Welcome to Day 5 of Wandawega Week!
Today I’m going to share a little bit about the friendly folks behind the oh-so-creative camp. David, Tereasa…and a sweet, little cherub-faced girl named Charlie.
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“Boy meets girl. Boy proposes. Boy suggests that they purchase his abandoned childhood summer camp to be wed at. Girl accepts on both counts.”
David and Tereasa’s wedding ceremony was held at Wandawega, atop a hill, and overlooking the lake. Tereasa, carried a bouquet of daisies, and her father, Tom, walked her down the aisle to Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” played on the guitar by Nicholas Barron. They hired a Nashville-based company called Hatchshow Print to create their wooden wedding invitations and silk-screened RSVP and Save-the-Date postcards. The invitation and RSVP cards were packaged inside a brown kraft-paper envelope, along with an old map of the Wandawega resort. The envelopes were secured with a gingham ribbon and fastened with a small embroidered patch.
Upon arrival, wedding guests were greeted by a 1955 Mercury Monterrey. The couple shares a love for vintage cars and motorcycles, so it was only fitting that they park one from their collection on the property. Next to the car, Tereasa placed a “D.H. + T.S.” sign, and surrounded it with pots bursting with bunches of daisies.
Even though the day was rain-filled, Tereasa and David still describe their wedding as being “the color of sunshine“. Partly because of all the yellow rain slickers, rain boots, and the abundance of daisies- but also because they believe that “sunshine is very much a state of mind“. (I whole-heartedly agree!)
Their vanilla wedding cake was decorated with buttercream icing and daisies. And, of course, no camp gathering would be complete without a bonfire, so following the reception, everyone gathered ’round to roast marshmallows, sing campfire songs, and enjoy the starry night in the woods.
*swoon*
Here are all the dreamy wedding deets:
Venue: Camp Wandawega; available for rental through Town and Country Locations
Stationery: Hatch Showprint
Band: Nicholas Barron Quartet
Photography: Chris Strong; Matthew Gore; Robert Jillson; Mitch Gordon; Landis Smithers
Cake & Catering: Rodney Oksuita, besteventscatering.com
Desserts & Brunch: Christine Busby of Busby Bakes
Daisy Wreath and Garlands: Pesche’s Greenhouse
Bride’s Dress: Jenny Lee
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Fast forward to nine months ago. David and Tereasa welcomed daughter, Charlie, to the world…
Tereasa created a woodsy-style nursery for her in their Chicago home…
…and another one at Camp Wandawega…
To create a paint-by-number (PBN) mural like the one above, Tereasa suggests searching eBay to find an old school PBN painting guide you love. Next, give each of the colors on it a number, and then match each number to a paint chip.
Once you’ve decided on your palette, take your paint chips to the paint store and buy ’em up, Buttercup! After that, use a projector to display your PBN guide onto the wall and begin tracing it out with a pencil.
Last but not least, fill in your numbers with the latex paint your purchased using a foam brush.
Tereasa also broke out her brush to brighten up a collection of old cuckoo clocks hanging on the wall in the Charlies Wandawega nursery…
Yesterday, I asked Tereasa about where she draws her inspiration from. She said…
“My inspiration is 3-fold:
1- Our biggest project yet, 9 month old Charliegirl
2- My dear (late) Dad, Tom (Turtle)
3- My freakishly patient husband, David.
Each of them has made me hyper-aware of just how fleeting life is, and that you have to chase down your dreams like a cheetah. My three muses inspire me daily to look at things with a lens of optimism, and quite simply, transforming the homes and spaces around my loved ones makes them happy, which makes me happy.”
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Outgoing and hospitable, David and Tereasa host a constant, rotating stream of visitors at Wandawega.
If you’d like to visit them and their magical camp, leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a 2-night stay for you and a friend, (if you’re parents with kids, the little ones are welcome too!) and we’ll randomly select a winner on Sunday (August 14, 2011) at noon (Central Time). Your getaway will include a welcome gift basket and access to all that wonderful Wandawega has to offer. Think: peace and quiet, boating, fishing, hiking, swimming, etc. David and Tereasa will be in touch with you to see about which dates will work best for you, based on availability. Good luck and may the fun force be with you!
PS- If you missed any of this week’s Wandawega posts- you can find them here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4!
Would love the chance to visit their Camp. What an awesome and inspiring place!
So amazing! What a fun place. Thank you for sharing.
This camp looks incredible! Love it all. Would LOVE an opportunity to actually visit!
What an amazing place! I would love to visit!
I am now dreaming of a relaxing, nature vacation… What a treat!
This sounds like a great family getaway!
Oh, please, please, please. Pick me. Pick me. 🙂
Oh, my…how I’d love to win this getaway! We just returned home from a week-long family vacation and i’m pooped! Why do vacations do that to us? Anywho…I’d love to take off with my dear hubbie and two daughters to this beautiful camp!
Its been a long summer at work and I am so ready for a getaway. You have covered the place description very well. I cant wait to see it 🙂
Hi Guys.,
My wife has been following your blog for some time. Your property is absoulutly one of a kind. Your dedication and vision for this place is admirable to say the least. My mouth dropped at your creation. This would be a dream getaway. We are only 1 1/2 hours away from Elkhorn. Our kids would love a chance to go off the swing and soak up the tree house and have memories like your husband did when he was a kid. I would love to surprise my family and have an awesome retreat at your camp!! Thanks for the chance, Roger
Swoon! This must be heaven on earth! Never have I seen such a renovation that every “found” detail completes every part of the process. My husband’s family vacationed on Lake Rabun in Georgia where they owned property and these recent posts have taken me back to those days of our courtship (we’ve been married 30 years now). Would love to be given the chance to visit this dream property!!!
WOW!! This place looks so magical. What a great place to visit!!
Wow….our family could have so much fun there! And the beautiful photos make me so want to see it with my own eyes.
i think i’m in love. i want to live there, happily ever after…!!!! i bought 13 acres of land 10 years ago and have wondered what to do with it. your blog posts about camp wandawega have been so freaking inspirational… i think i might have purpose…!!!!
I am hooked on this place so need to win! Pick me please, regardless this place is amazing!
Amazing! It’s such a “blast from the past” reminder of childhood camp days!!
After spending the last 3 years seeing my husband in and out of hospital, mother and MIL health failing and passing, and seeing DIL through treatments for double breast cancer, I feel the need for a serene get-a-way. But only if DH and I can also bring our 9 year old golden retriever, who suffered cancer of the leg and an amputation during this same time period. Probably won’t be picked, but thoroughly enjoyed the series on this camp.
This would be a dream come true getaway for myself, my husband, and our three little guys!! Thanks for introducing me to this magical place.
LOVE the camp, the blog, the book. If only we could win a chance to visit.
Such a cool series. Loved it.
What a wonderful getaway! Would love to visit the camp….=)
Such an amazing place and story, would love to visit!
i have loved this series and i would LOVE to win. it looks dreamy. i would love to raise our kids going to a camp like that every summer.
Love this resort! It looks so relaxing and I absolutely love the decor! Beautiful.
Sounds like a place that is too good to be true. I would love to relax there! Hope I win!
I WannaWinn! Since I’m way to chicken to buy a lake resort, I would love to come visit yours instead!!
Love the whole idea of doing this with a camp. How much fun they must be having. It would be wonderful to enjoy a get away there. 🙂
I love, love, love the painted cuckoo clocks!
Wow… It is so inspiring to see all they’ve done! What an amazing prize! 🙂
My husband and I LOVE, love, LOOOOOOVE the outdoors! Living in NYC we dont see it as much as we like…but wooo this would be right up our alley!
awesome 🙂
sounds like a relaxing getaway!
New to your site! Just loved it! Would love for my son&, daughter-in- law to visit your camp! They are in desperate need of some rest and relaxation- our new grandaughter was 4 months old on the 12th and daughter- inlaw turns 30 next weekend! It would be a great surprise!
Will be returning to website frequently.
Thanks so much!
oh could we relax? really? i need that!
I would love to get away there! Thanks for the chance to win!
I would absolutely love to win a stay here, it is totally charming and I have really enjoyed this series so much! Please pick us :o)
Wow! What a terrific getaway! I would be super-excited to win!
what a magical place! i adore the paint by number idea!
Beautiful spaces created in this amazing getaway camp. I’m inspired! I’d love an in person peek into this wonder-world of a place.
This sounds like a lot of fun!!
Ohhhhh I want to go there! What a magical place. My husband and I love the outdoors! We’ve been going through fertility treatments and adoption journeys so it would be AWESOME to get away! 🙂 thanks for a great giveaway!
I Wannabeawinnah!!
Love this place!!!! I’d love to vacation there!!! Pick me!!
What a lovely place to relax! I would love to visit!
Would love to have a weekend away to relax and stay where else but at this lovely Camp!!
My hubby and I have been literally praying for an oppurtunity to have a little vacation, soon…we are excpecting out 6th in November and then he will be leaving the daily work routine to travel for work for the next 2 years…this place would create some terrific memories!
I would love to curl up on a chair by the lake and read while watching my kids splash around. Happy Campers : o )
Oh my! A little slice of heaven! Looking at their site brings back such happy memories…I was a camp counselor in WI during college (that was over 20+ years ago!). I long to get back to that part of the country…and this would be a dream come true really.
OMG…even if I don’t win I am so saving up to get our family there! It looks FABULOUS and since we’ve only been out of PA to go to the Jersey shore, I am thinking it would be fun to get our 4 kids and see a little bit of America. Crossing my fingers for sooner than later!
What a beautiful and simply place! Certainly beats the hustle and bustle of the city!