Emily & Brandon – Magic in the Massachusetts Forest

PHOTOS BY Shutter & Sound

Featured in the Summer 2026 issue of Equestrian Living.

Emily did not plan for snow. But when the first flurries of the season began to fall during her ceremony at Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, Massachusetts, the moment became exactly the kind of thing that could not have been arranged. Willowdale was built in the early 20th century by Bradley Palmer, a horse lover who designed his estate with stables, trails, and direct access to the forests and fields he rode through regularly.

Today the mansion hosts weddings and events while the surrounding land, now part of Bradley Palmer State Park, remains open to the public for horseback riding and hiking along the same trails Palmer once enjoyed. For a couple who wanted a setting with genuine history rather than the simulation of it, Willowdale offered an authentic history and connection to the land.

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