Real Weddings: A Weekend at Camp

Lindsay Jernegan is the owner and creative director of Frances Lane, a vintage tabletop rental studio in the Bay Area inspired by her own wedding planning experience. When she’s not busy tracking down amazing pieces to add to Frances Lane’s collections, she and her husband Bobby spend their free time laughing with friends and fantasizing about having a yard and an in-unit laundry (big dreams for city dwellers!). Follow her adventures on Instagram and Twitter.

From the moment we got engaged, Bobby and I knew we’d be tying the knot at Camp Wandawega. Not only was it important to us that our festivities take place where our guests could spend the entire weekend together, but one look at the camp and all of the amazing work that owners David and Teresa have put into it made the decision a no-brainer. Teresa has painstakingly decorated the entire property in vintage items that she’s found free or at flea markets (she even wrote a book about it titled, appropriately, Found Free or Flea).

In keeping with the laid back and rustic nature of Wandawega, I kept the wedding elements handmade, vintage and simple in nature. My dress was custom made using a mix of new and vintage fabrics by the inimitable Miss Tashina. I sourced all of our vintage plates, coffee mugs and vases with the help of my amazing mother-in-law. She covered what seemed like every thrift and vintage store in the state of Wisconsin to find the best pieces. I DIY’d all of the paper goods and décor, from our save-the-dates and our invitation “guidebook” to the menus, seating cards, hand fans, and programs.

Wandawega was a Latvian church retreat in one of its many previous lives, and they still hold a Sunday mass for the community during the summer months. This provided the best set up for our ceremony (rows of benches and an “altar”), and the only décor elements needed here were some colorful tissue paper poofs (made by Marcie Lynn Walker) and a backdrop that I made with some strategically placed poultry fencing and hundreds of strips of fringed crepe paper. The reception was held in the most beautiful Sperry tent on Wandawega’s expansive lawn, and cocktail hour was on the tennis courts, which we dressed up with some bistro lights and a custom made reclaimed wood bar that Dan Ryan, our wonderful Sperry rep, made himself.

By having our wedding at a camp, there were ample opportunities for our loved ones, many of whom had never met, to get to know one another and develop relationships — in true summer camp fashion. It was so great to walk through camp and see our favorite people taking turns on the tree swings, shooting at the archery targets, hanging out in the treehouse, or fishing off the dock.

I cannot overstate how rad it was seeing everything that we had spent months picturing in our heads come to life, thanks in great measure to generous contributions of time and labor from our friends and family. The only reason our wedding came together was because we had an army of awesome helpers moving tables, hauling kegs, putting pretty flowers into vases, shoving hundreds of fringed crepe paper strips into chicken wire… It really takes a village to have a camp wedding.

All photographs by Sergio Mottola.