Whitney and Wolfgang were married at Camp Dewan, a fifty-five acre camp property outside Burlington, Wisconsin, on a Saturday in August. If you found this while researching the venue rather than the wedding, there’s a full guide below the photos: costs, capacity, lodging, and what the place is actually like on a wedding day.

But first, five things you should know before viewing these images:

1 – These guys booked us less than two weeks before their wedding; on one of the only Saturdays we had open. Such a wonderful last-minute match!

2 – There are rumors about the history of Camp Dewan being a nudist camp, then a Christian camp, and now a wedding venue / getaway. Eclectic place.

3 –They had an early morning ceremony followed by a pig roast, then a relaxing break in the day, and a late-night food truck.

4 – Whitney and Wolfgang took a midday nap in their little yurt. Highly recommended. Might’ve been the best accidental idea ever.

5 – A tornado warning kept everyone inside for a bit. Just for a half an hour, but still noteworthy, because it was raining like crazy. :)

Camp Dewan Wedding Venue Guide

Whit and Wolf’s wedding was our introduction to Camp Dewan, and couples still land on this post while trying to work out whether the place would work for them. So here is everything we know about it, brought up to date for 2026.

Camp Dewan at a glance

• Where: 6360 Church Road, Burlington, Wisconsin, in the southeastern corner of the state. Roughly twenty-five minutes from Lake Geneva, about forty-five from Milwaukee, and around an hour and a half from both Madison and Chicago.
• The property: fifty-five wooded acres with a private seven-acre lake, two miles of hiking trails, and a campfire pit.
• Capacity: up to 150 guests.
• Ceremony: anywhere on the property. The camp recommends lakeside.
• Reception: a renovated barn with a full kitchen and dining hall, plus an air-conditioned hall upstairs. A tent on the outdoor basketball court is the other common setup.
• Lodging: a four-room lodge with a stone fireplace, two rustic five-room cabins, and open ground for tent camping.
• Cost in 2026: the basic package runs $2,250 for sixty guests or fewer and $3,150 for sixty-one to 150. The deluxe package, which adds overnight lodging, runs $3,250 and $4,250. Plus tax in each case.
• Rental window: Friday for decorating, Saturday for the wedding, Sunday for gift opening and cleanup.
• Contact: Bob Bywater at 262-308-2727, or sarah@campdewan.com for available dates.

What the property is actually like

Camp Dewan opened in 2001 and still operates as a working camp. Family camping, little league groups, reunions, outdoor movie nights. Weddings are folded in around that rather than being the entire business, and that shows up everywhere once you are on site. There is a regulation little league baseball field. There is a sand volleyball court, an outdoor basketball court and an indoor half court, horseshoes, two miles of trails through the woods, and a movie theater. The camp runs on solar now.

This is a camp that hosts weddings rather than a wedding venue dressed up as a camp, and honestly that difference is most of the appeal. Nothing about the place is trying to look like anything.

The centerpiece is Lake Cleo, a private seven-acre pond with a pier, kayaks, canoes and rowboats. Guests fish it during the wedding. People who have stayed there describe pulling three and four pound bass out of it in the gap between the ceremony and dinner, which tells you a fair amount about the pace of a day here.

The barn carries the indoor weight. It has been renovated and holds a fully equipped kitchen, a dining hall, and an air-conditioned hall upstairs with a loft and a movie screen. Lodging is the four-room lodge with its stone fireplace and two rustic five-room cabins, plus room to pitch tents.

Where the wedding itself happens

You can hold the ceremony anywhere across the fifty-five acres, including inside the barn, though the camp steers couples toward the lake and it is easy to see why. The reception usually lands in the barn or under a tent set up on the outdoor basketball court, which is a flatter and more practical surface than it sounds.

What made Whit and Wolf’s day work was that they used the whole property and the whole day rather than compressing everything into one six-hour block. They married early in the morning. There was a pig roast afterward, then a genuine break in the middle of the afternoon where people scattered across the camp and the couple went and slept in a yurt. Then a whisky and cigar tent in the evening, and a food truck from Milwaukee that showed up late at night. A tornado warning parked everyone indoors for about half an hour while it rained sideways, and then it stopped and the night carried on.

All the outdoor facilities stay open to your guests for the duration, which is the thing that makes the long midday gap work instead of dragging. People swim, fish, play ball, walk the trails.

What it costs and what is included

Both packages cover the barn Friday for decorating, Saturday for the ceremony and reception, and Sunday for gift opening and cleanup. That three-day window is included at the base rate, which is unusual and worth understanding when you compare Dewan against a venue charging by the hour.

The basic package is day and evening use only. The lodge is available for getting ready but nobody stays overnight. It runs $2,250 plus tax for sixty guests or fewer, $3,150 plus tax for sixty-one to 150.

The deluxe package adds the lodge and cabins for up to eight people overnight on Friday and Saturday, plus use of the camp golf cart for moving guests around at no extra charge. It runs $3,250 plus tax for sixty or fewer and $4,250 plus tax for sixty-one to 150. Anyone beyond that eight-person maximum is an additional $59 plus tax per person per night.

That last line is the one to run the numbers on. If you are picturing forty people sleeping on site the way they would at a full camp buyout, the deluxe package is a starting point rather than the final figure. Deposits are due within two weeks of booking and become nonrefundable sixty days out, with the balance due at the same sixty-day mark.

Things worth knowing before you book

Cell service is close to nonexistent. Depending on your carrier you may have nothing until you are halfway back down the road. There is Wi-Fi, but it is limited, and guests describe the whole group sharing about a gigabyte. Most people who have stayed there frame this as a feature. Either way, plan your vendor communication and your guest logistics around it rather than assuming you can text people on the day.

The cabins are genuinely rustic. They have power. Some have air conditioning and some do not. Bring your own bedding. If your guest list includes people who are picturing a hotel, tell them clearly in advance, and book rooms in Burlington or Lake Geneva for anyone who would rather not rough it.

The basic package includes no overnight stays at all. This is the single most common misunderstanding about camp venues generally. Check which package you are actually quoting before you build a weekend plan around it.

Confirm catering and alcohol directly. The barn kitchen is set up for bringing your own food in, and Dewan operates on the lease-the-property model that most camps use, which usually means you choose your own caterer and bar. Policies change, so ask rather than assume.

The rain plan is the barn. That is a real answer, which is more than a lot of outdoor venues can offer, and the air-conditioned upstairs hall matters in July and August.

Photographing a wedding here

Fifty-five acres of woods means dappled, moving light for most of the day, and open ground near the lake and the ball field when you want something cleaner. The property rewards couples who let the day spread out. Some of the best frames from Whit and Wolf’s wedding came from the unstructured hours in the middle, when nothing was scheduled and people were just wandering around a camp.

The other thing Dewan does well is absorb weather. Camps generally do. A tornado warning and half an hour of sideways rain would sink a wedding built around a manicured lawn, and here it just became part of the story. If you are planning an outdoor wedding in Wisconsin, that resilience is worth more than it looks like on a tour in June.

Camp Dewan Wedding FAQ

Where is Camp Dewan?

6360 Church Road, Burlington, Wisconsin, in the southeastern part of the state near the Lake Geneva area. It is roughly twenty-five minutes from Lake Geneva, forty-five minutes from Milwaukee, and about an hour and a half from Madison or Chicago. Worth noting that some navigation systems handle the address better than others, so use the camp’s own directions if anything looks odd.

How much does a wedding at Camp Dewan cost?

As of 2026, the basic package is $2,250 plus tax for sixty guests or fewer and $3,150 plus tax for sixty-one to 150 guests. The deluxe package, which adds overnight lodging for up to eight people, is $3,250 and $4,250 plus tax respectively. Additional overnight guests are $59 plus tax per person per night.

How many guests can Camp Dewan hold?

Up to 150 for a wedding. Overnight capacity is a separate and much smaller number, which is the distinction that catches most couples out at camp venues.

Can guests stay overnight at Camp Dewan?

Only under the deluxe package, and only eight people are included in the base rate. Beyond that it is $59 plus tax per person per night for Friday and Saturday. The basic package includes use of the lodge for getting ready but no overnight stays at all.

Where can we hold the ceremony?

Anywhere on the fifty-five acre property, including in the barn. The camp recommends lakeside on Lake Cleo, the private seven-acre pond at the center of the property.

Can we bring our own caterer and alcohol?

The barn has a fully equipped kitchen and the camp works on the lease-the-property model, so carry-in food and drink is generally how weddings here run. Confirm the current policy directly with the camp before you book a caterer or plan a bar.

Is there cell service or Wi-Fi?

Barely, and limited. Depending on your carrier you may have no cell signal at all until you are partway back down the road, and the Wi-Fi is capped in a way that will not support a hundred guests streaming. Plan for it.

What happens if it rains?

The barn is the backup, and it is air conditioned upstairs. That is a more complete rain answer than many camp properties can give you, since plenty of them have no indoor space large enough for the full guest count.

What is there for guests to do between the ceremony and the reception?

A great deal, which is the argument for this kind of venue. All the outdoor facilities are open to your guests: the lake with kayaks, canoes and rowboats, fishing, swimming, a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, a little league baseball field, horseshoes, and two miles of hiking trails. There is also a movie theater on site.

Is Camp Dewan a good place for a wedding with kids?

Unusually good. Between the lake, the ball field, the trails and the campfire, children entertain themselves for two days straight. If a real share of your guest list is families, that is one of the strongest reasons to look at a camp at all.

When is wedding season at Camp Dewan?

Broadly late spring through October, like most Wisconsin camps, since the experience assumes people are outdoors. The camp does run winter programming, but a full-size winter wedding here would be unusual.

Costs and policies above are current as of August 2026 and are drawn from Camp Dewan’s published rates. Confirm specifics with the venue directly.

If you are planning a camp wedding

Dewan is one of a handful of Wisconsin properties that make this kind of weekend possible. Our full list of camp wedding venues in Wisconsin covers the others north to south, and our guide to renting a summer camp for your wedding walks through the logistics that apply to all of them. If you want a closer look at how one of these weekends comes together, our venue guide to Camp Wandawega goes deep on a single property.

We are a husband-and-wife team based in the Driftless Region and we photograph across the state, including regularly in the Milwaukee area. Camp weddings are some of our favorite days to shoot. If this is the weekend you are picturing, we would love to hear about it.