Firelight Camps

When we decided to take the plunge and begin planning our celebration, we searched to infuse meaning and significance into every detail. We knew that we wanted our celebration to honor one of our traditions, camping on the winter and summer solstices, and wanted the location to be somewhere we had yet to camp. We also knew that we wanted the celebration to feel uniquely "ours", so that guests walked away not feeling that they had only been to a "wedding" but rather that they had just spent a weekend in which they too were honored and celebrated as being part of our life. Thus began our search for where to hold the celebration, with a natural space able to facilitate connection and transformation being some of our top criteria.

Originally, we were hoping to fall in love with a plot of land and lay the foundation for a tiny cabin that Eric [the groom] had been sketching for the last five years. The foundation of the cabin was to be our dance floor. But planning should not involve renting a pick-up truck every weekend, and so we searched for an alternate location to fulfill our vision, and one that we hoped would have just as much meaning. Since 2017, we had been using a camping cookbook, Feast by Firelight, bought after a fateful Assateague Island camping trip where a wild horse spent the night trying to break into our cooler. On that year's winter solstice trip, we realised that the cookbook was published by a campground in Ithaca, NY: Firelight Camps. The search for a venue for abated - and in walking through the space with Bobby, we could not have been more thrilled to find a beautiful location that was able to accommodate our bicultural celebration and the personalized details we wanted to bring to the space.

Firelight Camps was able to deliver on the five most important aspects of the vision we held for our celebration, in that the campground and its various spaces: provided the space and schedule to allow for unstructured time with family and friends; fostered togetherness by having everyone able to stay and gather in central locations; is an already beautiful natural environment with stunning backdrops, allowing us to bring in minimal décor and create DIY aspects using materials harvested from the site; is located in a region ripe with delicious [vegan-friendly!] food that provided flexibility and choice in setting our dream menu; and has a team of staff willing to embrace wilder ideas.

When it came to the actual weekend (several years later due to pandemic postponements), Firelight Camps made everything seamless. From arrival, the entire Firelight team was welcoming of all of our guests and had the space completely ready to accommodate a large gathering of friends and family, remembering even the smallest shared details about us a couple. Firelight highlighted our favorite board games within their collection, allowed a space for grab-and-go snacks, helped us pick out wine that was both delicious and had many animals on the labels, and worked with us to ensure that all the food provided by them (like their smores and the breakfast bar) met dietary restrictions. The Firelight team was extraordinarily communicative with all the vendors coming in to set up the spaces that did need to transform due to our guest count (or wild ideas – we did have a bouncy castle), and often were more effective and efficient at management than the wedding coordinators we had hired. Whenever small hiccups occurred, Firelight worked endlessly to solve them, whether that meant assisting with weatherproofing when the day of our celebration was unseasonably cold for the first day of summer or troubleshooting the case of missing wine glasses before dinner service. Every staff member on the Firelight team was flexible, adaptable, positive, and calming – becoming some of the most trusted and valued members of our planning process.

We could not have imagined celebrating our union anywhere else—or in any other way. Firelight Camps became an integral part of the vision we held for our celebration, and we are so appreciative of the Firelight team for allowing a wedding originally contracted in 2018 to wait until 2022 for the vision to come to life. The eight-year-old wedding MC declared while protesting his forced departure, “Why can’t we camp here every weekend?” If it were up to us, we would, but can only hope that others are able to experience the joy of a celebration at Firelight Camps and tailor the beautiful space to their own vision celebration.

Will and I got married at Firelight Camps on 9/11/2021. It wasn’t our ideal date, as we originally planned to get married in 2020, but for obvious reasons decided to postpone. I was a nervous wreck making this decision, but Firelight was beyond supportive and made the process so much smoother.
Having our wedding at Firelight Camps was a dream come true! Emma was incredible to work with and she was always quick to respond to any questions we had. The staff at Firelight are genuine & creative and they work incredibly hard behind the scenes to make the day go as perfect as possible! For example, they even created two specialty cocktails for our wedding based on what was in season (people still talk about those cocktails to this day)! As much as the staff are hands on, they also value & respect giving you your space, but I knew if I needed anything they’d have my back! I truly felt at home there.
We absolutely loved the atmosphere at Firelight Camps, and we appreciated the ability to make it our own for the weekend. Firelight Camps provides you with access to a variety of unique and local vendors that fit your budget/style. I really enjoyed supporting local businesses and seeing how all these vendors worked together to create magic! One of our favorite parts of the wedding weekend was seeing all our friends and family mingling by the firepits and enjoying being outdoors! Our guests took advantage of hiking Buttermilk Falls and exploring the town of Ithaca during the day. So many of our guests commented on how unique this venue was (even the ones who were hesitant to ‘glamp’)! Firelight Camps truly brought a sense of community and connection to a day already filled with so much love- I felt I was going to burst!
Honestly, looking back on our wedding there isn’t anything I would change! I was so happy at the end of the weekend I even forgot my wedding dress in the tent…that gave everyone a good laugh! I guess I just wasn’t ready for the weekend to be over!
If you are considering a wedding at Firelight Camps, look no further! I recommend this venue through and through!