When you have a brewery, one distillery, two wineries and one winery/brewery within 5 minutes of your house, drinking local is not only attainable but also really convenient. I was so excited to visit the wineries when we first moved to Waconia. We bought a wine passport and went around to all of the local wineries, learning about wine and developing a taste for it.

When I saw how gorgeous each winery was, I got excited for the possibilities of shooting weddings at stunning locations in my own backyard. When Melissa from Parley Lake reached out about the opening of a new event center for weddings at the winery, I was so happy! Parley Lake has vineyards of grapes and an apple orchard as well. There are rolling green hills, a lake and trees for days.

Parley Lake will be open for weddings starting next year. It’s a gorgeous location for intimate weddings and smaller traditional weddings. You can have an intimate dinner party in the vineyards or a bigger reception in the barn. There is a ton of space to work with!

We partnered up with great local vendors for a styled shoot to show off the potential awesomeness of having a wedding at Parley Lake. They’re already taking bookings for 2019 and 2020 so definitely look into it soon. If you’re interested in any of the vendors from this shoot, their contact info is below.

If you need a photographer for your rustic barn or winery wedding, get in touch with the form at the bottom of the page. Those are my favorite kinds of weddings!