JX Event Venue Wedding Photographer
A historic 1880s limestone mill on Main Street in downtown Stillwater. Exposed stone, hand-hewn beams, the St. Croix one block away. Collections from $2,700.
Quick Answer
Who photographs weddings at JX Event Venue?
Emma Ziegler of Honey Deww Photography photographs weddings at JX Event Venue, the 1880s limestone mill at 229 Main St S in downtown Stillwater — up to 350 guests, with the Lift Bridge a one-block walk for golden-hour portraits. Collections from $2,700, no travel fee; Stillwater is about 30 minutes from Minneapolis.
5.0 ★ on Google
45 reviews
Booking since 2021
200+ Twin Cities clients
Minneapolis-based
Travel up to 60 mi free
Replies in 24 hrs
Mon–Fri
Recent work
JX Event Venue Wedding & Portrait Photography
A look at recent weddings, engagements and portraits photographed around JX Event Venue and the wider Twin Cities.
JX Event Venue: The Venue Itself
What the space is actually like — the details couples ask me about before they ask about photography.
- Address
- 123 2nd St N, Suite 301, Stillwater, MN 55082
- Capacity
- 500 seated and 720 standing, across 14,000 square feet.
- Ceremony & reception spaces
- All documented ceremony and reception space is indoor. The venue's rental details describe three indoor ceremony configurations: Amphitheater Style and Traditional Style, both staged on the bar half of the floor, plus Traditional Style in the Dining Room, which is offered with a custom ceremony flip of the room to reception. Supporting indoor spaces include the built-in full-service bar area, the dining room, two VIP getting-ready suites (the Bourbon Room and the Oxford Suite), a private photo booth lounge, and upper and lower lobbies. Third-party listing places the event space on the third floor of the three-level building, consistent with the venue's own "Suite 301" address. No outdoor ceremony, patio, or rooftop space is described on the venue's own site or the third-party listings reviewed, but no source affirmatively states the venue has none, so the absence of outdoor space is not confirmed.
- Parking
- A parking ramp accommodating over 250 vehicles sits directly across the street from the venue, within a downtown Stillwater inventory the venue describes as 1,800+ street and hourly-lot parking spots.
- Catering
- Exclusive in-house catering. The venue's own rental-details page names Bella Vida Catering "the exclusive catering company of JX Venue," with chef-driven menus prepared on site in the venue's kitchen. Bar service is in-house through the venue's built-in full-service bar, with two bartenders included in the rental and additional bartenders required above 200 and 300 guests. Outside dessert is permitted at no fee, but must be store-bought rather than homemade.
- JX Venue is located at 123 2nd St N, Suite 301, Stillwater, MN 55082.
- The venue lists a capacity of 500 seated and 720 standing across 14,000 square feet of space.
- The building was originally built in 1905 as the Connolly Shoe Factory and was reimagined as an event venue in 2016.
- The restored interior features exposed brick, original hardwood floors, glass chandeliers, and an expansive built-in full-service bar, with elevator access.
- Bella Vida Catering is the exclusive catering company of JX Venue, with chef-driven menus prepared on site in the venue's kitchen.
- Outside dessert is permitted with no fee, but must be store-bought rather than homemade, and the client provides napkins and plates.
- Bar service is in-house: two bartenders are included with the venue rental, with a third required for events over 200 guests and a fourth for events over 300 guests.
- A parking ramp accommodating over 250 vehicles is directly across the street from the venue, in addition to more than 1,800 downtown Stillwater street and hourly-lot parking spots.
- The venue offers three indoor ceremony layouts: Amphitheater Style (Bar Half), Traditional Style (Bar Half), and Traditional Style (Dining Room); the dining room ceremony is offered with a custom ceremony flip of the room.
- The venue's furniture inventory includes 300 white Chiavari chairs and thirty 72-inch round tables, which the venue states fit 10 guests comfortably and can go up to 11 or 12.
How the Light Works Here
- Exposed brick walls and original hardwood floors are the venue's own stated dominant interior surfaces, so ambient bounce light in the room is warm and mid-toned rather than the neutral bounce of a painted-white ballroom.
- The venue's own head-table chart marks its longest 18-seat configuration as available "*Against windows only," indicating a run of windows along one side of the ceremony and dining layout and a fixed direction for window light.
- Because the venue offers three distinct ceremony layouts (two on the bar half of the floor and one staged in the dining room), the orientation of the ceremony relative to that window wall changes depending on which layout is chosen.
- The 1905 factory was purpose-built with three floors, "good lighting and lots of open space" for manufacturing machinery, and the venue's own address is Suite 301, so the event floor sits well above street level and takes daylight from upper-story factory glazing rather than a ground-floor storefront.
- Glass chandeliers are named by the venue as an interior feature, putting warm practical point sources overhead in wide frames (count and placement are not published).
- Access to the event space is by elevator, whose cab measures 6 by 9 feet with an 8-foot interior height and 7-foot by 3-foot-6-inch doors, which sets the practical limit for moving lighting stands and equipment cases up to the floor.
Photographing JX Event Venue
JX Event Venue is what happens when an 1880s limestone mill gets a second life as a wedding venue. It sits at 229 Main St S in downtown Stillwater — exposed stone walls, hand-hewn beams, two floors of event space, and room for up to 350 guests — with the historic Lift Bridge one block away. For a photographer, that combination is rare: a genuinely historic interior and a walkable downtown full of backdrops, with no car time between them.
If you're still comparing venues, my JX Event Venue guide covers the space in more detail, and the Stillwater wedding photographer page covers the rest of the St. Croix Valley.
JX Venue Photos: What Photographs Where
Couples searching for JX venue photos want to know one thing: what does the space actually give you? Here is where the strongest frames come from.
- Exposed limestone walls by candlelight
- Hand-hewn beams on both floors
- The Lift Bridge, one block away
- Main Street's brick storefronts
- Cobblestone alleys downtown
- St. Croix riverfront, morning or evening
- Riverside parks steps from the door
- St. Croix River bluffs at golden hour
Most of that list sits within a few blocks of the front door — four or five distinct backdrops without ever loading the wedding party into a car.
Light and Timing at a JX Wedding
Work backward from sunset. The Lift Bridge is a one-block walk and golden hour there is incredible — I protect twenty minutes for it on every JX timeline, whatever else moves. The riverfront works morning or evening, so portraits fit either side of the ceremony.
Inside, the light is low and warm — a feature, not a problem. The limestone warms up beautifully under candlelight, and I would rather work with that glow, on fast lenses, than blast the room with flash. The dance floor, once the party starts, is the one place I add off-camera light.
Minnesota winter compresses the day — sunset lands before 4:30pm in December — so a winter JX wedding usually means portraits before the ceremony and a candlelit reception, which this building was practically made for.
JX Event Venue Wedding Photography Pricing
Pricing at JX is the same as anywhere in the Twin Cities metro — Stillwater sits inside my coverage area, so there is no travel fee. Wedding collections start at $2,700 for four hours (Emerald), $3,900 for eight hours with a second photographer (Pearl), and $4,600 for twelve hours (Sapphire). A second photographer earns their keep in a 350-person room: one of us stays on the two of you, the other works the guests.
Planning something small? Two-hour elopement coverage starts at $2,700, and hair and makeup is a $150 add-on. Either way, sneak peeks arrive within 48 hours and full wedding galleries deliver in four to six weeks.
Getting to JX and Planning the Day
Stillwater is about 30 minutes from downtown Minneapolis, at the east edge of the metro where the St. Croix Valley begins. Couples splitting getting-ready locations between Stillwater and neighbors like Bayport, Oak Park Heights, or Lake Elmo stay within a few minutes' drive, and Hudson is just over the river if your hotel block lands on the Wisconsin side.
Because the venue, the bridge, the riverfront, and Main Street's brick storefronts all sit within a couple of blocks of each other, JX is one of the few 350-capacity venues in the metro where the photography day involves almost no driving at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have you shot weddings at JX Event Venue?
Yes — JX is the 1880s limestone mill on Main Street in downtown Stillwater and one of my top recommendations in the St. Croix Valley. I plan every JX day around the exposed stone walls, the hand-hewn beams, and the Lift Bridge one block away.
How much is a JX Event Venue wedding photographer?
My collections are the same at JX as anywhere in the Twin Cities metro: $2,700 for 4 hours (Emerald), $3,900 for 8 hours with a second photographer (Pearl), and $4,600 for 12 hours (Sapphire). Stillwater sits inside my metro coverage area, so there is no travel fee.
Best photo spots at JX Event Venue?
Inside: the exposed limestone walls once the candles are lit, and the hand-hewn beams across two floors. Outside: the Lift Bridge one block away at golden hour, downtown's brick storefronts and cobblestone alleys, and the St. Croix riverfront, morning or evening.
What's the JX wedding-day timeline you recommend?
Work backward from sunset. I hold the Lift Bridge — a one-block walk — for golden hour, keep family formals at the venue right after the ceremony, with a short couples set on the riverfront. Build 15-minute buffers around anything that moves a full 350-guest room.
Do you travel for JX Event Venue weddings?
No travel needed — Stillwater is about 30 minutes from downtown Minneapolis and inside my Twin Cities coverage area, so JX weddings carry no travel fee. I photograph across the St. Croix Valley regularly, including Bayport, Lake Elmo, and Hudson just over the river.
Where is JX Event Venue located?
JX Event Venue is at 229 Main St S in downtown Stillwater, Minnesota — right on Main Street, a one-block walk from the historic Lift Bridge and the St. Croix riverfront.
How many guests does JX Event Venue hold?
JX holds up to 350 guests across two floors of event space. For photography, a room that size means family formals need a tight shot list and a named helper from each side of the family.
What do JX venue photos look like?
Warm. It's a historic 1880s mill, so JX venue photos read as exposed limestone, hand-hewn timber, and low warm light — the stone walls pick up candlelight beautifully. Outside, downtown Stillwater adds brick storefronts, cobblestone alleys, and the Lift Bridge over the St. Croix.
When do we get our JX wedding photos?
Sneak peeks arrive within 48 hours, and the full edited wedding gallery is delivered in four to six weeks. Portrait and engagement galleries run two to four weeks.
Book Your JX Wedding
Stillwater is inside my Twin Cities coverage area — no travel fee. Tell me your date and ceremony time and I'll build the timeline backward from golden hour at the Lift Bridge.
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