5 Reasons You Should Consider Getting Married At Camp Wandawega

8 min readSep 14, 2022

I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for Camp Wandawega. Isaac + I got married at camp on July 17, 2021 + it was the best weekend of our lives. I truly cannot imagine a better place to get married… + I want to shout it from the rooftops (especially because I was very “anti-camp” in the beginning… more on that below).

My hope in writing this post is that if you’re on the fence about considering Camp Wandawega for your wedding venue, you’ll feel confident saying YES after reading my experience. I still get questions frequently about Camp Wandawega, so I wanted to put everything in one place… I hope this helps!

ICYMI:
*This post is part of a 3 part series for people getting married at Camp Wandawega [or currently in the process of considering Camp Wandawega as their wedding venue!] + how to navigate getting married at camp. Spoiler alert: IT’S AMAZING!🥰
👉 [Part #1] 5 Reasons You Should Consider Getting Married At Camp Wandawega
👉 [Part #2] Camp Wandawega Weddings: Q+A
👉 [Part #3] 20 Fun Ideas For Your Wedding At Camp Wandawega

About Camp Wandawega:

Camp Wandawega is located in Elkhorn, Wisconsin (1.5 hours outside of Chicago) + has an enchanting history. It’s actually recognized on the National Register of Historic Places! It’s so hard to describe this special place but if I HAD TO I’d say: midwestern summer camp with chic vintage design. Also: massive bonfire, beautiful trees, lake with a small beach, humble cabins, epic treehouse, Wisconsin taxidermy + charming antiques… there really is just so much character to Camp Wandawega. It’s clear the owners Tereasa + David have put so much intention into camp — you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time in such a fun way.

Helpful resources:

Manifesto Of Low Expectations — make sure you read this 😉
Venue Report
Camp Wandawega Tour — you’ll of course want to book an “in person tour,” but this is helpful to see the different aspects of camp + the layout
Camp Wandawega Instagram — look at @campwandawega’s tagged photos for wedding inspo + for a feel of the camp vibes
I also really liked this blog post (won Wedding Of The Year) to see how this couple transformed camp into their wedding venue… love that they shared so many photos!

Top 5 Favorite Reasons I Loved Getting Married At Camp Wandawega*

*I could easily list 50 more! But I wanted to be concise ; )

#1] It truly is a blank canvas for you to create your dream wedding.

The best… + worst… part of having Camp Wandawega as your wedding venue is that it’s completely DIY. Meaning it’s A LOT of work… but it’s also a blank canvas to create your dream wedding. Camp Wandawega does not provide any event services — they simply lease out the camp for 2+ nights to you + that’s it! There’s zero restrictions on food, alcohol, people to work with, etc.

It can be overwhelming to know where to start when it comes to wedding planning at camp. Ask yourself — “What would the best wedding weekend ever look like to me, if I had no limits?” Create from that space + prioritize what’s important. I would daydream A LOT + treated wedding planning as a playground for manifesation. We ultimately went with the vibe of a “wellness wedding” — think: yoga, ice baths, meditation, accupuncture, dance, HIIT, etc. 😍

I highly recommend working with an event planner to bring your wedding dreams to life. We worked w/ Cloth + Flame who is an “all in one” venue company. They provided the food, tables, flowers, major decor, etc. We also hired a “day of event planner” who helped with the weekend’s logistics + made our lives so much easier!

#2] 50 of your friends + family will be able to stay on site with you.

Ultimately, this was the reason we chose Camp Wandawega as our wedding venue. Since we were planning a very interactive weekend, we wanted to make sure as many people could stay on site as possible + do all the activites with us! I was very very nervous about the DIY aspect of camp (hence my “anti-camp” comment), but when we realized our main priority was spending as much time as possible with our family + friends + creating this “wellness wedding” experience… we realized that Camp Wandawga was the perfect venue for what we had envisioned for our weekend.

The cabins are ~humble~ + showers are limited [see Q+A below]. We made it clear that camp accommodations were rustic with our guests, + knew that it wouldn’t be everyone’s vibe. We reserved rooms at the Hampton Inn nearby for those who wanted to stay at a hotel. I will say: All of our guests who stayed at camp, loved it. 🤩

Something to note: You have to pay extra for the Hillhouse, but I highly recommend it. It’s still on the camp grounds — but a bit removed… + it’s also absolutely gorgeous + air conditioned 😉 Isaac + I stayed there, along with a few others. The Hillhouse is where I got ready!

#3] … which means TONS of quality time!

We packed our itinerary to the brim + took advantage of the time together!

Friday: Check in, yoga flow + meditation, swim in the lake, welcome dinner, bonfire + blessing
Saturday: Coffee + journaling, HIIT class, breathwork + ice baths, BBQ, WEDDING, cocktail + apps, dinner, dance dance dance

Aside from our planned events, there were many other activities that Camp Wandawega offered: private beach, canoeing, hiking, shuffleboard, volleyball, cards, ping pong, campfires + s’more, + archery (a crowd fav), + more.

Camp Wandawega only does “all camp” rentals for weddings — so you have the entire camp to yourself, making it a very intimate experince. We had 150 guests (which was the max capacity) + one of our favorite parts of the entire weekend was seeing how much our guests enjoyed camp (+ all of the activities)… as well as all the friendships that were born that weekend!

#4] Camp Wandawega has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL outdoor chapel ever

You don’t “have” to get married in the chapel, but wow wow wow — IMO it is too perfect not to get married there! Seriously, it’s the cutest outdoor chapel of my dreams. Camp Wandawega actually hosts “Mass in the Grass” on Sunday mornings, weather permitted, in the chapel.

Something to note: If you are Catholic, a priest can officiate the wedding in the outdoor chapel (it’s extremely rare to be able to get married outdoors in the Catholic Church — so this is a big deal!).

#5] You can visit year after year on your anniversary 💓

Since Camp Wandawega is also on Airbnb, we’re so excited to eventually go back to this magical place together! It might need to be a yearly trip. ✨

I already have visions of Isaac + I in 10 years with children running around + sharing stories about how “mom + dad got married here” around the bonfire. (Camp Wandawega has the most epic bonfire of all time, BTW.)

Seriously, it was a dream to get married at Camp Wandawega + I can’t recommend it enough!