Generations Weddings & Events
Ask us about a wedding here →Quick Facts
Photographer's Notes
MEZZANINE COVERAGE
The wraparound mezzanine lets us photograph the first dance from above and up close on the floor at the same time, and the staircase is great for wedding party photos. If you add DJ lighting or uplighting, let us know, so the dance floor keeps enough light.
GARDEN TIMING
The main clearing faces south-southwest, so late afternoon is its best time. At cocktail hour the patio is half in sun and half in the building's shade, and we gather people for portraits on the shady side. It's a real walk from the guest house to the ceremony, so we allow twenty minutes for it.
Planning a Wedding Here
Generations Weddings & Events sits ten minutes from downtown Rapid City on 13 acres, and it solves the problem that quietly ruins wedding timelines: distance. You wake up in the on-site guest house, marry in the garden, and dance under the mezzanine without a single car ride in between.
The mezzanine changes how we shoot
The wraparound mezzanine above the event hall is the most useful structural feature at any indoor venue we work in Rapid City. During the first dance, one of us shoots from the rail while the other works the floor, so every major reception moment comes back in two registers at once, wide from above and close from inside the crowd. The staircase down from the mezzanine has also become a reliable spot for wedding party portraits when the timeline is tight.
One planning note: the hall's lighting is part venue fixture, part whatever you and your vendors bring. If a DJ or lighting company is adding to the room, loop us in early. We can tell you exactly how much ambient light keeps the reception looking like the room you decorated instead of a flash photo in a dark box.
Ceremony sites and the clock
The main garden clearing faces roughly south-southwest, which makes late afternoon its best hour. The sun drops in warm behind our shooting position and the whole ceremony glows. Morning and midday flip that math, putting hard overhead light in your guests' eyes, so if an early ceremony is non-negotiable, ask the venue team what shade options they can set up and tell us the start time so we can plan positions around it. The covered patio along the south face of the hall works well for cocktail hour, with one half in sun and one in building shade on most afternoons. We steer the portrait groupings to the shaded edge.
The guest house
The guest house sleeps sixteen, which means a wedding party of six or eight spreads out comfortably with hair and makeup stations that are not stacked on each other. It is the only venue in the immediate Rapid City area that keeps getting-ready on the property all day. The one cost is the walk: the house sits a real distance from the ceremony sites, so we block twenty minutes of transition into the timeline and nobody ends up jogging in formal wear.
The season runs April through October, and coverage here is usually eight to ten hours, or up to twelve for a longer day. If Generations is your venue, send us your ceremony time and we will tell you what the garden light will be doing when you say your vows.
Sample Timeline
| Time | Event | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM | Photographer arrives at guest house | Getting-ready coverage begins — details, prep, candid moments |
| 12:30 PM | First look at outdoor garden site | Keep separate from ceremony location for guest surprise factor |
| 1:30 PM | Wedding party portraits | Garden sites and patio before guest arrival |
| 3:00 PM | Ceremony | Outdoor garden site or event hall |
| 3:45 PM | Cocktail hour, couple portraits | Covered patio — position on shaded edge for clean portrait light |
| 5:00 PM | Reception in event hall | Mezzanine angle for grand entrance, first dance, cake cutting |
| 9:00 PM | Coverage closes | Music ends at 11 PM per local ordinance |
Portrait Spots
FAQ
Yes — the on-site guest house sleeps up to 16 people and can be added to your booking for an additional nightly fee. It gives your bridal party a real, private getting-ready space on the same property as the ceremony and reception. For us as photographers, having the getting-ready coverage on-site rather than at an off-site hotel means less transition time and more usable images in the preparation phase of your day.
Music must stop by 11 PM per Rapid City's local quiet-hour ordinance. This applies to both live bands and DJs. Most couples we work with plan their coverage through 9 or 10 PM, which aligns well with the 11 PM cutoff and allows for a full evening reception without rushing the final hours. If you are planning a late send-off or sparkler exit, build it into your timeline before 10:30 PM to stay comfortably inside the window.
Generations stays in demand, and peak-season Saturdays (May through September) tend to book 12 to 18 months out. We see the most last-minute availability on Fridays and Sundays, which can also reduce your venue rental cost. If you have flexibility on day of the week, ask the venue what is open before locking to a Saturday.
Both. The venue has a 3,200-square-foot event hall with a wraparound mezzanine for indoor receptions, plus multiple outdoor ceremony sites across 13 acres. Most couples hold their ceremony outside and reception inside, but the hall is large enough to hold both if weather or preference calls for it. The covered patio connects the two spaces and functions well as a cocktail hour area.
Yes, and the property size makes it easy to stage a first look well away from the ceremony site so guests do not see it happen. The garden area near the guest house or the tree-line edge of the eastern acreage both work well as first look locations — far enough from the main ceremony clearing that you maintain the reveal moment while still having a visually interesting backdrop. We plan this into every Generations timeline we build.
The outdoor ceremony sites can accommodate up to 400 guests standing or approximately 260 seated with formal chair setup. The venue team coordinates chair and equipment rental as part of the booking process. For intimate weddings below 100 guests, ask about the secondary garden site — it is scaled better for smaller ceremonies and tends to photograph more proportionally with the couple than the primary clearing, which reads wide when it is only partially filled.
Our collections show what each one covers and what it costs. Tell us about your day and we'll help you work out what it needs.
