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!
Thanks for posting all this…have had fun “living” their this week!
I’d love to visit!
I have just fallen in love with Camp Wandawega this week and I’d love to visit!
How fun! Sounds like a wonderful relaxing getaway for my family. The pictures on their site just make me breathe a bit deeper.
how absolutely wonderful it would be have a camp out at wandawega! i love this week of wandawega week!
Would be a wonderful escape …. I would love to go … and take my hubby and kids along too!
That camp is amazing and magical!! Hope to win!!! =)
What a magical place for family and friends. We’d love to see this amazing place!
I love wandawega week!! I’m overwhelmed and intrigued with all the talent that Tereasa has. This camp is beyond beautiful and I would be thrilled to see it in person! My fingers are crossed!! 🙂
I would loooove to win. This week’s posts have been so inspiring – and their place looks magical!
Thanks so much for introducing your readers to this magical place!
I would love to see it in person with my boys (husband and 2 sons)!
I am in utter awe at how amazing Camp Wandawega looks. Theresa and David’s wedding is so similar to everything I have imagined my own wedding to be some day. I just have to visit Camp Wandawega! Whether through winning a trip or planning one myself, it is already on my list of future vacations.
Thank you, Layla for Wandawega Week! This has been great!
I would love to win. This place is amazing! Thank you SO much for sharing it with us 🙂
OOO I love this! That would be such a great place to take the kids for a weekend. I’d love to be chosen! Thanks for sharing that with us! 🙂
I’ve loved this series, Layla!! It would be so fun to go visit in person. I love the “Mila’s Daydream-ish” (http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/) photo of their baby!! Thereasa is very creative/talented indeed!
I’ve loved this series of posts, and I’m hoping someday soon my new hubby and I can take a visit!!
My husband and I need some kid free alone time and how fun would this place b?!?
Wow. What a cool place. Would love to have a visit and get inspired!
I loved the mural tutorial. Thanks so much! Hope I win….
Who doesn’t want to visit… What a wonderful week of posts.
I’m going to have to borrow “Sunshine is a state of mind” motto…
I love the paint-by-numbers wall! How clever! And pretty!
I have fallen IN LOVE with this camp. Every detail is amazing. It seems that the couple behind it is even more amazing. I’d love to go…
This place is amazing. I’m all about some “found, flea, or free,” and Tereasa is immensely talented to say the least!
All I can say is “Oh My Gosh.” We have been married for 51 years and when I read that she walked down to aisle to Elvis – “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”, which is just about my very favorite Elvis song and one which my husband always requests for me at weddings, I said to my husband – why didn’t I do that!!!! Well, back then, who did that! Toss in a camp on lake in the woods, a super wedding, a baby and lots of love and shake it all up and you have
magical moments. Thank you for sharing your joy!
This would be a vacation of a lifetime, to be so inspired by nature and the camp. I really hope my husband and I win. Our 2 year old was born playing with dirt and sticks.
I would so LOVE to have a little R & R in the quiet country.. away from the electronica of my world!! Also, a bonus would be to drag my computer-addicted hubs away for a sweet weekend!! PICK ME!!! LOL.
Sounds like a beautiful place to visit.
Unbelievably charming and beautiful. I love this weeks posts! Thanks for sharing with us.
Love the week at Wandawega! We spent vacations at a camping “resort” called Timber Shores (near the tip of the mitten that is Michigan) when I was growing up, and these articles bring back memories of the fun we had there with extended family. I wish our family had bought it so we could do something like David and Theresa have done. What a treasure! I’d love to win and visit Wandawega.
After reading these posts all week, I am IN LOVE with Wandawega! This romantic escape would be a dream come true!!
I would LOVE to spend a few days there with my husband and 2 year old boy before our new baby comes! It is magical!
And…totally obsessed with the deer paint by number!
Haley
My fingers are crossed that my random number is the one chosen!
I am obsessed with this place now from finding your site…but in a good way. 😉 Also we have friends moving to Chicago and told them that we MUST Plan a weekend at Wandawega when we visit even if we don’t win.
what an amazing little family…I would love for my family to get a chance to explore camp wandawega… the ‘tent’ camp is amazing & the tree house is delish!
Not too far from me, would love to visit!!
This is such a great story! It gets the dreamer going in all of us!
Thanks for sharing,
Jenney
How cute! I love the paint-by-numbers idea for a wall mural. The mural itself is absolutely adorable (as is the baby!).
This couple sound just wonderful! What a special and unique wedding….it’s sounds like it was wonderful. I am totally charmed by this camp. THANK YOU for sharing this wonderful place with us. This would be a great place to vacation for this country girl!!
…used to love summer camp. I’ realize from these posts how much I miss it.
Who wouldn’t love a little get-a-way like that? I would love to win it! It’s been a fun week…..great decorating ideas.
Who wouldn’t love a little get-a-way like that? I would love to win it! It’s been a fun week…..great decorating ideas.
We love camp weddings! Justin and I got married at my childhood sleepaway camp last May and would love to relive our special day at Camp Wandawega.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703792704575366833485850818.html
Last night after reading Days 1-4, I looked at the website for the camp and starting figuring out how my entire family of 13 (kids & grandkids) could swing a long weekend or a full week at this camp. I. fell. in. love. with. it. I would be thrilled beyond belief to be able to do it and will discuss with the family at our next gathering how to git ‘er done. I admire David & Teresa for their incredible dream way back when they saw the property. Wow, to do what they’ve done is right where I’d like to be.
I love the PBN idea. I did those when I was a kid weekly. I was obsessed with them!!
Enjoyed the heck out of these posts. In fact I took the tree house and pinned it to my Pinterest board.
Thanks, Denise
What an amazing getaway place! Would love to go!
Omigosh … how cool would it be to stay at Camp Wandawega and meet these amazing people?!?!? I’d love to go!
This place is amazing! I’d love a chance to go.
I have decorated dozens of weddings but the outdoor rustic resort wedding is one I have yet to tackle – and I would be all too willing to try! Next week I’m decorating a wedding in a sales barn. (Where farmers take their cows and pigs to sell). I’m told there will no be no lingering animal smells! The reception is in the barn on the family homestead. I can’t wait to get started!
Charlie is gorgeous, and a very lucky girl! She’ll have wonderful memories of growing up at this place her parents are recreating.
I would LOVE to visit the camp. Throw my name in the hat.
Thanks for this week. Your blog has been my happy place.
These are all such beautiful pictures! I have loved your posts this week about Wandawega. My husband is from Wisconsin and I know he misses the camping and lakes up there. This would be an awesome surprise for him!
Oh, and, the paint by numbers mural is genious!
I LOVE the style of the wedding, nurseries, and cottages. How amazingly refreshingly real and sweet and fresh. Lovely.