Rainy Olympic National Park Elopement | Ruby Beach + Hoh Rainforest Elopement

This beautiful winter Olympic National Park elopement was far from this couple’s original plan for their wedding. But while this year has thrown a wrench in everyone’s life plans, one of the positive glimmers of hope we have seen again and again this year is that more couples have been actually breathing a sigh of relief at being able to have the small, intimate elopement experience they wanted from the beginning. We hope that as the – hopeful – end of the pandemic draws closer, couples still feel empowered to have wedding days that actually reflect them.

But enough about COVID. Let’s talk about this couple and their rainy Washington elopement in Olympic National Park.

Samantha and Anthony were a textbook definition of a couple trying to plan a wedding in 2020 – these two planned not 1 but 4 different wedding days. Originally, they were set to have an intimate wedding on the California coast in March, but lockdown hit about two weeks prior to their date, so they pushed it back to July (ahh, how hopeful we all were back in the early days).

Needless to say, July came and went, and then they moved to Idaho in the fall so Samantha could start PA school, so we made tentative plans to have their wedding on their original March date in 2021. Then at the end of November they messaged us saying they were just ready to get married, damnit! So we pivoted and planned a rad adventure elopement in Washington for them.

Yes – in just three weeks!

Samantha wanted a moody, rainy, foggy wedding day with lots of greens, water, and an overall “Twilight” vibe. So what better place than Olympic National Park? We even drove through Forks, WA on the way from the AirBNB to Ruby Beach (though fun fact – literally no scenes from the movies were actually filmed there).

We found them an absolutely stunning AirBNB that was a legit castle. Yes, you can get ready for your wedding day in an actual castle in Sequim (pronounced “squim”) Washington. Samantha face-timed her mom and sisters as she got ready in the morning so they could all do their makeup together, and the two had their first look in front of the AirBNB before going back inside for their ceremony.

Though they had originally planned to have their ceremony at Ruby beach, the forecast of rain and the promise of solid WIFI had us shifting our plans slightly. They shared their vows in front of the fireplace at the AirBNB, so their families were able to join the ceremony via zoom. Samantha’s grandfather was even able to officiate, by pre-recording the ceremony for them to play on an iPad. Afterward, we headed out and spent the rest of the day exploring around Crescent Lake, Ruby Beach, and the Hoh Rainforest.

Samantha and Anthony, we are so freaking happy for you, and so honored to have been able to document this magical day.

Keep scrolling to see some of our favorite moments from this Olympic National Park adventure elopement!

Vendors:

Suit: ASOS

Dress: Baltic Born

AirBNB: Sequim Lavender Castle

Groom shoes: Mark Nason and L.L. Bean

Bride shoes: Thursday Boots

Rings: Jewelry by Johan