Chris & Christine’s elopement at Mount Rainier didn’t exactly go as planned, but at the end of the weekend, we had successfully celebrated them + their marriage! And that’s what it’s all about…right? Right!! (Also another reason why I LOVE elopements. There’s so much freedom to celebrate exactly where + how the couple wants to, and change plans as needed!)
In my last post here on the blog, I shared photos from Chris & Christine’s engagement session and alluded to the story of their elopement.
So here’s what happened…
After we took some photos at the High Alpine Chapel at Boehm’s Candies & Chocolate, we headed up toward Mount Rainier…fully intending to hike around and take epic pictures! Chris & Christine had legally gotten married some months before, but wanted to exchange vows + rings again with Mount Rainier as the epic backdrop.
I arrived a bit early, and decided to hike up to the area we were thinking of going. Part way into my hike, the rains came. At first, it was just little drizzles, but it gained momentum quickly. And along with the rain came the wind. (The only good part? No mosquitoes.) I headed back down to my car, where I hunkered down and waited for Chris & Christine to arrive.
Once they did arrive, we made the (hard + disappointing) decision to postpone till the following morning, in hopes that the rain would roll through and we’d get a beautiful sunrise. We all headed off to our respective hotels, with the plan to meet just before dawn the next day.
Dawn arrived, and we headed out from the parking lot toward our destination in the roaming foothills of Mount Rainier.
We finally found the perfect little spot amongst the wildflowers* and Chris & Christine exchanged vows and rings with only Mount Rainier, myself, and approximately 2 billion mosquitoes as witnesses.
*Please note that, while it may look like it, Chris & Christine were not trampling the wildflowers. In some of the photos, where it looks like they are right in the middle of a wildflower patch, they are actually standing on a little trail.
Overnight, smoke from wildfires around the state had blown in, so Mount Rainier wasn’t *quite* as large and in charge + vivid as normal, and we never got a golden sunrise. But honestly, no matter the weather there, Mount Rainier National Park is always INCREDIBLE. And Chris & Christine made it even more so!
We finished out their day around 9am, just as the place started swarming with tourists. Then it was time for some breakfast and coffee for all of us! (And definitely calamine lotion for the mosquito bites…worth it though for these pictures!)
Mr & Mrs Noury, thank you for bringing me along on this crazy weekend of adventures! I know your elopement at Mount Rainier didn’t turn out *exactly* like you originally thought it would, but we made magic with the lemons we were handed, and I think we can all be proud of that! I wish you two nothing but the best in life, and sincerely hope to have you in front of my camera again!!
Leave a Reply