Camp Kiwanee Review

Let me start at the beginning, with the next time we went to Camp Kiwanee after our initial viewing of the place.  Our final venue visit went all right.  We headed down to the camp a few weeks prior to our wedding day and talked with the caretaker again.  When we got there, he wasn’t around, having forgotten about our meeting.  Sigh.

But when we found him, we told him about our plans, our setup ideas and everything.  He didn’t take any notes, just requested that we email him all the information.  I don’t know if he didn’t take notes because he forgot about our meeting and didn’t bring a notebook, or because he doesn’t generally take notes for these sorts of events, and prefers to let the couple handle everything.  I didn’t ask.  Oh well.  We talked about everything, and then we found out that Camp Kiwanee in fact does not allow candles.  On our first visit to the camp, the caretaker (the same one!) told us they did allow candles.  It wasn’t a big deal — our decorations didn’t center around candles or anything, so it wasn’t like our plans were ruined.  We also found out that the caretaker and his helper had planned to be around for the entire day, which isn’t what we were told initially.  We thought the caretaker would have to be elsewhere, celebrating Father’s Day with his family, which is what he told us over the phone at some point in the last month.  So yay for having a caretaker there all day, boo for the unnecessary stresses our conversations caused.

We got home, put together our plans for our wedding day and emailed them to the caretaker.  Of course, we didn’t know what kind of plans he wanted exactly, so we made a floor plan, we made a list of duties and who they were assigned to, we made a list of all the vendor information, our contact information, timelines, etc.

Then the big day.  When we arrived, the caterers were already there, setting up everything, as was the caretaker and his helper.  Thank goodness.  The caretaker looked harried, but he handled the setup with the help of his helper and our friends.  As far as I can tell, this went according to plan-ish.  I was sequestered away, trying to rid myself of a migraine, so I didn’t get a first-hand view of everything.

Then the wedding started.  We got married.  We took pictures.  We sat down to eat.  And somewhere in there, the caretaker and his helper left.  Just…left.  As in, they didn’t feel the need to stick around and make sure everything went smoothly.  They were gone for at least four hours and possibly more.  They came back in time for cleanup, but it was disconcerting to be at Camp Kiwanee with ZERO CAMP KIWANEE STAFF.

After we ate and danced and talked, people started leaving and we started cleaning up.  The caretaker gave us our parking permits and we distributed them to our friends, and that was that.  Except it wasn’t.  At our first meeting with Camp Kiwanee, we were told we could get back into the kitchen on the morning after the wedding so that we could all cook breakfast together.  About a week before our wedding, they told us we couldn’t.  Sorry!  To make up for it, they gave us a $30 Dunkin’ Donut gift card.  So we thought we’d be able to get in in the morning, store all our leftover food, cook for everyone and then leave, but it didn’t work out that way.

And that really was that.  On the whole, Camp Kiwanee performed just okay.  I wouldn’t expect much more from a venue at the price we got it for, but I was at least expecting that the caretaker would stick around for the whole day.  In summation, I’d say if you’re going to get married at Camp Kiwanee, be organized!  Have everything you agree on written out and signed by everyone, have all your plans written out so that you can show them to everyone, make lots of lists, and get help.  Have one of your friends act as the Day Of Coordinator.  Try not to deal with the woman in the Camp Kiwanee office as much as possible, and go into this with your eyes open, because they are not going to be organized on your behalf.  They just provide the place.  You do the rest of the work.