8 Reasons Why You Should Have A Wellness Wedding
The idea of a “wellness wedding” was born years prior to even being engaged. We were dreaming about the future + wondering what our wedding would look like one day. It was Isaac who said, “What if we had a wellness wedding?” Essentially “wellness retreat” meets “outdoor, glamping wedding.”
He shared that we have so many friends who have incredible, wellness-focused gifts that he’d love for our entire community to witness — what if we spotlighted them in a “retreat” format, while having an amazing wedding ceremony in the mix of everything. My heart lit up — “Yes! I cannot imagine it any other way!”
Our wedding weekend consisted of yoga, meditation, HIIT class, swimming, ice baths, breath work, acupuncture, massage, journaling, volleyball, fire twirling dance, incredible healthy food… + more. It was so much fun to use our creativity to dream up different aspects of the weekend, sprinkling as many wellness moments as we could.
If wellness is an important aspect of your life, I highly encourage you to consider a “wellness wedding”. Here’s 8 reasons why…
#1] Our wedding fully felt like an expression of us.
Instead of a “plug + play” traditional wedding outline, we loved having a blank canvas to allow our wedding to look + feel exactly how we wanted. We asked ourselves, “What would the best weekend of our lives look like? What would we want to do?” We created from that space.
Ultimately, we wanted to do things that we already do in our daily life [ie — lots of wellness activities!], but in an elevated way. It felt really special to give people a peek into what our lives look like + I think it also helped people understand why we love these wellness activites so much. Our wedding fully felt like an expression of us.
#2] Our wedding was an opportunity to highlight our friend’s gifts.
Our wedding [+ life!] would not be what it was without the people in it. Our friends are so talented — from yoga instructors to bodyworkers to Wim Hoff instructors to musicians… + more. It felt surreal to have a close relationship with everyone leading an activity, as well almost everyone from our wedding team. We loved being able to share with our community our friends’ gifts! We made sure to shout everyone out, too!
- Friday Itinerary [Video]: Check in, yoga flow + meditation, swim in the lake, welcome dinner, bonfire + blessing
- Saturday Itinerary [Video]: Coffee + journaling, HIIT class, breathwork + ice baths, BBQ, WEDDING, cocktail + apps, dinner, dance dance dance
#3] Wedding activities became “ice breakers” throughout the weekend, allowing our community to easily make friends with others right away.
Our weekend started off with a “welcome yoga class” — immediately, we were all sweating + smiling + flowing alongside each other. After the class, we all grabbed our bathing suits + jumped into the lake + chatted about how that yoga class felt so good + was easily one of the best yoga classes we have ever been to. The high vibe energy had started!
We had so many of these types of moments — bonding over wellness activities. I have to say my favorite “ice breaker” [literally + figuratively lol] of the entire weekend was seeing so many people participate in the ice baths. For many people, it was the first time that they’ve ever done an ice bath in their life! We were all cheering each other on, laughing, + of course there was even a little bit of screaming… brrrrr! The adrenaline rush after being in an ice bath for a few minutes is so real + people joked about how the ice bath helped them get over their hangover from Friday night.
#4] Quiet moments built in for reflection / a “pause” allowed us to fully take in the magnitude of this incredibly special weekend.
My number one intention for our wedding weekend was to be present. I knew that by building in these micro mindfulness moments, it would allow time to move a bit slower + help me savor every second. Some examples of this:
- Isaac + I went up a day early before anyone else arrived to fully soak in the fact that WE WERE GETTING MARRIED. We also had a couple’s therapy session that night, which was beautiful!
- Group meditation after the welcome yoga class
- Group blessing around the bonfire Friday night
- Encouraged everyone to journal on Saturday morning [see prompts below!]
- The morning of our wedding, Isaac + I spent time as just the two of us — drinking coffee, journaling, meditating, + reading letters. Our friend came in a bit later to do craniosacral work on us, + it was so relaxing + special
- Acupuncture session with Isaac, basking in the sun right before we got ready for the ceremony
- I mostly got ready solo — which was an incredible time to be in my feels + calm my nervous system
- My friend led a group of my family + close friends in a prayer moments before I left to walk down the aisle… a moment for so much gratitude
- After the ceremony, Isaac + I went to the lake + connected for the first time — as husband + wife! We had a quiet moment of just holding each other + celebrating that WE WERE MARRIED!
#5] “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”
High vibes all weekend. Need we say more?!
#6] Healthy, nourishing meals [from recipes we make at home regularly!] left our guests feeling incredible… + led to more people getting inspired in the kitchen.
The two things most people talked about after our wedding = #1] The ice baths… + #2] THE FOOD! It always brings a smile to our faces because we were incredibly intentional with all of the food at our wedding — especially the wedding reception meal.
We wanted to use our favorite recipes that we eat almost every week as a family, but “up level” them. I cannot say enough good things about Chef Nick from Cloth + Flame — oh my gosh, everything was delicious! We shared the recipes with our guests after in a recap email, + so many of them to this day talk about how they make the recipes! Here’s the recipes we shared:
- Lamb Meatballs *scroll down until you see “Couscous with English Peas, Apricots, + Lamb Meatballs”
- Kale Salad
- Muhammara
- Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Carrots
- Baked Mint Rice
- Pesto *you’ll have to ask Mrs T for that 😉 [yes, my mom literally made her homemade pesto recipe + brought it to Camp Wandawega for our wedding meal!]
#7] Having all of our friends stay on site with us allowed us to spend so much quality time with our community — rather than if we did a more standard wedding approach.
So often, I feel like weddings go by in the blink of an eye + rarely do I spend much time with the bride + groom. I’m lucky enough if I just get to say hi + have a few short moments with them! Due to the nature of setting up our itinerary like a “wellness retreat” + because 60+ people were able to stay on site at Camp Wandawega with us… we constantly saw everyone the entire weekend! I felt like I really got to spend a lot of quality time with our community. 36 hours felt like a week.
#8] We got to do all of our favorite wedding activities… AND, WE GOT TO GET MARRIED 🎉
We just had so much fun! It truly was the best weekend of my life.
So, did I convince you to have a wellness wedding yet?! Here’s a few more resources that may be helpful to you:
Our Wedding Team
So many thanks to all of these incredible people who made our dream wedding possible! Want an intro to any of these people? Let me know!
💛 Camp: @campwandawega
💛 Photo + Video: @reeseandrenee
💛 Pop Up Design + Food: @clothandflame @nickrusticus
💛 DIY Details: @alyssakk15 @sarahkclem @kaevass
💛 Wellness Leaders: @cali.kristinesc @cataldanasager @itsmaryjewel @adrian_on_spaceshipearth
💛 Acupuncture + Massage + Fire Twirling: @meliss__rae @taniahugheslovely
💛 Day Of Wedding Planner: @katiemonster365
💛 Floral: @inthebrambles @la_tulipe_design
💛 Hair + Makeup: @bpiacenti
💛 Dress + Veil: @aliceinivorybridal @alexandragrecco
💛 Suit: @blvdier
💛 Music: @kevinparismusic
💛 Violin: @justnathaniel.mp3
💛 DJ + Light Show: Jeff Quay
Any additional questions? DM me @elisabethsinnott. + make sure to check out my “CAMP W” + “WED” highlight on instagram!
Happy wedding! 🥰
Elisabeth