Washington Coast Elopement at Olympic National Park

Images coming soon!

Y’all. Y’ALL. I don’t think I’ve ever driven home faster just to upload these photos to see how they turned out than I did with this session. I’m not even exaggerating. JUST LOOK AT THEM.

The final of three styled sessions I put on this winter was at Ruby Beach, located along the coast of Olympic National Park. This beach is situated along a dramatic, rocky part of the Pacific ocean that immediately blew my mind as soon as I arrived. The only reason I hadn’t been out there up until now was because it’s so damn far away! Over 3 hours from Tacoma, it was one hell of a drive round trip. But it was tooooootally worth it.

Situated on Quileute and Chalat land, most people know of the area because of La Push beach and Forks, Washington (also the hometown of Bella and Edward in the Twilight saga [yep, I saw them all as a teenager]). But this little pocket where Ruby Beach sits is nearly untouched by humans other than a parking lot and a path down to the ocean from the cliffs. Highway 101 has its fair share of stunning scenery, and Ruby Beach is NOT one to be missed.

Can we just talk about the florals that Natalie Parks Floral and Design put together for us?? Because I can’t get over how punchy and vibrant every single flower was, including a few types I had never even seen before!! Everything about this bouquet matched our palette perfectly and tied everything together. Shoutout to Natalie for pulling out all the stops for us!!

We arrived a couple of hours early to scout out some spots and to see what this place was all about before we started shooting, and even nearby beaches don’t compare to this one spot. The massive Abbey Island is a gigantic rock that juts out of the ocean like a mountain and can be seen in the background of a few photos. The other rock formations are similar, just smaller and more accessible!

The weather was about what you’d expect for February in Washington - chilly, drizzling, and pretty windy. We layered up and put on our raincoats to keep dry while we scouted the area, but soon enough it stopped raining altogether and the sun even peeked out a teensy bit later in the evening. That’s the PNW for ya.

Our models toughed out the 45-degree weather with us and made it look easy. We took plenty of breaks to warm up and take cover between rocks so the wind wasn’t quite so harsh on our bare skin. After shooting for about 2 hours, we all headed back to our cars, fueled up with snacks and water, and then headed back down to the beach for more action.

Once we got closer to sunset at about 5:30pm, the temperature dropped even more and the rain started again, so we called it a day and piled back into our cars to head home. I can say without a doubt that I’ll be back at Ruby Beach (and back at Olympic National park, duh) for more couple’s sessions and elopements. There’s just too much jaw-dropping goodness to pass this spot up.

Now keep scrolling to see some GIFs at the bottom!!