Welcome to Lacey & Kel’s wedding at Copper Creek Inn near Mount Rainier, a fabulous wedding bursting with color, DIY decor, and so much love. When I say I was blown away by their theme, I mean it – this summer camp inspired-wedding will bring back all your best memories of the summer camp you used to visit as a kid, running around with your best friends & making friendship bracelets without a care in the world.

(Spoiler alert: Lacey & Kel literally had a friendship bracelet-making station at their wedding. Talk about creativity!)

The amount of time, intention, and thought put into EVERY single tiny detail really shined through and made the day so unique and authentic to Lacey & Kel. I can’t wait for you to see the full beauty of this magical day in the woods!

Lacey & Kel’s Copper Creek Inn Wedding at Mount Rainier

I’ll begin with a brief intro to the couple themselves, since you won’t really get the full meaning & love behind the details of the wedding without knowing a bit about who Lacey & Kel are.

These two both ended up in Bellingham originally for college at Western, neither of them wanting to leave after they graduated. Shortly after Lacey began working at a local middle school, Kel began his student teaching. They became friends, and following being hired on as a teacher the following school year, eventually progressed to “more than friends,” as the kids say – and the rest is history. Fast-forward about 5 years (and a pandemic) later, and they were “so ready & excited to take the next and obvious steps in their relationship journey,” as Lacey said to me in her initial inquiry!

It was important that you know that Lacey & Kel met through their teaching career before scrolling any further, because they centered a ton of their wedding details around their identity as teachers. It was seriously the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and I can now say that I absolutely adore teacher-themed wedding decor, especially when it’s meaningful to the couple!

An intimate Ashford celebration with their favorite people

To really create a one-of-a-kind, fully immersive experience for their guests, Lacey & Kel rented out a whole campground in Ashford, WA, for the weekend, with cabins and tents available for their guests to stay in on the property. They chose a lodge that was close enough to Mount Rainier to visit, but far enough away to avoid the national park crowds!

Take it from them – in their initial inquiry with me, Lacey said “We are aiming for a slightly less traditional celebration. I've been describing it as ‘Vintage Quirky Colorful Eclectic Nature-y Summer Camp Vibe’ but my people tell me that's too many adjectives, I'll let you decide for yourself.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that could ever be too many adjectives – it sounds absolutely magical😂

They wanted their day to be all about having pure fun with their guests through meaningful decorations & activities, and a full, weekend-long party away from the stresses of real life. I would say they 100% succeeded – who wouldn’t want to get away for the weekend to celebrate their awesome friends at one of the coolest, most unique weddings ever?!

A unique, eclectic, DIY summer camp wedding theme

This is my third blog post ever, and somehow every single wedding I’ve blogged so far has had THE coolest couple, decor, and theme. A colorful & vibrant yet elegant manor wedding, a retro-themed wedding in Leavenworth with all the fun 70’s vibes, and now an eclectic, summer-camp-inspired wedding theme. How cool is that?

Lacey & Kel truly took all the best parts of children’s summer camp and transformed them into an adult weekend getaway for their closest friends. Everywhere you looked, it was like a Pinterest board was brought to life – from the paint-by-number station, to fanny packs for the wedding party, to brightly-colored custom koozies for the drinks that wouldn’t have been allowed at your typical kids’ summer camp ;)

And even more impressive: Lacey & Kel did nearly all of the details themselves and with the help of their friends. Everybody came together to create vibrant, colorful summer-camp-inspired & teacher-themed details, like the paper chains hanging around the venue and the table decor made out of pom-poms.

Most of their vendors were fellow teachers & school employees, as well, including their officiant, planners, (adult) flower girls, & ring “bear”😂

The team of vendors, family, & friends who contributed

Thank you to the team of amazing people, both vendors, friends, and family members, who contributed & helped bring this incredible day to life!

Hair: Katy Marie Artistry | @katymarieartistry

Makeup: Sophia Kendall

Florist:

Arrangements and Bouquets created by the wedding party and family, but flowers that didn't come from the couple’s own gardens were sourced from @mossymeadowsflowerfarm

Cake/dessert: Bride's Sister and Brother-in-Law (Morgan & Marshal) @JunePiePastries

Bartender: Leoni Pena | @Beerlybelovedbartending

Summer Camp-Style Wedding Inspiration

Lacey & Kel’s summer-camp-inspired wedding decor and details deserve a section of their own, if not an entire blog post of their own! Let’s just take a minute or two to admire the absolutely fantastic summer camp wedding decor theme they chose for their wedding, and all the ways they incorporated those fun, carefree summer camp vibes into every element of their day.

Summer camp-inspired wedding stationery

Summer camp-inspired wedding florals

Summer camp-inspired wedding ceremony

Summer camp-inspired wedding activity ideas

Summer-camp inspired wedding food & drinks

Summer camp-inspired wedding favors

About Copper Creek Inn, a Mount Rainier wedding venue

Copper Creek Inn is a beautiful historic resort near Mount Rainier, and it made for the most amazing venue for Lacey & Kel’s wedding weekend with their guests! For any couples who want to get married at or near Mount Rainier, I highly recommend staying at this lodge with your family & friends who travel to the area with you, or even holding your ceremony and/or reception on the property. Copper Creek Inn is made up of gorgeous upscale woodland cabins and suites, and is located only two miles from the Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

The inn offers a variety of awesome services, lodging options, and beautiful locations for couples who are getting married, including a stunning forest amphitheater set right in the lush green trees, cozy creekside cabins with hot tubs, and a charming indoor space for winter weddings. I absolutely fell in love with this resort, and can’t recommend it enough to engaged couples looking for a wedding venue near Mount Rainier!

More Unique Wedding Themes + Decor Ideas

Looking for even more unique and colorful ideas for your wedding? I’ve photographed so many couples recently that have put together the most one-of-a-kind, incredibly fun wedding themes that created an amazing experience for their guests.

Maybe you want to throw it back a bit with a more retro, 70’s vibe – you need to check out Brian & Liz’s Retro-Themed Leavenworth Wedding at Beecher Hill House.

Or if you want to find some creative ways to bring bright, bold color into your elegant, springtime wedding, scroll through Abby & Graham’s Colorful & Vibrant Lairmont Manor Wedding in Bellingham, WA!

Eclectic Summer Camp-Inspired Wedding at Copper Creek Inn