Wildflowers, Wigs, and a Creekside Wedding in the Catskills
In the woods of Livingston Manor, with a creek running beside the ceremony space and wildflowers woven through every corner, Jen (she/her) and Lindsey (she/her) gathered their favourite people for a relaxed, playful wedding weekend. Their upstate “adult camp” celebration stretched across a few days with pizza and smores, a pool party at The Arnold House, bubbles down the aisle, and a dance floor that didn’t slow down until the after party.
With a small guest list, native Catskills wildflowers, and plenty of wigs and glow sticks, the whole weekend felt less like a formal event and more like time spent exactly where they wanted to be. Together, in nature, with their people.
A Love That Grew Naturally
This was the most organic love either of us have ever felt. When we first started dating, we would check in every week with a simple question. “Do you still want to hang out?” And every week the answer was yes.
We like to joke that things really clicked when Lindsey’s love of wigs, costumes and comedy met my love of photography. Since then, every adventure has basically turned into an excuse to wig out, take photos and have fun.
Being in our forties meant we both knew what we were looking for, so we talked openly about our wants and needs from the start. After our one year anniversary we moved in together, and when we got engaged it felt just as natural. Just romantic conversations, designing rings together with Marrow Fine, and sharing our “whys” on the beach as we exchanged them.
An Organic Approach to Planning
Planning the wedding felt just as organic as our relationship. Neither of us had really grown up dreaming about a wedding, but once we started imagining an upstate adult weekend camp experience, everything started to fall into place.
We actually booked the venue sight unseen within 48 hours. It just felt right. From there, we trusted and then vetted local vendor recommendations.
As flower people, florals were the one detail we cared about most. Our Catskills-based florist, Earthgirl Flowers, brought in native wildflowers, which really set the whole scene.
A Weekend in the Woods
We both love nature and wanted a small town setting where we could spend the whole weekend with family and friends. Jen is from Rhode Island and Lindsey is from Pennsylvania, so even though we were flying in for the wedding, we wanted somewhere our people could still drive to.
The Livingston Manor Fly Fishing Club felt perfect. It had this dreamy in the forest atmosphere right beside the creek, which became the natural soundtrack to our ceremony.
Our welcome dinner and pool party were at The Arnold House, where most of our family stayed. The greenhouse and pool, surrounded by woods, were so peaceful. We brought in a wood fired pizza oven for Friday night, followed by smores, and wrapped up the weekend with sandwiches and chips on Sunday. Nothing fancy, just very us!
Our Spreadsheet Queen
Lindsey is a spreadsheet QUEEN! We built a budget with our expected costs and kept updating it with the actual numbers as they came in.
We also made a hierarchy of what mattered most to us. Flowers, photography, music and food were at the top. Everything else was flexible.
Keeping the Circle Close
We knew we wanted a smaller wedding and ended up with 95 guests. From the start, we focused on our immediate and closest family.
We were clear with our parents that we wouldn’t be inviting lots of extended family or distant friends. We wanted it to be our people. The ones we truly know and love.
Finding the Right Eye
I knew right from the start that I wanted Justin Muir from We Laugh We Love. I work in the photo industry, and with our venue having lots of low light moments, I knew he’d know exactly how to handle it.
We were looking for someone who could balance a composed, editorial style while still capturing the weekend as it really felt. Justin photographed our welcome dinner, ceremony and reception. I even pulled out my own camera during the Last Splash pool party.
Wildflowers, Everywhere
The inspiration for our wedding vibe was simple. WILDFLOWERS!!!
From the start, we knew we wanted only native grown flowers. Earthgirl Flowers completely understood the vision and brought in beautiful local wildflowers that brought our vision to life.
A Little DIY and a Lot of Teamwork
I designed our wedding website on Bliss & Bone, and we skipped printed invitations altogether, keeping everything digital.
Since we were planning from across the country, our siblings helped transport all the fun stuff we sent them. Wigs, bubbles, googly eyes, glow sticks, blankets and our seating chart signs.
Lindsey and I planned most of the wedding together, then brought in our coordinator for the final 30 days and the day of. Hilary from H Smith & Co was amazing.
Finding Outfits We Could Move In
We did everything together. I wanted a jumpsuit with a feminine flair and tried on sooooo many before finding exactly what I was looking for in an older Safiyaa style.
Lindsey wanted something unfussy and classic. Most importantly, something she could dance in. Our photographer from We Laugh We Love even said he had never seen a bride rip up the dance floor like she did!
A Day That Felt Like Pure Magic
Jen: The whole weekend was magic, but that Saturday felt like a dream. We stayed overnight at the Fly Fishing Club with our siblings and woke up to our hair and makeup team arriving and unfortunately stepping in dog poop. Our poor dog Juno had gotten sick overnight, so we cleaned it up, had a good laugh, and carried on. Our brother in law kept the coffee and sandwich train going while our sisters and moms got ready with us, and Lindsey and I took a moment to get dressed together. We then did first looks with our moms and sisters and gave them flower charm bracelets, while the men in our lives received compass pins.
Our siblings and my niece and nephew kicked off the ceremony as bubble kids with bubble sprayers. My parents walked me down the aisle to an instrumental of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers, and Lindsey’s dad walked her down to an instrumental of Dreams by The Cranberries. Lindsey’s mom, a retired minister, married us under the chuppah, where we shared our vows, stepped on the glass and said the seven blessings.
After walking back up the aisle through bubbles to Loving Every Minute by Empire of the Sun, we started the dance floor with 10000 Emerald Pools and a funny choreographed moment. The dancing carried on until the after party at the tavern at The Arnold House, where the wigs came back out and people added googly eyes.
A Moment to Step Back and Take It In
One of our favorite moments was sneaking down to the creek with our photographer from We Laugh We Love between cocktail hour and the dance party. It gave us a chance to breathe and look at everything we had created from afar, watching our friends and family laughing and just hanging out.
The speeches from our siblings were also unforgettable. Funny and tear jerking in the best way. We are so lucky to have such a big family. We each have three siblings and their partners, and we all genuinely like and love each other.
The People Who Made It All Happen
Justin Muir from We Laugh We Love for sure. He photographed everything we could have dreamed of.
Hilary from H Smith & Co, our coordinator. Dara from Upstate D-Tours, the driver who kept everyone safe. Earthgirl Flowers. Kindred Beauty, who completely understood our hair and makeup vision.
Oh my… we were just so freaking lucky!
Photography by We Laugh We Love
Ceremony Venue Livingston Manor Fly Fishing Club
DJ 74Events
Engagement Rings Marrow Fine
Florist Earthgirl Flowers
Hair & Makeup Kindred Beauty
Venue The Arnold House
Wedding Planner H Smith & Co
