C + J’s Weekend-Long Wedding at Camp Indianola
C & J met through an online dating app and had an instant connection. They both thrive in the outdoors and kindled their love over many hiking and backpacking trips. C is a scientist and J works in food-insecurity and they have a mix of unique, intelligent and fascinating friends from all walks of life. J proposed to C while they were watching the 2017 full solar eclipse in Oregon.
When they began their venue search, they wanted a place where they could host a weekend-long celebration as they wanted to relax and spend as much time as possible with their friends and family. They both are grounded in their faith and Camp Indianola provided a sanctuary for them to express their values with their loved ones. The camp is on the Puget Sound waterfront and there were a number of activities that the group could participate in together throughout the weekend. C & J hoped to have the ceremony outside in the amphitheater facing the water, but due to rain, they held it inside in the community room. There are a number of lodges and cabins on-site, as well as a large kitchen that can be used for group meals.
C & J wanted each part of their ceremony to be meaningful. They didn’t want to include something just for the sake of tradition. A big part of the day was music. They both find joy in song and wanted to share that with others. Pre-ceremony they had an audience sing-along with the words printed in their programs. They had songs during their ceremony and J’s hand-bell choir performed as well. For the reception they brought a contra-dancing band to help them joyfully dance the night away.
Their unity ceremony was the planting of a Trillium flower. It’s a wildflower that’s the first to bloom in the spring and J taught C to identify them in the wild shortly after they met.
The weekend was a reflection of C & J’s close-knit community. Camp Indianola was largely unstaffed, so they asked their friends and family to take on small jobs to help them out. This brought the group together as each person had a role to play in the weekend. Some volunteers helped park cars, checked guests into the cabins and helped to decorate. Others made bouquets, set out a continental breakfast or baked pies for the wedding dessert. Many friends and family were involved in the marriage ceremony by leading songs, saying a prayer or helping with the eucharist.
The decorations were borrowed, foraged, pre-owned or made. C’s dad is a potter, so he made ceramic vases that could be given away to guests. Seasonal blooms from local flower farms were used in the vases.
The night ended with a contra dance which was a raucous good time! The band had a caller, who taught the guests some basic moves and called out the order during the songs. Dancers bounced and bobbed around each other with laughter. The room overflowed with joy and celebration.
There were a lot of moving pieces for C and J’s wedding weekend as they had so many volunteers and helpers doing DIY tasks. As Seattle wedding planners, we helped them set-up a volunteer sheet with each task and folks could sign-up for one or two jobs throughout the weekend.
Camp Indianola is not a typical wedding venue and was not close to a town, so we had to think of anything and everything that we might need beforehand. We worked together to solve some logistical challenges like a 130 guest wedding with only 35 parking spots at the venue. We ended up sending out a carpool sheet to all of the guests and many carpooled together to the venue.
On the day of the wedding, it was a drizzly April afternoon, so C & J elected to have the ceremony inside. We directed the set-up and decorating committee and pre-set the centerpieces for the reception. Due to the rain, we held the ceremony and reception in the same room, therefore the room needed to be flipped and reset quickly after the ceremony so that we could serve dinner. With our work behind the scenes, C and J were able to focus on enjoying their day with their friends and family with the knowledge that their wedding coordination was taken care of.
Eco-friendly actions that the couple took:
Guests were invited by email and a wedding website was used for RSVPs.
The decor was borrowed, foraged or handmade and given away to friends as gifts at the end of the event.
The florals and food were local and seasonal.
Guests carpooled to the venue together.
Some alcohol was home brewed and the rest was from local breweries.
“You were incredibly easy and low stress to work with. We were shocked at our second meeting to see how well you organized our vision into a concrete actionable plan. We pride ourselves on being planners and organizers and you took it one step further making things so simple and clear for us and our guests to follow.
You were a fantastic listener and put our vision first while also offering creative contingencies should our ideas not be practicable. So many of our family and guests raved about how amazing it was working with you and acknowledged how much time and effort you put into making things run smoothly. ”
