Hannah and Jake met somewhere around age ten and can’t tell you exactly when. They both knew Josh Bacon. Neither of them thinks Josh introduced them. In fifth grade Josh told Hannah on the bus that Jake like-liked her, and she laughed it off. They dated for six months in tenth grade, which went about how you’d expect for the two shyest kids in the class. They got back together for real in 2014, spent four and a half years long distance while Jake was on and off a submarine and Hannah was in grad school in Texas, and ended up in Spring Green.

Fourteen people, counting them. An October afternoon at Elderflower Retreat, with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Romeo and Juliet windmill standing on the hillside across the valley.

Photos from the day: getting ready at Elderflower Retreat, the ceremony on the lawn, portraits at American Players Theatre, and dinner in the great room with the whole family.

Hannah and Jake asked for both of us, which we always appreciate and which matters more at a small wedding than people expect. Kelly and I shoot differently. We notice different things, we stand in different places, and when there are only fourteen people in a room, that difference is the whole reason the gallery ends up fuller than the day looked. Two photographers do more at a small wedding, not less.

This was our first time at Elderflower Retreat, and by Hannah’s account it was the first wedding held there at all. Which is funny, given how close it sits to ground we know well. It’s right next to Enos Farms land, where we photographed Harvest Moon dinners for the better part of a decade, and just up from Hilltop. Erin, who hosts Elderflower for the Savanna Institute, is the same Erin who runs Enos Farms with Jeremy, and we photographed their wedding years ago.

The house itself is full of light, and the great room did everything: cocktail hour, dinner, dancing, and then a movie at the end of the night instead of a late DJ set. That was the plan from the start and it suited them.

The best thing about the property is the view. The house looks straight down the valley at the Romeo and Juliet windmill on the Taliesin hillside. Wright designed it in 1896, when he was twenty-nine, after his aunts asked for something to pump water to their Hillside Home School. He gave them a sixty-foot wooden tower with no internal support: a diamond called Romeo, braced by an octagon called Juliet, each one holding the other up. Their uncles said it wouldn’t survive the first storm. It’s been standing for well over a century. It’s my favorite thing Wright built, and having it in frame from a wedding is not something I expected to get to do.

Hannah works in marketing at American Players Theatre, which meant we got onto the hillside and the stage there with nobody around. We could be wrong about this, but we think Hannah and Jake may be the only couple to have taken wedding photos on that stage. If we’re wrong, it was at least the first time we’ve done it. Standing on an empty APT stage on a clear October afternoon is a strange and great way to spend twenty minutes of a wedding day. Hannah’s family first came to Spring Green in 2006 to see Taliesin, found APT while they were here, and have come back every year since, so that stage isn’t a backdrop for her, it’s the reason she lives here.

Jake’s sister Maddie officiated. Their sibling Raine played the baby grand. Hannah made the programs, the menus, and the signage by hand, and designed a mix record for the wedding weekend, which is the kind of thing you can only pull off when you’re a designer and you’ve got a guest list short enough to make everything personally.

Congratulations, Hannah and Jake. Thank you for bringing us into a day this small and this good.

Vendors
Venue: Elderflower Retreat · Catering: Red Barn Catering · Florals: Briarwood Flowers · Rings and jewelry: Lane Jahn Designs · Dress: Bon Bon Belle · Suit: Indochino

Getting married at Elderflower Retreat: what to know

Can you get married at Elderflower Retreat?
Yes. The Savanna Institute lists intimate weddings among the gatherings the space is designed for, alongside retreats, workshops, and live music.

How many guests does Elderflower Retreat hold?
The great room is cozy for six to twelve and can accommodate up to forty-five comfortably. The kitchen is set up to cook for up to twenty-four.

Where is Elderflower Retreat?
6511 Hillside School Road, Spring Green, WI 53588, south of the Wisconsin River, between Taliesin and American Players Theatre.

Can guests stay overnight at Elderflower Retreat?
Four bedrooms and four baths sleep five to nine. Overnight stays book through VRBO; events book direct through Erin.

What’s the setting like?
Hillside Pastures is a working 78-acre farm where White Park cattle graze a mature silvopasture of oak, hickory, and black locust. Taliesin and the Romeo and Juliet windmill are both visible from the property.

Who runs Elderflower Retreat?
The Savanna Institute, an agroforestry nonprofit founded in 2013. The retreat is managed by Erin Crooks Lynch. Nonprofits and partners can ask about special rates.

If you’re planning something small in Spring Green and want photographers who know this valley, send us a note. We shoot weddings of every size across Madison and the surrounding area, too.