A Casual Minimony in Reading, Massachusetts Inspired by Summer Camp

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rose and Jessie were planning a three-day wedding weekend at Camp Cody at Lake Ossippee in New Hampshire for 250 loved ones. Despite having to pivot their plans, the couple decided to still tie the knot on their original wedding date with an intimate at-home minimony broadcast over Zoom. "Our color palette was just COLOR, and lots of it! We envisioned a spring meadow full of wildflowers," says Rose of their inspiration for the backyard wedding aesthetic. Although they weren't able to wed at Camp Cody, they instead turned their backyard into a camp-inspired space complete with a tent and archery. "Rose's mother completely surprised us by creating an entire summer camp in the backyard! She spent weeks gathering supplies, including a miniature firepit, an archery set, the family's tent and a custom Camp Newlywed sign from Mike of TheOld93 on Etsy," shares Jessie. As for additional decor, the couple "brought Rose's parents' kitchen table out onto the patio, hung up cafe lights, and set the table with white and gold china, pink cut glassware, and the gigantic bouquet as our centerpiece. It was such a stunning spring day, with rhododendron, lilacs, and peonies in bloom, that we didn't need anything else!" As a special surprise, some local friends even did a drive-by parade after the nuptials. 

Beyond paying homage to summer camp, honoring Jessie's Jewish heritage was another big priority as they planned their backyard pandemic minimony in Massachusetts. "Jessie's family is Jewish, and it was important to both of us to have a ceremony that incorporated her traditions," says Rose. "While we are holding off on the full Jewish ceremony until we can have all of our friends and family with us, our rabbi was still willing to perform our small civil ceremony and included some meaningful blessings. We asked each of our parents to choose something to read during our ceremony, which meant so much. We also smashed a glass together"

Looking back on their pandemic minimony in Massachusetts, the couple cites their vow exchange as one of the highlights of the celebration. "We don't consider ourselves to be writers, and we were both pretty nervous about being able to write vows that truly captured our feelings for each other. However, writing our own vows was one of the best decisions we made! Rose cried as she read hers, and then both of us laughed through Jessie's, and they couldn't have been more perfect. Our favorite part of the day, besides saying our vows to each other, was being able to change into sweatpants right after the ceremony, eat a big dinner from our favorite date spot Fox & the Knife, and dance together on the patio until late into the night."