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Sixty-one years ago, Georgianna Straffi married John Paone and wore a custom-made gown with white Dresden rose lace over satin.

As she walked down the aisle at the Our Lady of Peace Church in Fords, N.J., a Queen Elizabeth coronet with seed pearls and rhinestones with an attached veil of illusion glittered atop her head. Sequins and lace medallions adorned the illusion neckline. The cathedral train was lined with satin.

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Twenty-seven years later, her daughter, Jeanne Paone, walked down the same aisle in the same dress when she wed Thomas Bader.

She met her husband during their junior year of high school. “I told her I would marry her,” he said. “And we would have a daughter and name her Jeannine.”

On July 16, Thomas Bader walked his daughter Jeannine Bader, 32, down the aisle in the same wedding gown at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond.

“It’s more than a dress; it’s what it signifies to the family,” Jeanne Bader said. “It’s almost 100 years of marriage.”

Georginanna Straffi Paone, 87, said she saw a picture of the dress in a bridal magazine in 1955. She took the picture as well as a handwritten description to a bridal shop and had the dress custom made. She put down a $10 deposit on the gown and veil, which cost a total of $200.

“My mother was and still is very fashionable,” Jeanne Bader said. “She knew about fashion before the word ‘couture.’ ”

After the wedding, Paone placed her dress in a box and did not know when she would open it again.

“Once it hits the air, it discolors,” Paone said, explaining why she kept the box sealed for years.

Two and half decades later, her daughter opened it.

“It fit like it was made for me,” Jeanne Bader said. Her figure was similar to her mother’s; she was just a little taller.

“The moment I just never forgot was walking down the aisle with my father, knowing that my mother wore the dress,” she said.

Bader knew her daughter would experience the same emotions she had when walking down the aisle.

In 2011, Jeannine Bader met her now-husband, Bryan Mangas, at a car dealership.

“He’s a ‘BOGO.’ I bought my car, and he came with it,” she said. “It’s kind of a joke.”

She leased a Mercedes, and the two drove everywhere together. They racked up the mileage fee and had to pay a hefty bill. She said it was bittersweet turning the car in after making so many memories.

“He’s really the perfect match for Jeannine because he loves tradition. He loves family, and he’s incredibly loyal,” Bader said. “He understands what this dress signifies.”

When thoughts of marriage filled Jeannine’s head, she told her grandmother she would like to wear the dress.

But Paone would not open the box until her granddaughter had an engagement ring and set a wedding date.

The family had a small ceremony and opened the box together at Paone’s house in New Jersey. The dress looked as it did on the day Paone walked down the aisle in 1955. The Dresden lace was still intact and the color still fresh.

“We were shocked,” Paone said.

But when Jeannine tried the dress on, it didn’t fit.

“It was way too small, and we didn’t even know if she would be able to wear the dress,” her mother said. “But then we found Oksana.”

Oksana Vladimirova, a seamstress who works off West Broad Street, had to maintain the integrity of the dress while fitting it to the granddaughter’s curves.

It was challenging, she said. The material was delicate and rare, leaving no room for mistakes.

“The material is rose-point lace, which I don’t think you can get today,” Paone said.

The seamstress bonded with the family during the 10 months she spent working on the sweetheart wedding dresses.

“I’m so glad it’s making you happy,” Vladimirova said, starting to tear up as she held hands with Paone. “It’s very valuable to you and your family.”

As her granddaughter tried on the dress a few days before the wedding, Paone saw herself.

“I guess you could say that’s me,” Paone said. “Sixty-one years ago.”

Sixteen Canadian couples are set to say “I do” at wedding ceremonies taking place simultaneously in the Bahamas later this year.

The spouses-to-be won the prize through an online contest aimed at promoting the Bahamas as a travel destination for weddings and honeymoons.

The simultaneous weddings at locations throughout the Bahamian islands are set for Nov. 16, at 4 p.m., local time.

The couples — seven from Ontario, five from Alberta, two from Manitoba and one each from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — will receive round-trip airfare and accommodation in the Bahamas, plus a “personal wedding co-ordinator.”

Also see: vintage bridesmaid dresses

The Ministry of Tourism in the Bahamas ran the same contest in the U.K. and the U.S in previous years.

Paul Strachan, the senior director at the Bahamas Tourist Office in Canada, said about 350 couples entered the contest.

Lana Newell, 35, and her fiance Mark Voisin, 43, are the winners from Nova Scotia. Their wedding is being planned in Exuma.

Newell and Voisin were working as teachers in New Zealand when they got engaged four years ago. They wanted to make sure their friends and family could be at their wedding, so they waited until they came back to Canada to start planning. When they couldn’t find full-time work right away, they had to put everything on hold.

“We were really dreaming of a beach wedding, but financially a beach wedding wasn’t in the question … you enter contests and still don’t really think you have a chance,” Newell said. “Now, here we are in Canada, we have the friends and family, and we have our wedding. We’re set now.”

The couple, who met on a hike at an outdoor adventure club, are currently making plans for their family to attend the ceremony, especially Newell’s five- and seven-year-old niece and nephew.

“They’ve never been on a plane, have never been to a wedding, have never been on a beach,” Newell said. “They’re our ringbearer and flower girl. They’re thrilled.”

Strachan said more than 150,000 Canadians travelled to the Bahamas last year, and his organization hopes to increase those numbers.

“Given the decline in the Canadian dollar and the fact that by comparison, the Bahamas tends to be a little more expensive because we don’t have the variety of all-inclusive resorts some other destinations do, we wanted people to consider us.”

Travel to the Caribbean country is crucial to its economy: nearly half the population is directly employed in tourism, and it generates 60 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

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Congratulations! You are getting married soon, and you are caught up in a whirlwind of planning activities. There are so many details to consider that you may forget one important detail that applies if you are changing your name — applying for a new Social Security card.

Social Security uses your earnings history to calculate your benefits. The 35 years in which you earned the most (adjusted to account for wage changes over time) are used in the benefit calculation. If you forget to notify your employer and the Social Security Administration (SSA) about your name change, any W-2 forms received after the name change may be incorrectly recorded and your Social Security benefits may be incorrectly calculated.

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You may not even be aware of the problem until you retire and find your benefits to be lower than you expected. It could take some time to straighten out years of earnings filed under the wrong name. Your benefits may be delayed as a result, or even reduced if the correct earnings cannot be established.

How do you apply for a new Social Security card after a name change? The SSA does have an online service, but unfortunately, you cannot use it to apply for a new card. You will have to either send an application in by mail or bring it in to your local Social Security office, along with the necessary supporting documents.

To receive a new Social Security card, documents are required to prove identity, citizenship, and the legal basis for the name change. For a name change, your new card will be issued with the same number as your old card.

In the case of a name change, you will not need to establish citizenship unless citizenship was never established in the first place. If you do need to establish citizenship, the most common documents to use are either a passport or a birth certificate showing U.S. origin.

Suitable identification documents include a U.S. passport, U.S. driver’s license, or a non-driver ID card issued by a state agency. All documents must be originals or copies certified by the issuing agency — no notarized copies or photocopies are allowed. Driver’s licenses or non-driver ID cards must be current. While passports or state issued IDs are preferred, you may be able to use other ID cards such as employee, school, or military ID cards that contain relevant information. Contact your local Social Security office if you are not sure that a particular ID is suitable.

To prove that your name change is legal, you will need to provide the documented proof of your marriage. Note that proof of name change status is necessary for any name change reason (decree of divorce, Naturalization Certificate, etc.).

Check here for further details on the required documentation for your new card. Under the “Type of Card” category, select “Corrected.”

If you are part of a same-sex couple and planning to change your name, the same rules apply. Thanks to the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, same-sex coupleshave the same options as opposite-sex couples in determination of Social Security benefits.

Be sure to include the SSA in your wedding plans to avoid problems when you retire. They may not send you a gift for your reception, but you will receive your “gift” down the road with a smooth transition into your retirement benefits. That is much better than an engraved gravy boat.

Let the free MoneyTips Retirement Planner help you calculate when you can retire without jeopardizing your lifestyle.

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Planning a wedding is intimidating, stressful process. Reading the following article in its entirety will help you plan a successful wedding.

When you are planning your wedding festivities, alcohol needs to be a consideration as to what type you want to serve, and what type will be the most cost efficient. Ask the venue about which alcohol service options.

If you plan on doing the catering yourself, look to wholesale markets such as Sam’s or Costco to buy supplies. This will enable you to save quite a bit of money. You can also see if your friends to chip in with food costs.

Related: sweetheart wedding dresses

When planning speakers for your wedding, have them rehearse the material before you so that you can make sure everything is appropriate. There will be many different generations at the wedding, and what may seem funny to a younger person may not be humorous to an older crowd.

Use someone’s property for a wedding.

Do not avoid eating just so your wedding dress fits. You are going to find yourself dehydrated and get dizzy by rushing weight too quickly prior to your wedding. You don’t need to faint during the altar.

The first thing to consider when you have to think about is the person you marry. This lifelong decision is one that should not be rushed into. Think about this person and what things will drive you crazy, as well as the things that will drive you up the wall.

Look at samples of past work before hiring a makeup artist you are considering for your wedding day. Is the makeup style pleasing to you? Make sure it is something you love it. You do not want to be an hour before your wedding with all parties involved.

Instead of spending too much for a large wedding cake, try getting multiple tiers of mini-tarts or cupcakes. These arrangements are typically much cheaper and affordable. Guests can serve themselves or even take a party favor of sorts.

Make sure the lights at your wedding reception venue have dimmer switches. This may seem like it’s trivial, but the option should be there if you prefer to have low lighting for your first dance, and switching to brighter lights for the remainder of the event. Check out the venue about these specific options before picking one.

It could get stained or wrinkled while hanging in your closet.

If the guests are going to enjoy a meal consisting of multiple courses, use small dishes of candies to keep guests amused while they wait. You can also offer crackers, thin crackers or any other type of little treats.

Ask someone to borrow an item to wear something of theirs on your wedding day.

Silk flowers make great alternatives to various other flowers that you can purchase for your wedding.

You possibly want to think about fusing two or multiple menus together making the best of both families and comfortable for everyone present. You can add little twists in different food items, or even edible wedding favors.

Despite all the hard work involved, keeping this advice in mind will help your big day go smoothly. These tips should have helped you have more fun with your wedding planning.

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Whitney Houston’s numerous awards, stunning red-carpet dresses and other personal affects will be up for grabs come June 24 and 25 in an auction held by auction house Heritage Auctions and sanctioned by her estate.

“The [Houston] family actually reached out to the president of our company, ” says Garry Shrum, director of Entertainment and Music Memorabilia at Heritage Auctions. “We had worked with a good friend of theirs, David Gest. He knew us and liked what we did and told the Houston [family] about us, and my colleague Margaret Barrett and I went out to New Jersey and listened to what they wanted to do. We gave them some ideas, they gave us some ideas, and we came up with this 119-piece collection that’s basically a retrospective of Whitney from the beginning, from when she first started singing after she left being a background singer for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. We have her passport from the beginning, all these various awards and outfits, all kinds of cool and groovy things.”

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The most buzzed-about item on the internet is her intricate, one-of-a-kind Marc Bouwer wedding dress, which she wore to wed Bobby Brown in 1992.

Some of the more unique and sentimental items include weathered passports, a jacket given to Whitney by her father emblazoned with her childhood nickname Nippy, and aDisney coloring book entirely in Japanese. “Her and Michael [Jackson], they loved Disney stuff,” Shrum says. “She colored these pages and then autographed it. To get something personal like that, it doesn’t happen very often.”

“This is probably going to do half a million or more,” Shrum predicts. A portion of the proceeds will go to a charity of the family’s choosing.

“It’s a unique opportunity for her fans to actually get personal things that were very close to her coming directly from the estate,” says Shrum. “Usually you pick up odds and ends that were given to fans and fans end up selling them with [Heritage Auctions], but when you get something from the estate, it’s so personal and it has such strong provenance and the backstories that the family has given us to put with the pieces are even more exciting.

Beyond her glamorous wardrobe and treasure trove of awards, Whitney Houston left behind an even greater legacy. “Her music’s going to last more than a lifetime,” Shrum says. “A hundred years from now, ‘I Will Always Love You’ will still be a song that people shake their head when they hear it.”

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The monsoon wedding season is upon us and to-be-brides and grooms, and their friends and families, have pulled up their socks to prepare for the biggest day of their lives.

But every year the available options in clothes, venues and decor increase exponentially, making it difficult for people to make the right choice.

But, hey! Getting married in the 21st century comes with some advantages. You can now take the help of these mobile apps to get all your wedding needs sorted. Check out our list of top five:

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1. What A Shaadi

What A Shaadi provides an exhaustive list of over 2,000 vendors and multiple options to choose from under heads such as venue, catering, photographers, florists, decor etc. The vendor info is easily accessible and comes with user reviews. The user interface looks really pretty, is a big plus considering how most people want everything about their wedding to be eye-catchin.

2. Shaadi Saga

This app is not a place to find vendors or shop for your wedding needs but more like a social media platform where you can share details of your wedding with friends and family. You can share pictures, see your friends’ wishes and announce the venues and timings of any wedding programme.

3. Wed Me Good

This one has about 10,000 downloads with an average rating of 4.5 stars. It not only offers an exhaustive list of vendors but also provides ‘inspiration’ to its users through various stunning photos from different weddings. There is also a checklist option to help you remember even the minutest detail.

4. Wed About

Wed About also has almost 10,000 downloads but has an even higher rating of 4.8 stars. It offers very personalised help for all your wedding needs and their relationship managers offer assistance to make sure you make the right choice.

5. Urban Clap

Urban Clap is actually a utility app but has more than 500,000 downloads. The ‘weddings’ part of the app gives vendor options in choreography, photography, catering, make-up etc. You can either get quotes from vendors or select the one you like from the list provided.

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Don’t be intimidated by the notion of a custom-made wedding dress.

“Its easier than you think,” says local fashion designer Kelly Madden, whose entire business is based on bridal wear.

Indeed, many of Madden’s clients come to her just because it’s easy. They can’t stand the thought of spending endless hours shopping for, and fussing over, a gown. A custom design is often far less time-consuming for brides, some of whom are overwhelmed by the foaming racks of tulle, lace, chiffon and sequins spilling from most bridal stores.

Another advantage to custom design is that a bride can get what she wants, not always possible with pre-made dresses. Off-the-rack gowns may not work for brides who seek a simpler look. Women who fall outside of the average body type because they have a larger bust, or hips that are out of proportion to the waist, can feel hopeless digging through a raft of dusky pink bridesmaid dresses designed for their exact opposites. Custom design gives you the chance to mix and match design elements, too — a bodice from one dress, a train from another.

Also, Madden’s gowns are not crazy expensive. She doesn’t charge for consultations or fittings, and has created one-of-a-kind red bridesmaids dresses that range in price from $500 to $5,000.

“I can’t compete with the $200 knock-offs from China,” says the 33-year-old designer who studied at emcee College in Edmonton. “But I try to be competitive with the bridal stores.”

It’s a challenge to design lilac bridesmaid dresses, or any other original fashions, while living in Edmonton. The design community is very small, and it’s hard to get fabrics, lace and other custom touches.

Still, Madden, who began her career making mascots and designing attractive scrubs for nurses, had had success. She created her own line of clothing that was once carried by Awear Style Co. on Calgary Trail, where owner Leila Gumpinger was incredibly supportive. But Madden found it too difficult to make a go of ready-to-wear; it’s hard to be profitable when designing an entire line of clothing, from coats to tops, that aren’t mass produced.

She saw a niche, though, in developing expertise in custom wedding gear. (Madden also does bridesmaids dresses and graduation dresses.) In the last year, she has designed and sewn custom gowns full-time, producing about 10 wedding dresses and another 50 frocks for bridal parties.

Typically, clients come to Madden six to eight months before the event.

Sometimes brides-to-be have ideas gleaned from Pinterest or other online sites, or from magazines touting the latest trend (which is, by the way, bridal gowns in colours such as pale blush or soft rose.)

Often, Madden has to let customers know what’s possible, and what’s not, as some appear with imagined designs that are impossible to execute, like a deep backless gown with no obvious way to keep it up in the front. Lay people also don’t generally know a lot about fabric, how it moves, how it pleats or darts or dips. It’s Madden’s job to guide clients toward a combination of style, fabric and function that will result in a gorgeous dress for their special day. She doesn’t work with bought patterns, creating every look from scratch.

Madden has pictures of her designs, sample fabrics and some prototypes for bridesmaids’ dresses at her bright and professional studio, located in the trim basement of her Silverberry home. There’s a comfortable couch for clients, parents and friends, and a giant mirror against one wall.

The studio is where Madden learns whether she’s hit the mark for her brides. A sure sign is when the moms start to cry, or when the brides don’t want to take the gown off after a fitting. They twirl, and twirl again before the mirror, prolonging the moment. Loving the look.

“I love creating something from nothing, using my hands to create a product,” says Madden. “It’s satisfying to make people happy.”

Also see: young bridesmaid dresses – queniewedding.co.uk

Wedding season is just around the corner, and designers who are beloved by the stars now have lines accessible to brides everywhere! Check out these three new bridal launches:

Christian Siriano for Kleinfeld Bridal

Stars love the Project Runway alum’s sculptural tailored silhouettes on the red carpet, and now that impeccable fit available exclusively at Kleinfeld (you know, of Say Yes to the Dress fame). The collection contains 27 looks and runs between $3,500 to $10,000.

“I think wedding dresses are very different now,” Siriano tells PeopleStyle. “Some girls grow up and the only time they’ve seen an evening gown is at prom or at a wedding.” But thanks to social media and the ubiquity of red carpet fashion online, “It’s very different now. The idea of a non-traditional wedding dress is much more relevant,” he says. So among the ultra-glam gowns, Siriano created a sexy one-piece, a white suit and a bunch of unique wedding dresses.

“We also have so many women now who want to wear jumpsuits or pants or a suit and want to feel sexy in a totally different way, especially for destination weddings,” he says. “For a lot of brides, if they’re traveling, they aren’t really in the mood to wear a gown. That’s why we did the suiting.”

Jenny Packham for David’s Bridal

After launching successful collaborations with Zac Posen and Vera Wang, the brand teamed up with British designer Jenny Packham for the Fall 2016 season. Wonder by Jenny Packham is available in sizes 0 to 26, this season is inspired by “the belle époque era of the early 1900s,” Packham says. “The dresses are delicate with light beading and understated, flowing silhouettes alongside more contemporary structured shapes, elegantly exposed backs, and geometric embellishments for a modern bride.”

Packham has dressed stars like Adele, Blake Lively and Angelina Jolie. Kate Middleton is a huge fan of Packham, wearing more than six looks by the designer in the past four years. She’s even worn one dress three times! Her David’s Bridal collection runs from $800 to $1,500 for bridal gowns, and she has other evening looks for under $300 (perfect for bridesmaids!).

The classic brand has expanded its bridal line to 10 styles, including ballet flats and wedge sandals. The beloved Nudist sandal will come in four different heel heights (for those of us who admittedly can’t dancing in 4 1/2-inch heels). There are two unique options for customization of the shoes: Brides can add Swarovski crystals in clear, white or a pale aqua, for that “Something Blue, and have the sock lining of the shoe printed with their married name or wedding date.

Also see: http://www.queeniewedding.co.uk/lace-wedding-dresses

Armed with lookbooks, magazine tear-outs, my Pinterest app, and the image of my dream dress playing on repeat in my mind, I was ready for my very first wedding dress appointment. I had done the research for weeks, zeroing in on the single Amsale bridal gown I was sure I’d wear down the aisle. Only, after chatting with the bridal salon, I learned it was no longer available, a relic from the Fall ’13 collection that had been circulating all over Pinterest. The designer had crafted new renditions in her subsequent collections, but they were all missing the details I’d regrettably fallen in love with. How did I get it so wrong?

Well, it’s nearly two years later, and I’ve come out the other side, happily married in a dress I still love. It wasn’t a perfect process — I don’t know if it ever is — but to help with your own search, I’m sharing what I’ve learned, namely how to stay emotionally sane and in control of what you want.

1. Do Your Research, but Come Open-Minded

Being prepared is one thing, but (pardon the pun) being married to a dress you haven’t met — or tried on — yet is another. When you call ahead or book online with a bridal boutique, they’ll often ask you for a list or links of the red bridesmaid dresses you’re interested in, and this will help guide the appointment and help your sales associate be most helpful, especially since you’ll likely have a limited time frame. On that note, be prepared with designers and silhouettes you like that also fit within your budget. Still, don’t rule out a wild card once you’re there. Especially early on in your search for the dress, be willing to experiment with an unexpected style. It might not be what you thought it would look like, but you might just fall in love all the same — just make sure it’s in your budget before you do.

2. Don’t Fight Your Body Type

Like so many women, I’ve poured over the wedding pictures of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, her lithe frame carrying off her slip of a wedding dress flawlessly, wishing I might have the same bridal grace, the same elegant silhouette. The truth is, I’m just built differently. I pulled on a slinky satin gown at my second bridal appointment to channel her iconic look. I loved the way it hung on display, a minimalist cut with a sexy draped back, but on me, it looked entirely different. It clung to the wrong places, exposing parts of my body I didn’t even know existed but I knew instantly I didn’t like — at least not in this dress. No pep talk from Mom (who sat patiently with me in the dressing room) or wedding diet was going to change that. Knowing that was another step toward finding the right blue bridesmaid dresses.

3. Stay True to Your Style

No one else is wearing this dress — not your maid of honour, not your mum, your mother-in-law, your dad, or your grandma. So when you seek out the dress, make sure it’s one you love. Likewise, don’t let the location or the event dictate what you’ll wear too much. For instance, just because it’s a New Year’s wedding doesn’t mean the dress should come with tulle and a feathered skirt, unless you want it to. Clear your mind of what you “should” wear, and fill it with images of what makes you happy. And more importantly, be honest with your loved ones — and with the sales associate — about what that is, so you’re all on the same page right up front.

4. Crying Is Allowed, but Not Required

When I finally thought I’d found the dress, my dad joined my mum and my sister and came to see me in it. There I was, standing in front of my family having that bridal moment in a white ballgown; my dad smiled and I remember him saying, “I could dance with you in that green bridesmaid dresses.” I’d seen Say Yes to the Dress so many times, I knew it was my cue to cry, but I didn’t. I didn’t get emotional at all, in fact. I threw up my hands and said, “This is it then. Let’s do it!” Days later I would replay that in my head as a sign that I’d picked the wrong dress. I’d call my mum with doubt; “I didn’t even cry,” I’d reminded her. To her credit, she put it all in perspective: “It’s a dress, Hannah. I think that’s OK.” And it is — it’s OK if you cry, if you lose your sh*t, or if you don’t. It’s all OK. As long as you’re comfortable and happy and you feel like yourself, who really cares if you shed a tear just because TV or movies made you feel like you should? Remember, there are no “shoulds” here.

5. You Could Search Forever, but Don’t

There are countless pink bridesmaid dresses, new trends every season, new designers, and a million options out there. You could actually search forever and still not be satisfied, afraid you’ve missed the next great style or over-looked a dress that might be the one. I was admittedly caught up second-guessing myself long after I’d found my dress that I forgot to enjoy just being done with it. Every time I stopped to remind myself that the search was over, that I didn’t have to scour the Internet or call every boutique in NYC for appointments, I could breathe easy again. It doesn’t matter what every dress on the market looks like, just the one you’re calling your own.

Hiking boots, bug spray, long underwear — not your typical packing list for a wedding.

Unless it’s a summer-camp wedding, a hot new twist on the destination wedding. Such nuptials are increasingly popular, wedding planners say, and offer a mix of nostalgia and adventure.

“I was never that girl who grew up dreaming about her wedding dress, about her wedding day,” said Lorelle Binder, who got married last year at Camp Highlander in Horse Shoe, North Carolina.

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Instead of engaging in the quintessential hotel or ballroom revelry, Binder’s guests spent the weekend doing traditional camp activities, including a color war.

“Everyone there was able to relive their childhood, and that was something we could give to our guests,” Binder said.

There are many reasons for the summer-camp wedding, but couples often choose it because they love the outdoors.

“It’s one of the newer trends, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” said Tonia Adleta, a Philadelphia wedding planner.

Destination weddings accounted for 1 out of every 4 nuptial ceremonies, according to a 2014 report from The Knot, which studies industry trends. Summer-camp weddings can capture the same appeal as a far-flung destination, but in a low-key and often low-cost way.

“What happens is that the wedding weekend turns into a family reunion, or it’s a time for the families from both sides to really get to know each other,” said Drew Taylor, who co-owns the 120-acre Kingsley Pines Camp in Raymond, Maine.

Taylor said the camp has hosted about 10 weddings a year in recent years, and the number has been growing.

Extended families typically “come in on Friday and stay all weekend,” she said. “Their meals and activities are provided.”

David Blacker, who got married in 2009 at a camp called Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut, said he saved money: “The cabin was a fraction of the price a hotel would have been.”

For many couples, a camp wedding simply sounds like fun.

“We weren’t sure people were going to be game for this — showering in a public shower and all,” said Alison Bartolone, who got married at Sheldon Calvary Camp in Conneaut, Ohio, in 2013. But her guests “were enthusiastic and had a lot of fun with it,” she said. One group even broke into the camp’s costume closet one evening.

“It was old-school fun,” Bartolone said.

Mandee and Thor Morgan, who now live in Denver, met while working as counselors at Camp Highlander. They got married at the camp for sentimental reasons, and also because it let them incorporate their outdoorsy lifestyle into the big day.

“The biggest draw for us was that it wouldn’t be a quick night when we wouldn’t get to see anyone for more than a couple seconds,” Thor Morgan said. “It was a long weekend where people could do activities they had never done before and all in an outdoors setting.”

A summer camp also can offer some relief from the typical pre-wedding frenzy.

“What camp allowed us to do was to forget about the little tiny details, such as the table settings, signs, lighting, and focus more on our friends, family and the beauty of Maine,” said Emily Tong, who married Cory Elowe in 2014 at Camp-O-At-Ka in Sebago, Maine.

Of course, camp weddings aren’t for everyone. Bad weather can cast a pall, especially if you insist on wearing stiletto heels through the mud.

“If you’re the type of couple that wants to be at the Ritz or the Four Seasons, a camp wedding is definitely not going to work for you,” said Adleta. “It’s a completely different animal.”

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