Elise & Hannah had the most amazing sun-soaked summer wedding in the Cascade Mountain foothills at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center. I am so thankful I was a part of their beautiful day. Elise & Hannah are some of the most thoughtful, sincere and kind ladies I've ever met, and photographing their wedding was so refreshing and fulfilling. Instead of stuffy traditions, the couple embraced a more low key wedding day. They scheduled their wedding ceremony for the middle of the day, which allowed guests to mingle and spend time together later into the day while still enjoying some wonderful Pacific Northwest sun. The couple swapped more "traditional" white and very "bridal" feeling wedding gowns for dresses that were much more in line with their unique tastes and personalities. They were custom made by Wai-Ching just for Hannah & Elise and turned out completely fabulous.
I absolutely loved a sign that a friend of the couple made for the wedding ceremony, which had space for everyone in attendance to sign their names as witnesses to the ceremony, pledging their support and love for the couple. One at a time each guest came to the front of the ceremony to sign their name, being personally greeted by the couple at the same time. I've never seen this done at another wedding I've photographed and it was so meaningful and perfect. Every aspect of Elise & Hannah's day was thoughtfully planned, each element thoughtfully chosen, each piece of the day a meaningful element to the couple. They chose things that they truly cared about - incorporating friends and family as much as possible - and discarded popular wedding trends like a bouquet toss - in favor of being able to spend more meaningful time with their guests. I hope that this couple inspires many more couples planning their wedding to focus on the parts of the relationship that are most significant and use those pieces to build a wedding celebration around. Elise & Hannah did an amazing job with that and I hope to be able to work with many more couples that embrace a similar lifestyle and philosophy as them in the future.
Please make sure to check out all the vendor credits and personal comments from the couple below the images! Their vendors were carefully chosen and deserve all the love and credit for their hard work and contributions to this wedding day.
Venue - Cedar River Watershed Education Center
Dress designer - Wai-Ching Based in Seattle. Elise's dress was the Esther dress, and Hannah's skirt was a custom design. Chrissy is amazing.
Flower farm for the handmade arrangements - From the couple: "We gathered our flowers with the help of some friends at the Beacon Food Forest. It's a unique, volunteer run permaculture project! We are long time volunteers there (and Elise joined the board after our wedding). Although there is an open community harvest policy, other people would probably need to volunteer there and/or know a bit about permaculture gardening in order to harvest their own flowers there. Hannah's family members made the flower arrangements, and the two of us made our own bouquets!!"
Hannah's flower crown - Down to Earth flowers and gifts
Grill / food catering - Patty Pan Cooperative (We love them.)
Jewelry - Aide-mémoire Jewelry - for our rings
Garlands - Everleaf Decorative Greens
Shoes - Hannah got her J. Jill shoes at Goodwill. Elise got her Pikolinos shoes at The Woolly Mammoth in Seattle's U District.
Day of Coordinator - Events by Elyse From the couple - "She was thoughtful and organized, and we highly recommend her services."
Film lab - The FIND Lab
Elise & Hannah's cakes were handmade by friends, their officiant was a close friend, and their marriage certificate design and creation was also completely done by a close friend. There were so many inspirational details and moments throughout this day. Thank you, Elise & Hannah for allowing me to document it all!
