Category Archives: Wedding Stories

Why Bon Echo?

The real question might first be, “Why a camping wedding?”  When we first started playing with different ideas, we realized that we wanted to create an event whereby the experience itself and the venue also were meaningful to us and to our friends and family. We thought about different places, and kept returning home.  In order for our wedding to touch us in the most intimate way, we decided we would have to get married at home.  That way, we would forever hold the day close.

A beautiful idea.  Definitely.  We love our home, plan on staying here forever, seeing our children through school and dating, celebrating our anniversaries and birthdays.  It made clear sense to invite our friends home to celebrate our love.   Panic, however, began to worm its way into our planning as we contemplated hosting our wedding shortly after the arrival of our twins.  We decided we needed to simplify.  We needed to make things more manageable  so we could enjoy the day and not worry about logistics and preparations.  Clearly, we needed to go camping!

While at first the idea of a camping wedding suggests nothing but logistics and preparation, we also know that there is something beautifully simple about camping.  We will all be present on the day at our most elemental states.  There can be nothing more intimate than sharing an experience on the land together, free of our day-to-day distractions and absolutely in touch with ourselves.  Bon Echo is a park we’ve already shared with both friends and family.  It’s a place that is perfectly Ontario.  It is a place that we will return to often.  And, after September 15, it is a place that will remind us of our beginnings, of our great love, and of the support our friends and family have shown us.  And, that’s why Bon Echo.

You’re invited

We’re excited to have you join us on this special weekend at Bon Echo Provincial Park. We will have support staff on hand to help with camp set up and ferrying people over to the island. Be sure to read through the What to Bring page to ensure you have everything you need to make your stay a comfortable one. Folks have already started to book their sites — when you book yours please comment on the Wedding Banter forum, leaving your site number so that people will know where to find you.

If camping is not your thing, check out the Accommodations page to see what alternatives are available in the area.  We have reserved a couple of cabins at Marble Lake Lodge to serve as staging areas for food prep and such, but there are also a couple of other options in the area.

With regards to gifts: we want only your love and affection.  Everyone has already been so generous with Willow and Theo, we would be embarrassed to receive anything more. If you feel you must mark this occasion in some way other than by your  attendance at Bon Echo, please make a donation to your favourite charity or to one of ours.  We support the following organizations:

  • Light the Night in celebration of the lives of Maria Luisa Gardner and Marie Porter
  • Tri Adventure for Africa in the hopes that we can help build brighter futures for 51 Ugandan children as they pursue their education
  • Volcano Theatre which presents some of the most fantastic theatre in the city.

Please RSVP using this website.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Wedding Banter

Hey Everyone,

Please use this post as forum to centralize our comments. You might have questions about gear or site bookings — you may want to book in beside someone you know. You might be looking to car pool, or other chit chat.  This is an open forum so anyone one can respond to any comment.  Let the discussion begin!

S & S

How it all started

Family Day Weekend seemed to me the perfect time to ask Suzanne if she would choose to build a future with me, if she would marry me. I found the perfect (and original-looking) diamond studs to commemorate the moment, set our dinner at the kitchen bar, and prepared an ordinary (and yummy) meal to welcome my girl home. It was important to me that this moment be a part of any ol’ day that would be like all the other days of our future together — simple, at home and with the “sparkle” of our love.

It was also important to me that I beat Suzanne to the punch. I’ve been blessed in life and I know I have been extremely lucky as great things seem just to happen to me — from the incredible family into which I was born to the amazing friends whose paths mine fortunately has crossed, and even to the exciting jobs into which I have fallen. I wanted to act deliberately this time. I knew right away that Suzanne is a special person and I soon saw that we make an exceptional team. I also realized that I had never felt so excited and optimistic about the future. (And, I’ll save the rest for the vows….)  I knew that I wanted to be smart about this. I wanted to secure our future. And, happily, she said yes.

The easy part was knowing that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. The hard part — we soon realized — was going to be figuring out how we would choose to celebrate our commitment to each other.

The Save the Date

A Slight Change of Plans

We have decided with so much on the go, especially the impending arrival of Willow and Theo, we should push our wedding back…soooo, we have decided to give ourselves a bit more time, and we’re getting married on September 15th, two weeks later!

Okay, the truth is that someone has scooped from under us the sites we needed.  Let’s just say that we thought we knew about Ontario Parks politicking, but now we truly are in the know about the scheming tactical maneuvering that happens to ensure one’s favourite sites.

Please re-RSVP to let us know if you will still be able to join us on September 15th. We plan on arriving a few days earlier and so, if you would still like to make a long weekend of it, please feel free to take a little extra time off work.

Original Message 

We are going to celebrate our love at one of our favourite spots in Ontario on Joeperry Lake in Bon Echo Provincial Park, and we would like you to join us.

More details will follow with the actual invitation, but we wanted to get the word out before all of your calendars started to fill up.

Yes, this means a destination wedding…camping! For some of you, camping is a very scary word while for others we know there is no place you’d rather be.

Joeperry Lake is situated 1 km inside the park and has an island in the middle with a number of sites, including a beautiful spot facing west where we will exchange our vows. The perimeter of the lake has additional sites.  All of these sites are accessed by a short canoe paddle, some are as close as 15 mins. Other options include car camping in the main park and, for those of you who are less adventurous outdoors, alternative accommodations are available, including a limited number of cottages at Marble Lake and a few rooms at the Pine Grove Motel, each approximately 10km down the road. More details will follow for non-camping options.

Sara and Suzanne