Every year, Maggie Wilson and Tim Marvin organize a big camping party in the woods for Maggie’s birthday. “Some of our favorite memories are from those weekends. Tim and I fell in love taking those trips,” recalls Maggie, who happens to be the creative director of Shelter Co., an event planning and luxury tent rental company. (Tim is a campaign manager for Consumers Union.) Hoping to re-create one of those magical weekends for their wedding, the couple, who met on OkCupid and resides in the East Bay, found a sprawling hotel compound in Guerneville called Dawn Ranch that emanated a nostalgic, Dirty Dancing vibe.

Despite her work as an event producer, Maggie took a decidedly low-key approach to designing her own wedding day: She asked her bridesmaids to select their own dresses; decor and florals were natural and understated; Maggie even insisted the farm tables not be perfectly lined up for dinner. “I wanted it to feel like the whole setup was just always there, like an old camp or family property,” she says.

On a balmy, 104-degree day, Maggie walked down the aisle—which was adorned with potted ferns and Oriental rugs that belonged to her grandmother—in an ethereal custom shirtdress created by her aunt, designer Susan Sutherland of Style Paris. After the ceremony (officiated by Tim’s mothers), cocktails were held under a majestic sailcloth tent (the site of dancing, later on in the night, as well as the display of the gluten-free orange wedding cake) that was surrounded by smaller Shelter Co. lounge tents. With cocktails in hand, guests made their way to a nearby apple orchard for dinner, flanked by more Shelter Co. sleeping tents, where friends bunked for the weekend.

A late-night bonfire with caramel corn from Paula LeDuc, whiskey and a soundtrack of old-school ’90s rap eventually led to a group skinny-dip in the pool. When some venue management came to investigate, the couple hightailed it back to their cabin under a blanket. Says Maggie, “I wouldn’t have changed a thing!”

Written by KELSEY McKINNON.
Photography by LAUREN AND ABBY ROSS.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of C Weddings.