Sarah and Zach dreamed of an intimate elopement day in the mountains with just the two of them. They wanted, snow, wildflowers, water, and of course a grand view, so Mt. Rainier was a complete fit.
They shared a first look at reflection lake, a popular area in Mt. Rainier National Park for the beautiful water that, on a still day, catches a beautiful reflection of Mt. Rainier. Their wedding date being July 17th worked perfectly for the wildflowers to be abundant throughout the hike up to their ceremony location, and still early enough in the season that after a certain point of the trail, the meadows were completely covered in snow. This gave the couple lots of room to roam around the area without needed to be worried about trampling on sensitive plant life, as well as contributed to an environment which allowed them to have a spontaneous snowball fight followed by building a little snow man.
Up top at the vista, the scene changed in stages from a crisp and clear view of Mt. Rainier, to a creeping fog that danced with the sunset, causing a beautiful explosion of colors like something out of a painting. A mountain goat even stopped by to give his blessing for the marriage!
We hiked down after blue hour was almost finished, and still needed an additional witness for the wedding, as their location was incredibly private. Well, it was about 11:30pm when we had gotten back to the parking lot and there wasn't a soul or vehicle around and then as fate would have it, a car happened to be driving down the road. We waived them down and it was two young college girls who were extremely excited to have a part in this very special and intimate wedding day.
It was everything the couple had asked for and we were so happy to have been able to be a part of it with them!