Day One: Forest Cabin Airbnb Engagement Photos & Game Night

When J & P asked to extend their elopement day coverage, we talked about all the ways we could use the extra time to truly capture them. And while we landed on adding most of the hours to their actual elopement day, we extended coverage to include a “day before” engagement session! And honestly, it turned out so perfectly. We planned to meet them in person for the first time at their elopement Airbnb in Glacier, WA, play games, take some cute couples photos, scout their ceremony location for the following day, and ease any nerves before the big day!

The Best Engagement Photoshoot Activity: Games!

One of our favorite things about these two is that they are serious game people. Like, if there’s a board or dice game around, you bet your butt, they’re going to be playing. So, we kicked off their engagement session by playing games and hanging out at the Airbnb they’d rented for their elopement weekend. Doing an activity to start J & P’s engagement session really made the evening feel more like spending time with friends than working. We learned a new game while watching them play, laughed a lot, and eased into the start of their two day elopement adventure!

Hot cocoa, tea, and cozy vibes

After a couple rounds of games, J & P made tea and coffee (which was perfect because J is a coffee-connoisseur) and soaked up some relaxing moments together. It was perfect because all four of us had the opportunity to chat more in person after virtually planning for months and months. This “day before” engagement session helped ease all of our nerves and allowed the four of us time to go over any last details for their elopement the next day as well. Getting to have two days with our couples always ends up being so wonderful!

Forest Portraits & Exploring

Once we had taken some fun engagement photos at the Airbnb, we headed down a nearby forest trail to explore. We wandered a bit, taking our time and stopping whenever something caught our eye. Eventually, we made our way down to the Nooksack River to scout out the spot where they’d be saying their vows the next day. Getting to see them standing there together, imagining what was coming in less than 24 hours, felt really special. It just made us all even more excited for day two!

Exploring J & P’s ceremony location along the Nooksack River

We knew ahead of time that J & P were going to say vows along the Nooksack River by their Airbnb rental. The location was already chosen ahead of time, and we had a backup spot in case this one didn’t work out. But it was so nice getting to be a bit more spontaneous and explore the location with them the day before! This spot along the river is a private access point that only residents of the gated community are allowed to explore, which made it perfect for a secluded ceremony.

Day Two: Hiking Elopement Adventure Along Chain Lakes Loop

Their elopement day is honestly such a great rubric for having a day full of adventure, but also not rushing from one thing to the next. J & P’s elopement was a full day spent celebrating in a way that felt completely like them! They took their time getting ready at the cutest Airbnb in northern Washington, exchanged vows by the river with their best friend (and matchmaker!) officiating, laughed and cried over letters from family, enjoyed an insanely good catered lunch on the patio, and wrapped up the day with an adventure through the mountains near Artist Point. Between the beautiful PNW views and the way J & P looked at each other with so much love, it was hard to not have a beautiful day!

Amazing vendor team!

Photography & Videography: Venture to Elope

Hair & Makeup: Anne Timss

Private Chef: Ginkgo Fine Dining

Airbnb Rental: Mt Baker Hygge Hus

Wedding Details & Getting Ready

J & P collected so many beautiful details to help tell the narrative of their relationship and elopement adventure! We especially loved all of the letters from loved ones, custom cufflinks, and embroidered hiking socks. But the wooden florals were also super awesome, especially because the Mount Baker Wilderness requires non-seeded floral arrangements for small weddings and elopements.

Bride’s getting ready moments

While J hung out in a sofa chair nearby, P had Anne Timss doing her hair and makeup! She opted for a natural makeup look with a half-up half-down hairstyle and a wooden floral hair piece. P looked absolutely gorgeous! After getting her hair & makeup done, she FaceTimed her sister, and then helped J get his cufflinks on. She went into the bathroom to get changed while J got ready in the living room to help them stay separated for a first look!

Groom’s getting ready moments

J got almost fully dressed in the bedroom, and then did some of the finishing touches outside in the living room with better natural light. He had a lovely, dark floral tie with a dark suit and hiking boots!

Airbnb Portraits & Gifts

After sharing a first look on the wraparound stairs outside, we took some portraits around the Airbnb and P helped pin J’s boutonnière on. The Mt Baker Hygge Hus has so many gorgeous windows and beautiful trees/ferns around the property. It’s the perfect place for some gorgeous portraits!

Before we left the Airbnb to walk to their ceremony location, J & P grabbed some graham crackers as a snack and their best friend gave them a sweet gift to open!

Nooksack Riverside Ceremony

Walking down the forest trail, we had to climb over a couple of logs, but that was just part of the adventure! P absolutely loves trees (pines specifically), so the way down to their ceremony location, we kept catching her just marveling at all of the tall moss-covered trees.

At the river, J & P committed to forever together, pouring their hearts out, exchanging rings, and sealing it with a first kiss! Their best friend did an incredible job with his ceremony script, too. Everything was just magical to witness!!

Catered Lunch By Ginkgo Fine Dining

Arriving back at the Airbnb, we were greeted with the best catered lunch! The tablescape was beautiful, and the entire menu was to-die-for. Chef Abigail went through everything that she had prepared for J & P, which consisted of a lot of yummy summer dishes using seasonal ingredients. While we left J & P to enjoy the lunch with their best friend out on the back deck, Adam and I had servings set out for us inside! My favorite was probably the roasted chicken and lemon orzo or apricot scones!

Hiking Part of Chain Lakes Loop

While we had originally planned to hike the entire Chain Lakes Loop up near Artist Point, J & P were enjoying a slightly more relaxed timeline on their actual elopement day. So, since they spent more time reading letters by the river and enjoying lunch, we decided to only hike part of the trail for the sunset portion of their day!

Chain Lakes Loop is a popular trail in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and Mount Baker Wilderness. It’s a little over 6 miles with almost 1800 feet of elevation gain! This loop trail can take around 4-5 hours. Please make sure to always stay on trail to protect the fragile landscape, pack the proper gear, and practice leave no trace. We saw so many groups of people without proper attire, little to no water, and no headlamps while hiking around sunset.

But the hike up to where we decided to stop was gorgeous the whole way! It was steep, and we had to stop many times, but the wildflowers were starting to bloom amongst the melting snow, which was gorgeous. We even saw a backcountry skier hiking up to get a ton of runs in before the sun set!

Getting changed & epic individual portraits

At the top, we set up our pop-up changing tent to let J & P get back into their wedding attire. It was super windy, so we had to hold the tent down with all our might! But then, we captured individual portraits of J & P in the soft late afternoon light.

Sunset Portraits of Mount Baker & Mount Shuksan

Our goal was to capture sunset portraits with views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan, and I think we succeeded!! This viewpoint has some incredible mountain views, and with the lovely weather we had, there was tons of visibility. While there was still quite a bit of snow at the top, we found some dry rocks and durable surfaces to walk on.

Sunset first dance

J & P shared a first dance in the dry rocks at the top! The warm sun was so lovely, and cast golden light on both of them while they shared that moment.

Blue hour photos & hiking back in the dark

And just when we thought the sun was done, the alpenglow on Mount Shuksan shocked us all! The entire mountain was cast in such a beautiful pinky glow. We knew that we had to capture a few blue hour moments before we hiked back down! So, we sprayed extra bug spray and J & P trekked through the snow to finish out their elopement day photos.