Table of Contents / Quick Links
What started as a film model call turned into something so much more. When Carly told me she had a wedding dress she’d never gotten to wear and that she and Gary never had wedding photos together, I immediately knew we had to lean all the way in. We created a cinematic Lakewold Gardens wedding portrait session with a mix of digital and CineStill 400D film.
I loved playing with moodier light, intimate movement, and more editorial posing throughout the gardens. Their connection made it ridiculously easy to create with them, and getting to experiment with the unpredictable little quirks of film made this session feel even more special.
Lakewold Gardens Wedding Venue Details
- Address: 12317 Gravelly Lake Dr SW, Lakewood, WA 98499
- About the venue: A 10-acre historic estate garden featuring the Wagner House, formal and natural gardens, a Tea House, veranda, and plenty of tucked-away spaces throughout the property.
- Vibe: Romantic, vintage-inspired, garden-forward, intimate, and a little moody in all the best ways.
- Best for: Garden weddings, intimate celebrations, and elopements. Perfect for couples who want a venue with historic architecture and plenty of variety for photos.
- Wedding capacity: Up to 150 guests for a classic Lakewold Gardens wedding. Micro weddings are available for up to 30 guests, with elopement options for up to 10.
- Good to know: Lakewold Gardens is in Lakewood, Washington, just minutes from Tacoma and about 45 minutes south of SeaTac Airport.
- Phone: 253-584-4106
- Venue Director: jmoll@lakewoldgardens.org
- Website: Lakewold Gardens Weddings
What Is It Like to Get Married at Lakewold Gardens?
A Lakewold Gardens wedding gives you a little bit of everything. It’s a 10-acre historic estate in Lakewood, Washington that has the most lush gardens, century-old trees, tucked-away pathways, and the Wagner House. With all of this, the day can move between outdoor spaces and historic architecture while staying connected. Weddings here can include both the gardens and house, with options ranging from intimate elopements and micro weddings to celebrations of up to 150 guests.
What I loved most about photographing Carly and Gary here was how quickly the atmosphere changed as we moved through the gardens. One area felt soft and romantic. Another felt darker and moodier. Then we’d turn a corner and find something completely different. That variety works so well with the cinematic, editorial way I like to photograph weddings. We can create visually interesting images without spending half your wedding day driving between locations.
And there’s also something about the combination of old architecture and slightly overgrown greenery that just works here. It feels romantic, which gives you space for the gorgeous portraits you planned for and the quieter, less-perfect moments happening in between.
Lakewold Gardens Wedding Spaces & The Best Photo Locations
One of my favorite things about photographing Carly and Gary at Lakewold Gardens was how much variety we had without needing to go very far. The 10-acre property moves between historic interiors, formal gardens, mature greenery, brick paths, and a few more unexpected backdrops. For a wedding day, that gives you plenty of room to create completely different images without disappearing from your guests for an hour.
Lakewold Gardens hosts weddings for up to 150 guests, with Wagner House and the surrounding gardens giving you several ways to use the property throughout the day.
Wagner House
Wagner House is the main indoor space at Lakewold Gardens and brings in the historic architecture and vintage character that I’m naturally drawn to. For a full wedding day, I love that it gives you an entirely different atmosphere from the gardens while still keeping everything on one property.
The Sun Room / Atrium: Accommodates up to 24 people. With all of that natural light, this is one of the indoor spaces I’d especially love to play with for portraits or quieter parts of the day.
Upper Conference Room: Accommodates up to 20 people and provides another smaller indoor space within Wagner House.
Library & Dining Room: These rooms make up the Lower Conference Room and accommodate up to 40 people, or 70 with theatre-style seating.
All of Lower Wagner House: The full lower level can accommodate up to 70 guests indoors, or 120 when combined with the veranda.
I also love the creative possibilities inside the house. The older architecture, windows, and deeper indoor light give me space to create images that feel a little moodier and more editorial before stepping outside into something completely different.
The Veranda
Capacity: Up to 50 people, or 100 with an additional row on the adjacent brick.
The veranda connects Wagner House to the gardens and feels like such a great in-between space for a wedding day. Lakewold also lists the wisteria-covered veranda as an elopement ceremony option. If you want to still feel surrounded by the gardens with a little more shelter overhead, this could be such a beautiful spot to exchange vows.
Photographically, I love the transition here between architecture and greenery. You can use the house itself, the wisteria when it’s in season, and the gardens beyond it without having to move very far.
The Tea House Gazebo & Brick Walk
Lakewold’s Tea House Gazebo has so much of the vintage character I love about this venue. It feels tucked into the gardens, with greenery wrapping around the structure instead of sitting apart from it. For smaller elopements, it can also be used as a ceremony space. I love the idea of exchanging vows here, then wandering straight into the gardens for portraits afterward.
The Pool
The pool isn’t a dedicated ceremony or reception space, but it is one of my favorite photo backdrops on the property. It gives you something different from the historic house and lush gardens. It has the reflections we can play with and a little more room to lean editorial.
That contrast is exactly what I loved while creating with Carly and Gary. A Lakewold Gardens wedding doesn’t have to result in an entire gallery of traditional garden portraits. There are plenty of ways to change the mood while staying on the property.
The Gardens & Pathways
Lakewold is made up of several named garden rooms. This includes the formal boxwood parterres, a Knot Garden, rose and cutting gardens, woodland areas, and more. I wouldn’t treat every one of those as a formal wedding space, but they give us so much to work with for portraits.
What I loved most was being able to wander with Carly and Gary and let the setting change around us. Some areas felt softer and more romantic, while deeper greenery gave us space to lean moodier and more intimate. It made it easy to experiment with movement, film, and more emotional direction without making every portrait feel overly planned.
That’s probably my biggest takeaway from photographing here. You don’t need to leave Lakewold Gardens to create a gallery with variety. Between Wagner House, the gardens, the Tea House, the pool, and all of the smaller spaces in between, there’s a lot to work with while still keeping your wedding day connected.
How Much Does a Lakewold Gardens Wedding Cost?
Lakewold Gardens offers several wedding packages for everything from a private elopement to a full wedding with up to 150 guests. As of 2026, pricing starts at:
- Classic Weddings: Starting at $7,900 for up to 150 guests, including 10 hours of exclusive access to the Wagner House and gardens, private getting-ready rooms, tables and chairs, a one-hour rehearsal, and a pre-wedding photo session.
- Micro Weddings: Starting at $2,950 for up to 30 guests, with 4.5 hours of partial access to the Wagner House and gardens, getting-ready spaces, tables, and chairs.
- Elopements: Starting at $750 for up to 10 people, with 1.5 hours of access and ceremony options throughout the gardens, at the Tea House gazebo, or on the Wagner House veranda.
Classic weddings are currently offered on weekends from April through October, while micro weddings and elopements have year-round options. At the time I’m writing this, Lakewold Gardens’ wedding calendar is currently full and they aren’t accepting new wedding inquiries. If you’re interested in getting married here, you can fill out the contact form on their website to be notified if availability opens up.
Pricing, availability, and package details can change. I recommend checking directly with Lakewold Gardens for the most current information before you start planning.
What to Know Before Planning a Lakewold Gardens Wedding
Lakewold Gardens is definitely a venue where having a few logistics figured out ahead of time will make the day feel a whole lot easier. Here are a few things worth knowing as you start planning:
- You’ll need a wedding coordinator. Lakewold requires a professional coordinator for Classic and Micro Weddings, although elopements are excluded from this requirement.
- Catering comes from an approved list. Weddings are required to use one of Lakewold Gardens’ preferred catering companies or approved food trucks, with some accommodations possible for specific dietary or cultural needs.
- Have a weather backup plan. This is the PNW, after all. With so much of the experience centered around the gardens, Lakewold specifically recommends having a backup plan for both your ceremony and reception.
- Celebrations wrap up by 10 p.m. Alcohol service ends before then, with the final hour reserved for vendors to break down and clean up the space.
- Large weddings need a parking plan. For weddings of 150 guests or more, Lakewold requires valet parking or an equivalent parking attendant.
None of these are necessarily complicated, but they’re good things to know before you start building your timeline and vendor team. The more of those logistics you can handle ahead of time, the more space you have to actually be present once the wedding day gets here.
Lakewold Gardens also shares a few sample wedding day timelines on its website, which can be helpful when trying to plan out how your day will flow.
Film Wedding Photos at Lakewold Gardens
I photographed Carly and Gary on both digital and CineStill 400D film, and I love how differently each format interpreted Lakewold Gardens. Digital gave me more control over the deeper greens and moodier light, while film brought in softer color, grain, and little imperfections that make every frame feel a bit more unpredictable.
That unpredictability is part of what I love about film. It asks me to slow down, trust the frame, and let the image be imperfect in a way that feels really human. With Lakewold’s historic architecture, gardens, and romantic atmosphere, it fit this session so naturally.
I also love that the film and digital images don’t look exactly the same. Together, they give the gallery more texture and two slightly different ways of remembering the same experience.
Lakewold Gardens Wedding FAQ
Classic weddings at Lakewold Gardens can accommodate up to 150 guests. The venue also offers Micro Weddings for up to 30 guests and elopements for up to 10 people.
As of 2026, Classic Weddings start at $7,900, Micro Weddings start at $2,950, and elopements start at $750. Pricing and package details can change, so check directly with Lakewold Gardens for the most current information.
Micro Weddings and elopements currently have year-round options. Classic Weddings are offered on weekends from April through October.
Lakewold Gardens is located at 12317 Gravelly Lake Drive SW in Lakewood, Washington, near Tacoma and about 45 minutes south of SeaTac Airport.
Love From Carly & Gary:
“We absolutely LOVE them!! Thank you so, so much! You are amazing at what you do and we are so grateful to have been a part of your beautiful vision!!
Thank you again to @haileywoods_photography for capturing us in a great light, we showed up with head to toe hives & bug bites looking worse for wear after a rough week… and still you found a version of us that made us look beautiful, and gave us the opportunity to forget our worries and enjoy this peaceful pocket of time together 🕊️ “
Meet Hailey, Your Seattle Wedding Photographer
Hi, I’m Hailey! When I’m not photographing weddings around Seattle and the PNW, I’m usually wandering through an antique shop, getting lost in a bookstore, hiking somewhere with a mountain view, or saving a movie purely because I loved the cinematography. I’m also a mom, a bit of a memory hoarder, and forever inspired by fantasy stories, old architecture, candlelit spaces, and anything that feels a little dark, romantic, or atmospheric.
A lot of that naturally finds its way into the way I photograph weddings. My work leans cinematic, emotional, vintage-inspired, and a little moody, with a mix of digital and film when it fits the day. I’ll give you direction when you need it, step back when you don’t, and pay attention to the people, reactions, and quiet moments happening around you so your gallery feels like more than a collection of pretty portraits.
If you’re planning a Lakewold Gardens wedding or another celebration in Washington and want photos that feel layered, romantic, and true to the way your day actually felt, I’d love to hear what you’re planning. You can learn more about me here, or reach out through my contact page if you think I might be the right photographer for you.
