Caity + Scott
Parry Sound Camp Manitou Wedding

This is what a wedding looks like when a couple have been living abroad, have recently moved back to North America, and want to bring all their closest family and friends together for a weekend of enjoyment, introduction, and celebration. Caity and Scott chose to get married at Camp Manitou, a classic summer count on the outskirst of Parry Sound, sitting on Mill Lake, in a beautiful corner of Canada.

As guests arrived on Friday they met in the mess hall. There they were greeted by a Caeser bar, a Canadian drink classic. A twist of a Bloody Mary, in which Clamato drink is used (and yes that absolutely correctly implies it is part tomato juice and part clam juice). There was plenty of food to be eaten, in a dimly lit room that hummed with conversation of familiarity and new connections. As the rain began to fall and the autumn wind picked up, everyone returned to their cabins, spread across the camp, in preparation for the day ahead.

Early the next morning, amongst puddles and bundled to keep out the cold, their families walked to the lakeshore ceremony spot at Camp Manitou for a rehearsal. There were talk of logistics, who would hold up the chuppah if there was enough light to descent the stairs that tipped at odd angles from roots pushing up against them for a decade or more. Then they dispersed. To get ready, to explore the camp and the changing colours, to play tetherball and shout encouragements at the ropes course.

Caity began getting ready in the Doctor’s cabin – full of rustic camp charm, Scott in a lodge across the way full of bunkbeds. Her cousin did her hair, she worked away on the knotted fringes on the tallit she would gift him, with the help of her sister and friends. Her father waited outside the cabin, away from the buzz. Her mother and sister put together the final touches. Then she left to see Scott, who had situated himself on the Camp Manitou boat dock hidden below.

There, as the sun dipped lower in the sky, the embraced. The only sound the lapping of the water at the shore, and canoes rhythmically hitting the dock. After a few brief moments together they rejoined their family to go to the reception. To raucous applause, they were welcomed. The hall now elaborately decorated with thrifted vintage plates, sherbert coloured table runners and napkins, and wildflower florals lovingly arranged by Caity’s mother and aunt in a collection of perfectly mismatched vases. They feasted, for the ceremony must be after nightfall.

As the light fell to near nothing, everyone gathered their jackets and made there way across the summer camp. Then they were married by Caity’s rabbi, lit by string lights, under a green and blue chuppah, dancing in the breeze. So began the evening, of dance, and song, of love for these two, married at night, under a wide open sky, at Camp Manitou.

Venue | Camp Manitou located just outside Parry Sound, Ontario

You may also enjoy Laura and Joel’s adult summer camp wedding at Hillside Lodge in Golden, British Columbia