custom wedding paper: Nick & Stephanie's summer camp wedding, DETAILS EDITION

It’s here- the post I’ve had rolling around in my head for months. Last week, I posted about our custom wedding invitations that were screen-printed zines that opened in to posters. Whew. Did you miss that? You can go back to read it right here.

While that felt like an incredible feat at the time, the thing(s) I’m even more proud of are all the day-of details! I should start by saying that NONE of this would have been possible to accomplish without the help of our AMAZING wedding party & families who stuffed tote bags, stuck hearts in the ground, hung banners, set tables, and sweat buckets along with us the Friday before the big day. Also big ups to the Dons at our venue Appel Farm Arts Camp for hauling chairs and cleaning up behind us while we worked.

If you haven’t gathered by now, we “rebranded” a summer camp to become Camp Say-I-Do for the weekend. Having a summer camp wedding is so so fun on the actual day, but it takes wedding planning to a whole new level. You know how a traditional wedding venue has a coordinator on site and other amenities for couples? Well, picture a blank slate and that’s what a summer camp wedding is! But honestly, we wanted to be able to customize the whole experience, so it was perfect for us. Not sure if you’re equipped to handle a DIY wedding? I wrote a blog post about my experience with plenty of practical tips- check it out here!

Anyhow, this blog post is dedicated to all the day-of details for Camp Say-I-Do, our summer camp wedding in New Jersey. I’ll add explanations where needed and shout-out some of our awesome vendors as well! As a designer, I treated our wedding like I was my own client. So, what I’m saying is that I CAN DO COOL STUFF FOR YOUR WEDDING OR EVENT TOO! Drop me a line and let’s get the ball rolling!

Also, before I get lost in the details, I need to state that all of our amazing photos are courtesy of Pete from Two17 Photo + Video, who in my opinion is the best in the biz. Thanks for all your help, Pete!

These are the tote bags we gave to camp & hotel guests. They were stuffed with snacks, water, and this very comprehensive and informative folded map that I designed from scratch. I guess I’m an amateur cartographer now?? Our summer camp wedding was technically a destination wedding as no one lived close to the venue. As such, I included a list of nearby attractions and restaurants for folks who were staying for the weekend. On the back (not shown for privacy reasons) was a list of phone numbers to call in case you needed more information- EVERYONE BUT THE BRIDE.

Details from my handsome groom: I snagged these custom tie stays from Pebble & Ore on Etsy. The socks feature our cat Mugsy’s cute face and were created by Divvy Up Socks. These were my day-of gifts to Nick :)

All the men in the wedding received one-of-a-kind custom ties made by Freckles Tie Company. I hand selected each and every pattern from a collection of vintage fabrics that once belonged to my grandmother. She was a dressmaker and had the most incredible room dedicated to fabric when she was alive. Yes, an entire ROOM dedicated to fabric! My mom also happens to be a seamstress, so she created table runners for all our tables, also made from this incredible fabric stash. It was a quiet way to honor my grandmother on our big day!

It’s over a year later and I’m still OBSESSED with the colorful bridal bouquet crafted by my friend and mega-talented florist Pickells & Posies! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- why can’t it be socially acceptable to walk around with gorgeous bouquets all the time??

One of my very favorite personal aspects of our reception was our bar menu. I designed a menu featuring our custom menu (two signature drinks, some favorite wines from The Finger Lakes, and love-themed beers) and had it printed on fabric yardage by Spoonflower. I had multiple yards printed to accommodate both of our bars and my seamstress mom finished off the edges for me :)

For some reason, I equate felt pennants with camp? Maybe I’m off base, but I wanted to incorporate pennants in some way. I ended up screen-printing these graphics onto bright yellow felt. I cut the shapes out, glued them to a stiff cardstock so they didn’t flop over, and hot glued them to dowel rods. Each number was tall enough to peek out the top of the central floral arrangement on each table.

Since our wedding was very non-traditional, I wanted our guests to know exactly what to expect. I designed and printed these little packages to sit at each place setting. They contained the menu, a crossword to entertain the non-dancers, and a mini to-do list for guests to get an idea of what we had at the reception.

Sadly, I never got to eat one, but in lieu of a cake we had cupcakes from Sweetbox Cupcakes!

The end! Do you need help with creative personalization for your wedding or event? I’d love to help you! Drop me a line to start the conversation!