.
Planning a Madden's on Gull Lake Wedding?
If you're planning a Madden's on Gull Lake wedding, this one's a good template for a church-ceremony day: the ceremony happens off-property, and then the whole celebration — portraits, reception, and the last-light lake frames — moves to the resort. Madden's is a thousand-acre peninsula with Gull Lake on three sides, and it's one of the most photographically generous venues in the Brainerd Lakes area: footbridges over the water, a green lawn for the bridal party, a beam-and-bistro-light reception space, docks reaching out into the lake, and a sandy beach for golden hour. Hailee and Jonathon used most of them in an afternoon. For a wider view of the area, here's my guide to the best Brainerd Lakes wedding venues.
A few notes for a spring date. Late May at Madden's is the quiet shoulder of the season — fresh green, fewer crowds, and long evenings, with golden hour landing around 8:30. The dock at sunset is the window worth protecting on the timeline, and the footbridges are where the best quiet portraits happen. I shoot Madden's 60/40 documentary and editorial — most of the day observed, with directed portraits worked in when the light's right — and couples who aren't used to a camera tend to settle in fast once they see I'm mostly watching and will give them simple direction when it counts.
More Madden's weddings on the journal: Emily & Matthew's spring day and Shannon & Zach's summer day. If your date is still open, reach out — I photograph a limited number of Brainerd Lakes weddings each year, and Madden's fills first.
Common Questions About Madden's on Gull Lake Weddings
How much does a wedding at Madden's on Gull Lake cost?
Madden's venue and catering pricing varies by season, guest count, and which spaces you book, so the resort is the best source for those numbers. For photography, my wedding-day collections run $2,995–$5,895 depending on coverage hours. Most Madden's weddings — where the day runs from getting-ready through the last dance on the peninsula — land in Collection Two ($4,695, 10 hours, with a second photographer) or Collection One ($5,895, 12 hours), and a three-day celebration fits the Wedding Weekend ($11,500).
Where is Madden's on Gull Lake, and how far is it from the Twin Cities?
Madden's is in East Gull Lake, Minnesota, just outside Brainerd — about 2.5 hours north of the Twin Cities up Highway 371. Because most guests stay overnight on the peninsula, Madden's weddings often turn into full Friday-to-Sunday weekends.
How many guests can Madden's on Gull Lake accommodate?
The Pavilion — the 10,000-square-foot open-air space on the Gull Lake shoreline — seats up to about 250 for a reception, and the Wilson Bay Dining Room handles up to about 230. With 200-plus rooms across cabins and lodges, 700-plus guests can stay overnight on the property.
When is the best light for wedding photos at Madden's on Gull Lake?
Madden's faces west across Gull Lake, so the evening light comes straight off the water — around 8:30 PM in late spring, 8:00–8:45 PM at midsummer, and 6:30–7:30 PM by September and October. The dock at sunset is one of the strongest portrait spots in the Brainerd Lakes area.
