Katie & JR: A Beach Ceremony at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake
Katie and JR live in Chicago, and they’ve been missing the mountains for a while. When they planned their wedding, they wanted Montana, they wanted it small, and they wanted it built around family. The Lodge at Whitefish Lake gave them all three. Most of their guest list was immediate family, the ceremony space was a stretch of beach on Whitefish Lake with mountains behind, and the reception ran at one long table inside. No planner, no DJ, no big production. Just the people they wanted there, in the place they wanted them.
Getting ready with mom and sisters
The getting-ready portion of the morning was almost entirely family. Katie’s mom and two sisters helped with hair, helped with the cathedral veil, and were in and out of the suite the whole time. The veil was the centerpiece of those hours. Katie had specifically wanted to capture the under-the-veil moments and made room in the schedule for them. The light coming off the lake through the suite’s big windows helped.
First look
JR was waiting on the lawn between the Lodge buildings when Katie walked out. He kept his hands at his sides until she got close, then started laughing before she did. They took a few minutes there, in the open, before anyone else came around.
The ceremony on the beach
At 4:45 the wedding party walked down to the beach. The ceremony was short, about thirty minutes, with the lake on one side, the mountains across the water, and a line of moored boats behind the officiant. The cathedral veil moved with the breeze through the whole thing. They wrote their own private vows and read them to each other under the trees. The kiss came with the veil still drifting, and the recessional was the two of them lifting their hands together as the guests stood up off the grass.
Portraits around the property
One of the reasons the Lodge at Whitefish Lake is worth the trip is the variety of portrait settings on the property itself. We didn’t have to leave for any of it. There’s a wooden boardwalk that crosses to a turquoise pool. Willow trees that hang down toward the lake. A bench tucked between two tall trunks with the lake right behind. We worked through all of them in about forty minutes.
Reception
Reception was inside at one long table. Family heirlooms made it onto the table too: Katie and JR used her parents’ wedding champagne flutes, and Katie wore her mother’s and grandmother’s jewelry. Dinner was followed by a first dance to “Accidentally in Love” by Counting Crows, which is the song that played in JR’s car on their first date back when they bonded over Shrek. After dinner, the games came out. The couple had brought their favorites and asked guests to bring theirs, and the table turned into a quiet hum of card games and board games for the rest of the night.
The dog made it in too, in a floral collar matching the rest of the day.
The vendor team
- Venue: Lodge at Whitefish Lake | @whitefishlakeweddings
- Florist: Bitterroot Flower Shop | @bitterrootflowershop
- Dress: Serendipity Bridal Collections, designer Lillian West | @serendipitybcdresses
- Makeup: Julia Quinn | @makeupbyjuliaquinn
Thinking about your own Lodge at Whitefish Lake wedding?
If you’re planning an intimate wedding at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake and want documentary coverage that focuses on the people rather than the production, I’d love to hear about it.
