Lake Quinault Lodge, Quinault Rainforest, and Ruby Beach Elopement

Lake Quinault Lodge Elopement Photos

We started at Lake Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Park, a historic hotel built back in 1926. This incredible lodge was built along the lakeshore of Lake Quinault, a beautiful glacially-carved lake. The fog and clouds had rolled in, but we stayed dry! All four of us explored the grounds of the lodge and then walked along the southeast part of the lake. This is much less busy than Lake Crescent, another incredible lake in Olympic, and a great place for a slightly more private elopement adventure. We highly recommend considering Lake Quinault for your intimate wedding experience! 

Quinault Rainforest + Waterfall Photos

After adventuring around the Lake Quinault area, we ventured over to a couple of waterfall locations within the Quinault Rainforest. We always make sure to practice Leave No Trace at these locations. Durable surfaces can include rocks, but it’s also super important to be safe when climbing on rocks (especially in wedding attire and fancy shoes). We climbed rocks and explored 3 different waterfalls that we had mostly to ourselves!

These two were initially nervous about being in front of the camera, but they opened up so quickly! That’s why it’s really important for us to connect many times prior to your elopement day. This is one of the most magical days for our couples, and we don’t want to feel like strangers. By the end of this elopement, we were all chatting comfortably, and we had such an amazing time overall! We feel so honored to have been able to document K+C’s day and get to know them both. They’re outstanding people who truly love each other!

Ruby Beach Sunset Elopement Ceremony

After exploring the Quinault Valley, we drove out to the coast for sunset. These two wanted to have a short ceremony before the sun went down, so we assessed the beach and decided that this spot in front of one of the most iconic rocks on Ruby Beach would be perfect! Adam and I got everyone set up to perfectly capture the falling sun. It turned out to be one of the most magical ceremonies we’ve ever captured! 

Ruby Beach is a very popular beach along the Washington Coast. For elopements and intimate weddings here, we have a few suggestions:

• Make sure to always check the tide charts in order to figure out the best (as well as the safest) time to be on the beach!
• Always reach out to Olympic National Park about permits.
• There will 100% be other people here, so please be considerate of other visitors! Respect goes a long way. If you don’t want anyone to be around, we have plenty of lesser known areas that we can recommend as well.
• Pack everything out! Don’t leave any trash behind.
• Please leave driftwood and rocks on the beach!

Ruby Beach Sunset Elopement Photos

Immediately following their ceremony, K+C popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate, and then we got right into sunset photos! The lighting was perfect, and even though these two were worried about being “awkward,” they definitely didn’t look so in the photos! We all had a blast climbing drift wood, walking barefoot in the sand, running into the waves, and watching the sun go down. It was truly a night to remember!

Cake Cutting + Elopement Details

They brought a beautiful little cake down to the beach where they cut it together! They both may or may not have smooshed a bit of cake in each other’s faces… you’ll just have to keep scrolling to see those photos! Adam and I also gathered their details and took some photos of everything on the beach. We always build in about 15-20 minutes to take detail photos, as well as landscape photos. This is really important in telling the full story of your elopement day!

Blue Hour Washington Coast Elopement Portraits

Right after the sun disappears, we love capturing a few additional photos during blue hour. Blue hour is known as the period of twilight when the sun is just far enough below the horizon, so the sunlight’s blue wavelengths dominate. The sky and surrounding landscape ends up being cast with a rich blue that’s just incredible! We grabbed out the lanterns and continued to run along the beach. It was the perfect end to a beautiful elopement day.

Olympic National Park Elopement Gallery

Keep scrolling to see more images from this beautiful Olympic National Park elopement. And if you’re looking to plan your Olympic National Park elopement, reach out to us know to get more information and book a call. We’d love to help you plan the perfect PNW wedding!