Sunrise to Sunset on Ruby Beach
The best way to start your elopement on the Olympic Coast Adventure
at least in my opinion, is with a warm cup of coffee. Laura and Waylon decided to make it a little extra special by brewing and enjoying that cup of fresh morning joe sitting on a driftwood log as the sun rose on Ruby Beach. Not only was it a great way to get a little caffeine boost for the adventure ahead, but more importantly, it was the perfect way to set the tone for the day. When planning an elopement, I always tell couples the best thing to do is plan it like they aren’t getting married or wearing formal attire for the day. Pretend you’re on vacation and plan it with the goal of having a great time and seeing amazing places. Then work your ceremony into it, and you have an amazing adventure! That will not only mean a great time and lots of fun memories, but also incredible photos. The photos you will treasure for a lifetime aren’t the perfectly posed model-esque shots (we’ll get some of those), but the ones that show the two of you with sparkles in your eyes laughing as you jump across a patch of mud. It’s the cliche “look natural” you always hear photographers tell their subjects but made actually helpful. It can be intimidating to stand in front of the camera, but it’s hard to care as much about the camera when you’re hiking through the old-growth forests of Olympic National Park.
These two followed that advice perfectly. We went from our sunrise coffee session to an intimate ceremony with their best friends at Maple Grove in the Hoh Rainforest. We had a grand ol’ time hiking the rest of the Hall of Mosses before setting off to see the Big Cedar Tree. Fun fact: there are multiple “Big Cedar Trees” in Olympic, and you’ll want to make sure everyone is headed to the same one. Laura, Waylon, and I went to one, and their friends ended up at the other. But in the end, we all met back up for dinner at their cabin, where one of their friends blew us all away with some incredible crab cakes. If you don’t have a professional chef best friend, I highly recommend finding one for your elopement! To draw an incredible day to a close, we ended the day where it had begun. I absolutely loved getting a shot of them on the same log they had their coffee on, but now lit by the setting sun. Just a perfect end to a perfect day.
