Summer camp wedding in the Adirondack Mountains

Autumn and Mary had a summer camp wedding theme at Forest Lake Camp in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, complete with forest views.

Many of the day’s details—from their retired florist family friend’s pine based decorations for the table settings, their local and seasonal stunning florals from Native Farm Flowers and Autumn’s pianist grandmother providing the cocktail hour music—reflected the meaning and love that was abundant from start to finish during Autumn and Mary’s wedding day.

Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?

We both love all things outdoors—our hiking and camping trips are some of our fondest memories together and favorite ways to spend time with friends and family. It was important to us that our wedding was a reflection of that. Since we were going to have all of the people in our life that we love in one place, we wanted to make sure we would have time to spend with them beyond a few hours at the reception. So we invited everyone to a summer camp for a weekend where we could play games, hang out and enjoy more time with everyone. The outdoor setting and summer camp were so beautiful that we didn’t feel like we needed a specific theme—we just asked our bridesmaids to wear roughly the same color dress in whatever pattern or style felt comfortable for them.

Let’s talk about wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?

We kept things as simple as possible because we believed the beauty was in the nature surrounding us. Most of it was DIY, although we certainly did not do it all ourselves. We were blessed to have a contingent of friends and family who pitches in. One of our family friends was a retired florist and he gifted us with his talents in arranging the tables.

What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?

We both care deeply about the environment, so we wanted to use local and seasonal flowers as much as possible. Native Farm Flowers allowed us to do just that. Paired with some greenery sourced from the forest surrounding the summer camp, the florals provided the perfect compliment to the natural beauty around us.

Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?

Autumn’s grandmother, a professional pianist, played during the cocktail hour. She played a selection of musical and movie film scores, including selections from Star Trek, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

Let’s talk about fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.

Mary had a suit made by Bindle and Keep; they specialize in making suits for any body type to help you look and feel however you want to in a suit.

How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.

We met in college on the rugby team. We were both super competitive, loyal and really loved the intensity of the sport. We fell in love with the sport and with each other. The rest is history. Mary proposed to Autumn first on a beautiful Friday afternoon at their favorite park in Brooklyn, right on the water. Two of their friends came along to help make sure they had the pier to themselves. After Autumn had said yes, they walked to a nearby restaurant where their family was waiting—they had traveled in from Chicago, Michigan, and Baltimore, Maryland, to celebrate with Autumn and Mary. Just as they were walking into the restaurant, Autumn pulled Mary aside and proposed to her on the sidewalk—it was only later the pictures revealed they were right next to a bag of garbage!

What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?

We arrived at the camp with our immediate family on Thursday before the wedding to get everything set-up. It was a rather busy and chaotic day, so the wedding director at the camp suggested we go for a little private swim in the lake to get some alone time. Just as we were arriving at the lake, a storm moved in and the camp staff suggested we could go for a short hike around the lake since it wasn’t safe to swim with the thunder and lighting. The rainy hike started off incredibly beautiful and romantic but just as we were getting to the halfway point we lost the trail. After a few misdirections and a bit of bushwhacking, we arrived back at the trailhead about an hour later than we should have. Needless to say, the camp staff and our family were quite relieved to see us, muddy and soaked as we were.