Ellie and Jason’s Epic Adventure at Mt. Rainier | Washington Summer Pre Wedding Bridal Session | Mt. Rainier Elopement Photographer
Mt. Rainier in the summer is a mountain view to be reckoned with. Add in an adventurous Ellie and Jason in their bridal outfits for a pre-wedding, elopement style session, and my eyes, heart and shutter finger were on FIRE.
I’m not even sure where to begin with this beautiful day. I flew into Seattle the night before and met up with Ellie and Jason the next morning at Snoqualmie Falls, which is about 2 hours out of Mt. Rainier. Originally this shoot was supposed to take place in a Lavender field, but after digging into that research and not finding a situation we loved, Jason suggest Mt. Rainier. I was STOKED and so down, but didn’t know how much of a blast this day would turn into.
We drove into Mt. Rainier together, spending our hours in the car chatting about their wedding that I’d be back to shoot a few weeks later (another epic day), chatting about our travels, the adventures we love, the people we love, and all things in between. We got to the outside of the park where I set eyes on Mt. Rainier close up for the first time, and my excitement probably scared them a bit - haaa! BUT IT WAS SO STINKIN BEAUTIFUL!
We got to the trailhead/visitor center, and had a little picnic together, filled with lots of deliciousness, and lotssss of blueberries. GAME CHANGER. They changed into their wedding outfits in the visitor center outfits, Ellie wrapped a bed sheet around the tulle bottom of her dress, and up we went!
Through the evening, we hit pine tree heaven, the most epic waterfall everrrrr, a field of snow, epic mountain views everywhere we looked, and the most BEAUTIFUL sunset, that seemed to last forever. It was a hike filled with undoing, and rewrapping Ellies dress to try our best to keep it as clean as possible for her upcoming wedding day, but she was SUCH a trooper in carrying it around all day and not worrying about it getting too dirty if it meant a fun moment was waiting. My. Kinda. Girl. We shot until the sun went down and scurried our booties back down the mountain in as blue hour escaped us.
Bridal sessions are SO much fun because they give us so much control over photos. Wedding venues are beautiful, but unless you’re eloping, it’s hard to get photos with these views at venues, so bridal sessions give us complete control of the location. We also have complete control over our timing and light. We scheduled this shoot 4-5 hours before sunset because we knew we wanted to get there, have a picnic, take our time with hiking and truly just ENJOY the area together, not be in a rush to get to the top, and then once golden hour hit, we were in no rush to get back to their reception because the only thing waiting for us was the car, so we had all the time in the world. And with time comes creative freedom for me, and so much more comfortability for you. The longer we spend together, the more natural things feel, and the more BOMB you look in your photos!
Also, knowing we had all this time and all of these photos, meant that Ellie and Jason spent way more time with all the people that came to celebrate with them on their wedding day, because we didn’t need to take them for very long for actual portraits on their wedding day. Of course we snapped a few, but not nearly as many as if we hadn’t already shot. Not to mention they were complete pro’s at knowing how to move + interact with each other as I photographed them, because they had hours of practice in the books ;)
I’m so grateful to have had this adventure with these two. My favorite thing about this job is creating lifelong friends with couples after their day is all said and done, and I know these two will be buds of mine for a long time to go. Their wedding was the most beautiful day, and these two are surrounded with so much love. I can’t wait to watch their relationship grow, and to watch where life takes these two little adventurers. Jason is on his way to his pilot license, so he's flying us to Iceland for our next shoot, right Jason? ;)
Planning an elopement or intimate wedding at Mt. Rainier? Or feeling inspired to book a bridal session after seeing this adventure? Awesome! Throw me a note below and let's get chattin on how we can build an epic experience for you and your person!
Ellie and Jason’s Epic Adventure at Mt. Rainier | Washington Summer Pre Wedding Bridal Session | Mt. Rainier Elopement Photographer