SHAYLAH & DEVON’S PACKWOOD / MT. RAINIER ELOPEMENT DAY

I will always feel ecstatic to photograph a wedding in the mountains of Washington. This particular day is one for the books, and I’m so excited to finally share these photos, along with a short story from their day.

Shaylah and Devon decided to elope with just themselves, so it was a small group of Dakota the caterer, Megan the planner/stylist, Cherise the officiant, and of course myself, photographing this mountain elopement. The plan was for Shaylah and Devon to have their ceremony at their airbnb cabin in Packwood, eat their delicious wedding dinner and cocktails, and then head up Mt. Rainier to take some gorgeous wedding photos with me. However, the evening before their elopement, they arrived at the airbnb and quickly realized there was definitely not a spot for the ceremony to take place, as the “yard” was right next to multiple cabins/apartments that were not so photogenic. As well as a noisy highway. Megan and I knew we had to figure out something to make their day every bit as magical as they imagined. So that’s when the replanning kicked in. We of course couldn’t have their ceremony in Mt Rainier National Park because we had not planned on getting them a ceremony permit (If you need advice on how to acquire a permit for a ceremony at Mt Rainier click here) so we decided to try and find a spot nearby their airbnb. Easy enough, right? Well…no. Wedding permit rules pretty much apply to most parks, so all we had left was wandering around the neighborhood of their airbnb hoping to find a spot THE MORNING OF THEIR WEDDING!

Megan and I desperately drove down backroads, had close encounters with ticks, talked to confused locals for advice on where a couple could yes, get married that day, and explaining that no, this isn’t a joke.

Randomly, we came across a gentleman doing maintenance to a home nearby Shaylah and Devons airbnb. We just stopped to ask him if a particular trail was privately owned, and he confirmed it indeed was. We explained to the gentleman, Mike, that we were searching for a ceremony spot. Mike immediately called his wife to see if he could offer up his own property to us, which was on the river, and apparently quite beautiful. After some back and forth and much convincing that Megan and I were not crazies, his wife agreed to have us!

You’ll see Mike pictured in this blog post, signing as one of the witnesses (along with Megan) to Shaylah and Devon’s marriage license! I just had to include this story since I am just in awe of the sheer kindness from these strangers, and it definitely added such a beautiful element to their elopement day.

After their ceremony (and it was SUCH a good ceremony thanks to Cherise) we had a pitstop at their Airbnb so Dakota could serve up some celebratory cocktails to the newlyweds. I then drove them up the Mountain and took their portraits amongst the fog rolling in. One thing I love about Mount Rainier is you never know what the weather will look like, even in August.

Dakota had dinner waiting for them once we got back, and they sat at the gorgeous table Megan put together.