Summer Bridals at Mt. Rainier
Planning The Bridal Session
I’ve been so excited lately to see that more and more couples are feeling free to break common wedding tradition and just do what feels best for them. Cami and Peter’s epic bridal session at Mt. Rainier is a fitting example of exactly this. While planning to elope in Mexico this winter, they knew they wanted to way to celebrate in the mountains of their adopted Washington home.
Mt. Rainier was an easy choice for them off the list of suggested locations I had scouted. Cami and Peter had gotten engaged there the previous winter and so the mountain had special significance for them. I was also extremely excited to photograph their bridals here. I admittedly don’t visit Mt. Rainier as often as I’d like to and, partly because of where I live in Washington, find myself venturing north into the Cascades more often than south.
Our Summer Evening at Mt. Rainier
We met up outside Seattle and enjoyed the two hour drive down towards Mt. Rainier. Our excitement grew as minute by minute we saw the mountain growing bigger through the car windows. After a quick detour on the wrong forest road, we climbed up the correct route and arrived at the trailhead on schedule still.
I had scouted a cool ridgeline outside the national park, which yielded an unobscured view of Mt. Rainier. We made the short hike up, accompanied by Cami’s sister who would do some quick hair and makeup before we began.
One of the highlights of photographing in summer that I look forward to each year is the long daylight hours. We photographed Cami and Peter’s bridal session just a few weeks after the summer solstice and those 9pm sunsets really are special. There’s something about staying in the mountains until dark that fosters such rhapsody time and again.
I was so thrilled with the intimacy we felt with this special mountain towering over us. We stayed until the summer sun set behind the mountains, taking in each moment, until it was time to bust out the headlamps and hike back to the car.
Mt. Rainier has so many incredible aspects, which is why I consider it one of the best places to elope in Washington. I’m excited to further explore this area with my couples in the future.
Hey, I’m Warren and this is my why behind everything I do!
I believe this is where it all starts and is at the heart of everything, so let me tell you. I have a soft spot for sentimentality and I think love is awesome. I’m so grateful that I discovered photography early in life because I’ve been able to document my own journey in a creative fashion. For that reason, I have a strong passion for giving that same experience to others and take great pride in getting the responsibility of documenting their stories. Each picture has a story or feeling behind it and I love to capture that novelty. Arresting those moments in time allows us to remember and feel more intensely. I know how much I value that and enjoy passing that along to others through photography. I would love to be a part of telling your story.