Lake Crescent Elopement in Olympic National Park
If you’re going for variety on your elopement day, look no further than Olympic National Park. These were all taken in one elopement day without spending ALL DAY traveling!! 🤩🤩
C+L were absolute rockstars when it came to their elopement day. They had the most supportive guests, a beautiful vision that came to life through their details and attire, and spent the entire day basking in the wonder of Washington surrounding them. What more can you ask for?!
We started our day at Lake Crescent - the air was warm and the sun was out, and C finished up getting ready in her Lake Crescent Lodge cabin while L put the finishing touches on his outfit in a room at Lake Crescent Lodge. I popped back and forth between the two to snap some photos and meet their families, plus get some landscape photos in between because the lake was SERIOUSLY showing off that day.
Once they both were ready to see each other, we coordinated a first look down by the water, and it was the sweetest little moment. They both took in each others outfits, details, C’s flowers, L’s tie, and you could tell they were really savoring their time together. Then it was time to meet up with a handful of family members for the ceremony!!
We walked part of the Moments in Time trail until we found an ideal spot to have a short ceremony. We were prepared for other hikers to be walking through, as we knew we wanted to let them pass in peace without making them feel like they had to wait for us to wrap up. That’s how it works when you get married in public places like National Parks!
Cherise with Another One Ties the Knot started the ceremony, walked C+L through their vows and ring exchanges, plus a handfasting ceremony where each guest got to lay their own ribbon on the couple’s hands before tying a knot to signify their lives being merged into one. So cute!! The two kissed, everyone cheered, and hugs were shared all around.
After taking some family photos, C+L broke off from the group to take some photos in the ancient growth forest and along Lake Crescent before breaking for lunch. They got to eat pizza and donuts with their guests, decompress, and take some time to rest before meeting back up with me later that evening at Rialto Beach.
We wandered the beach, watched the birds flying around, and had a ton of space to ourselves near sunset. Sometimes we just get so lucky with how few people are around when we’re taking photos and it’s such a blessing!!
Vendors
Venue: Olympic National Park
Photographer: Van Gachnang Photography
Officiant: Another Ones Ties the Knot
Florist: Fullness of Joy
Dress: Pronovias from A Love Story Bridal
Boots: Silent D Shoes
Suit: Brooks Brothers
Shoes: Taft
Hair and Makeup: It’s Likely Makeup by Min
Jewelry: Jennie Kwon Designs
Necklace: Femina Handmade
Invitations: Zazzle
If you want ancient growth forest, crystal clear lakes, dramatic coastline, decades old driftwood, and plenty more (in the summer and fall, there are SO many mountains to take advantage of!!), then consider the Olympic Coast or Olympic National Park for your elopement like C+L did. You’ll be blown away by how much there is to see on one peninsula!! Contact me to get more info and start planning this cool of an elopement for yourselves!
Kind and heartfelt words from C+L after receiving their full elopement gallery:
“After seeing some pictures, we had our hearts set on getting married in Olympic National Park but my wife Caitlin and I had never been out there. We had an idea of what we wanted our ceremony and elopement photos to be like but didn't really know where to begin. Fortunately the first thing we did was look for a photographer in the area and after speaking with a few Van had the best vision for our elopement and answered any questions we had about the park, planning the elopement, as well as providing various options in case certain areas didn't work out. We appreciated her knowledge and thoroughness from the very first call!
Choosing Van turned out to be the best decision. Van monitored access within the park for us and due to a fire in Hurricane Ridge visitors center, we were able to quickly come up with different options for where we would take a portion of our photos. The day of the elopement we had a schedule of the whole day planned, from getting ready, to the ceremony, to elopement photos in various spots throughout the park; we were able to do everything we had wanted to with very little stress and without feeling rushed in large part thanks to Van. Her artistic vision, ability to direct shots and capture candid moments was incredible. We never had so much fun taking pictures together!
Of course the best part was the photos of our elopement that we received from Van. They perfectly captured our vision of the day, and so much more! Van was able to send us a few photos from our elopement not long after the day and we couldn't stop looking at them! It'll be really hard for us to decide which photos to print out since they were all so amazing!
Our elopement in Olympic National Park became timeless, all thanks to Van. We are beyond grateful for her professionalism, dedication, talent and artistry, giving us a treasure trove of memories to cherish forever. If you are looking for an elopement photographer in the area, I would not hesistate to reach out to Van.”
