If you’ve never visited Washington’s rugged coastline, you really should. And if you’re looking for a place to elope that is away from it all and full of adventure, this could very well be the destination of your dreams. So when these two reached out about having their elopement in the Hoh Rainforest and then heading out to a beautiful beach for sunset, I knew we were in for a spectacular adventure!
Situated in the SW foothills of the Olympic mountains in Olympic National Park, the Hoh Rainforest gets substantially more rain than anywhere else in US and about 5 times more rain than Seattle (Seattle, believe it or not, doesn’t even make the top 15 major US cities when it comes to having the most average annual rainfall). It is a trek, however, spanning hours on roads that wind for miles upon miles through forests, and once you finally reach the park, you’ll spend a while waiting in a line of cars to get in, even on a weekday (due to the limited parking). But with its lush ferns and moss-covered trees, it is a place of tremendous beauty and tranquility. After some scouting around, I found a beautiful secluded spot along a seldom used trail for their ceremony. I loved how they both walked up to the officiant together to begin their ceremony! And there were tears of joy as they read their vows to each other – it was so beautiful and touching! Afterwords, they donned their backpacks and and we walked around a bit and captured a few more images of these two all glowing and newly married before heading back out of the park towards the coast!
We hiked about a mile and half each way out to a lovely beach with enormous pillars of rock jutting up out of the water. It’s a beach that had been on my list for a while and after checking the tide schedule, we knew we’d be hitting it pretty much perfectly, with the lowest tide happening just around sunset! The clouds had peeled away and while the wind was blowing pretty fiercely, it was an absolutely gorgeous sunset, full of incredible colors! We had so much fun out there and these two looked absolutely amazing too! I loved her boho-inspired dress and accessories, and his purple suit was incredible! They look so good together! And getting to spend the afternoon and evening with them, I can tell that they are just the sweetest couple together too! Hiking back in the dark was interesting as the wind had created so much foam on the shore that it was literally a few feet deep in many places!
Congratulations you two! Thank you so much for entrusting me to capture and help plan your elopement day! I had so much fun with both of you and I’m so glad you made the trek all the way from Wisconsin for your elopement on the Washington Coast! Enjoy a peek at a few of the many highlights and wishing you both all the best as husband and wife!
