If we’ve met, you probably know that Jon & I got married last month. During the planning process, I talked about it to anyone who would listen: friends, family, clients, grocery store checkout people. Seriously, everyone. We’d been dating for nearly eight years and engaged for two by the time our wedding arrived, so we’d had plenty of time to think about what we wanted. It was so important to us to have a celebration that was truly us, and we knew right away that we wanted to find a casual outdoor venue where we could bring together all of our friends and family and have a really great party. When we found Camp Wing, we knew immediately that it was the right spot for our wedding. Its a 350 acre conservation area and summer camp, and not only are the grounds beautiful and a perfect spot for a wedding, but we were so excited to find that we’d be supporting a great cause as well.
All images courtesy of Heidi Finn Photography
We spent months working out the plans for our DIY rustic summer camp inspired wedding, and I had more than a few crazy bride moments while planning all the details. I collected jars for the centerpieces (both vintage mason jars and regular pickle jars which I wrapped with twine), hand stained and painted the table number frames, painted a custom cornhole game for cocktail hour, and (probably my craziest moment of all) sewed 180 fabric napkins. When the time came to pull everything together, we were so blessed to have a team of amazing friends and family who helped us set everything up on the Friday night before the wedding. They dragged furniture around, steamed tablecloths, tied twine, hung lights, and were just all around incredible. We were truly blown away by their love and support all weekend long.
Our first look below. I’ve always been a big fan of first looks from a photographer’s point of view, and now that I’ve done it as a bride, I can give you a million and one reasons why I think everyone should do it.
Our wedding cake, pictured above, was made by our awesome friend Laura and was a snickerdoodle cake. We had cupcakes for our guests (also delicious and made by Laura and her husband Scott), so we only used the cake for our cutting. We brought the rest of it with us on our honeymoon trip to Bar Harbor, and ate it with nearly every meal. It was unbelievably delicious. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me – if you’d like to make your own, you can find it at the end of the post. Thanks for reading! Even after being involved with so many weddings as a photographer, there was so much that I learned from the other side of the lens that I can’t wait to share with you all! Now, go make some snickerdoodle cake immediately. You’ll thank me later.
Snickerdoodle Cake (or cupcakes), found at Your Cup of Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gorgeous! Everything looked beautiful; you certainly out-DIY’d every other wedding I’ve seen, and it came out amazing!! ❤
And seriously, that first look thing is pure genius! If I could change one thing, it would be to do that and take time for both pictures AND cocktail hour (ok, I'd need to change 2 things, because my train-wreck of a cake would still have to be the first to go, haha).
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Thanks, Erin! Yeah, the first look was key, I was able to get all of my crying out of the way. Your cake was awesome in its own hilarious way – you’ll laugh about it forever, I’m sure!
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Look at the concentration required to simultaneously: hold a beer, hold a spare bean bag, and toss a bean bag all at the same time…..
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I followed the link from DALS for the cake recipe and have been entralled by your photos and story for the last 1/2 hour. It looks like a fabulously fun wedding. And the cake looks so yummy – it’ll be appearing on our table as a birthday cake for a two-year old. Thank you.
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what a great wedding – thanks for sharing – i too came from DALS and love seeing your vision and happiness!
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Awww. I came here from DALS just expecting a cake recipe (it sounds awesome) and instead saw amazing pictures of your gorgeous wedding! I love it! What a happy time. The details are great. 🙂
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Also came from DALS. Don’t know the first thing about you, and I’m crying at your first look photos. Beautiful!
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Everything was beautiful! We were so happy to be a part of your day!
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Hi Jen,
I loved all of your photos on Pinterest. Your wedding looked amazing! I am actually getting married Sept 2015 and we are hoping to marry at Camp Wing as well. Is their any advice you could give me? What worked, what didnt? Did you do the cookout menu? Can you tell me roughly how much you paid for Camp Wing and the food? Planning a wedding is so difficult. Lol.. any advice you can give me, I’d love to hear it.
Thanks.
Lauren
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Hi Lauren!
We had a wonderful experience at Camp Wing, I can’t recommend it enough! Their coordinator Will was awesome to work with, and their staff was amazing. We went with an outside caterer, http://www.greengalcatering.com, they did a fantastic job. It was a lot of work to DIY everything, but well worth it in the end.
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