Kim & Brendan's Lyndale Park Rose Garden Wedding

Kim wore a lace gown with beaded straps and a long train that spreads across the garden paths in several portraits. Brendan wore a navy three-piece suit with a blue tie and brown shoes. Kim carried a bouquet of deep pink and blush roses with white alstroemeria, baby's breath and eucalyptus, and the wedding rings appear in the closest frames, one resting in a rose from the bouquet.

The ceremony was a hand-held one. An officiant read vows in front of a bank of pink flowering shrubs while the couple held hands, and the sky stayed overcast. Overcast light is soft and even, which suits pink roses and shrubs against green foliage and gray stone.

Their wooden sign tells their story in dates. It reads "Brendan ♥ Kim," then "the first day 4-7-2024," "the yes day 10-16-2025" and "the best day 5-31-2026." We photographed the two of them kissing behind it on the footbridge and in a second frame with the sign in front of them.

These are the features you can see in the 16 photographs.

• A rock-edged pond with a small waterfall: Kim with her bouquet beside the evergreens, Brendan buttoning his jacket, and a dip with the lace train spread across the path.
• A wooden footbridge: a kiss behind the first day, yes day and best day sign.
• Under a willow: the two of them sitting on the bridge rail, noses touching.
• Pink flowering shrubs: the vows, and a kiss in front of them with the gown's train behind.
• Stone steps: Brendan kissing Kim's hand.
• Close details: the rings in a pink rose, and a close-up of the whole bouquet.

The Rose Garden is one of the themed gardens in Lyndale Park, on the northeast shore of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board lists four gardens there: the Annual-Perennial Garden, the Butterfly and Hummingbird and Perennial and Border gardens, the Peace Garden and the Rose Garden. Its address for Lyndale Park Gardens is 1300 W 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55409. The gardens are open 7:30 am to 10 pm, and the park is open 6 am to midnight.

The Park Board says the rose garden was the first project in the gardens, started in 1907 and completed in 1908, and describes it as the second oldest public rose garden in the United States. A rock garden was built in 1929 with Oneonta dolomite rocks; it fell into disrepair in the 1940s, was rediscovered in the 1980s and was later transformed into the Peace Garden.

The Park Board offers wedding ceremonies at three Lyndale Park sites: the Turtle Fountain in the Annual-Perennial Garden, the Peace Garden and the Heffelfinger Fountain in the Rose Garden. Outdoor ceremonies in the park require a wedding permit, which you apply for through the Park Board. Its wedding sites page states:

• A 3-hour ceremony permit is $525 plus tax. A 1-hour low-impact ceremony permit is $100 plus tax for up to 30 people, including you, your officiant and every guest, standing only with no chairs or rental items, and it includes the permit for your professional photographer.
• Applications are accepted up to 12 months in advance and are first-paid, first-served.
• Permits are issued for ceremonies only. Food, receptions and alcohol are not allowed at ceremony sites, so plan the reception at a separate venue.
• Rice, confetti, glitter and birdseed are not permitted, tents and canopies are not allowed, and flowers or other vegetation may not be moved, cut or removed.
• Parking fees are not included in the cost of a wedding permit. Questions go to permits@minneapolisparks.org or 612-230-6400.

If you're planning a short garden ceremony, one approach is to photograph the couple and the details first, hold the ceremony, then use the remaining time for portraits while the flowers are fresh. Walking distance between locations is the real cost in a short window, so choose backgrounds that sit close together.

Build a little slack into the plan. Public gardens are shared spaces, so allow a few minutes for other visitors to pass, and decide in advance which portrait setups matter most so they happen first. Small details such as the rings and the bouquet are easiest to photograph early.

If your plan is closer to a 2-hour garden ceremony than a full wedding day, send your date and your outline and we will talk through what fits. Our wedding collections run from 4 to 12 hours, starting at $3,100 for the 4-hour Emerald collection, and elopements start at $650. Travel is included within 40 miles of downtown Minneapolis.