Janurary wedding at Horticulture Hall in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
This Horticulture hall Lake Geneva wedding was so much fun to shoot. We started the day with wedding prep and the ceremony at the landing 1841 in Burlington, Wisconsin and finished downtown Lake Geneva!
Located at 330 Broad St, Lake Geneva, WI 53147, Horticultural Hall is a conference center in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1911 as a location for the professional gardeners working on nearby estates to meet and discuss their work. They also rent out the building as a wedding venue. The place is filled with ivy covered walls and different plants. The architecture looks so incredible. I’ve been dying to shoot there and finally got the chance to this winter. Even though all the plants were dead since it was January, the Horticultural hall did not disappoint!
We filmed a full wedding day behind the scenes for this wedding and you can watch it by clicking this link or scrolling to the bottom of this blog!
Wedding Prep
As mentioned before, we began the day with wedding prep at The Landing 1841 in Burlington, Wisconsin. This venue had some awesome spaces for a bridal and groom suite. If you’ve ever read or watched any of our content, you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance of natural light. The bridal suite was a full house with ample natural light to work with. The groom suite however was not quite as well lit. I ended up bringing the groom outside to do his prep. He was already dressed when we showed up, so it wasn’t too much of a big deal. I’m a big advocate of not redoing events on a wedding day. I think it would have defeated the purpose of us capturing their day if we completely started from scratch with his prep photos. The couple did not do a first look together, but the bride chose to do one with her father. The reaction was so special!
Ceremony
The wedding ceremony was at the same location as prep. The landing has an awesome barn location for the ceremony. It was dark in the barn and also a bit overcast, so I opted to use a 3 flash set up for the ceremony. When I do this, I am always careful to use the flashes in a non disruptive manner. Sometimes I turn the flashes off for certain portions of the ceremony. The grandfather of the bride was the officiant for the wedding. I always love it when family members have a big part in a wedding day. It’s just so special!
Couple Poraits and Wedding Party
This wedding was in the dead of winter in Wisconsin. As you can imagine, it was pretty frigid. Regardless of temperature it is always best to still go outside. There are things we can do inside for portraits, but it’s just not the same. We work pretty quickly, so ourselves and our clients never get too concerned with things like temperature and rain. The bride wanted some snow and at the time there was no snow to be found naturally. Thankfully for us, there is a little local ski hill at the Grand Geneva Resort! The bride and groom were both members at the hill, so we went over there and did a few sets in the snow.
Horticulture Hall Lake Geneva Wedding Portraits
These photos were taken in the back courtyard of Horticulture Hall in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Aren’t those windows and vines amazing?!
Wedding Reception
The wedding reception at Horticulture hall was incredible. The amount of time and thought put into their décor was obvious. The sun was already down and there was not much for natural or artificial light in the venue. We are always prepared for a situation like this and brought both constant video lights and flashes to assist in photographing these items properly. I rarely do this since it takes a little bit away from the true feel of the room, but trust me, this was beyond necessary. You have to be ready for anything when you are a wedding photographer! They used bold reds and natural greens to really make the reception feel cozy!
Sparkler Exit
This couple did a sparkler exit to finish off their wedding day. We used artificial light to assist us so we could nail focus and still get great skin tones. There’s a million different ways to shoot this part of the wedding day!
Watch Our Full Behind The Scenes Video Of This Wedding
Vendors For This Wedding
Ceremony Location: The Landing 1841
Reception Location: Horticulture Hall Lake Geneva
Dress: Bon Bon Belle
Suit: Mike B’Jorns
Flowers: Feisty Flowers
Music: Midwest Sound
Catering: Catered Productions
Cake: Nothing Bundt Cake
For More Information
You can visit our contact page or wedding page!