We are so happy we got married at Lions Camp Merrick! We knew we wanted to get married at a camp, so all of our friends and family could be together for the weekend. Lions Camp Merrick is smaller than many area camps and has two staff houses for your aunts and uncles -- really anyone who wants more privacy than a bunkhouse. There are fields for sports, trails for hiking in the woods, a long river shoreline, and all just an hour's drive from D.C.

The housing options and dining hall were the perfect size for our wedding, and we erected a rented tent over the basketball court for our reception dinner. We had a cookout and s'mores on Friday night as guests arrived, held an all-camp game Saturday morning for everyone to get to know each other, played football, soccer, and horseshoes on Saturday afternoon, and were lucky to have perfect weather for our Saturday evening ceremony overlooking the Potomac. There were plenty of magical places within walking distance of the wedding suite to take formal and personal photos.

Donna and Heidi were wonderful to work with as we got everything organized. They let us visit the camp several times, with parents and with vendors. They answered lots of questions, gave their best advice, and offered us the flexibility to use the space for our wedding with a minimum of rules -- so long as we didn't break anything and left the camp better than we found it!

Lions Camp Merrick is a working summer camp, so don't expect a fancy wedding venue. But if you want to get married in a beautiful setting a short drive from D.C., while offering your guests housing, you really can't do any better!