A-Frame Cabin and Sunrise Mount Rainier Small Wedding Inspiration

When Paley and Hector reached out to us about an A-Frame cabin inspired Mount Rainier small wedding, we couldn’t hide our excitement. There are so many beautiful cabins at Rainier, but these two chose a black A-Frame cabin in Packwood. We started with the cabin being their first priority, and then built the rest of their elopement adventure around that.

They wanted full day coverage, so we met them at the Airbnb first for some getting ready coverage. Paley and Hector also really wanted to utilize the cute in-ground cedar hot tub at the cabin! So, we grabbed some decor and set up the hot tub for some couples photos. It was a great way to ease into taking photos, getting to know them better, and helping them feel more comfortable with our directions. Plus, it was an awesome start to their elopement day morning!

They got ready with each of their sisters. It was awesome having the intimacy of hardly anyone at the cabin with them, but it was also really nice to have their sisters to help out.

We set up a first look on the back deck, and guided Paley to walk down the stairs and through the cabin. She surprised Hector with a nice booty slap for their first look (LOL). Make sure to watch the film to see his reaction! There were definitely a lot of happy tears shed.

We took some cabin portraits, and then headed towards the park. Of course we had to stop at the entrance for a classic Rainier photo! There are 4 main entrances to the park: Nisqually (Southwest Entrance), Stevens Canyon (Southeast Entrance), Carbon River (Northwest Entrance), and White River/Sunrise (Northeast Entrance). Each entrance requires a $30/vehicle entry fee, or you can use an America The Beautiful Pass. There are also discounted National Park passes for military and senior citizens.

For a lot of our couples, they’ve never been to the places they’re eloping at, so they’re seeing everything for the first time. That’s why we often go to some of the same locations, or get some of the same images. If our couple wants to stop at the entrance, we always oblige! Just make sure to have someone always checking both sides of the road for oncoming traffic.

Then, we headed to one of our favorite little trails on the outskirts of the park. It’s a busy trail in areas, but we had it mostly to ourselves this day. We oooh-ed and ahhh-ed at the massive trees, they enchanged gifts, and then we headed up to Sunrise.

Adam and I guided their guests to their ceremony spot (always make sure to get your ceremony location approved by the permit coordinator for the park). Paley and Hector had a first look with their parents, and then they had a beautiful ceremony in the fall afternoon light. They tied the knot (literally – they did a knot tying unity ceremony) and celebrated with champagne and some sunset portraits!

We were almost all the way back to the parking after the sun had disappeared when we realized the sky looked like cotton candy! The colors were rich and the clouds looked super fluffy. We stopped and took a few photos! It took a lot of photoshopping to get the right amount of color and detail, but it was too beautiful not to try. Make sure to scroll to the end to see how they turned out!