Dustin & Lysa were originally meant to be married next year, but when the Coronavirus pandemic hit and everything started getting serious, they decided to pull their special day forward because you don’t know what the future holds.

So it was that I woke up at 3:30am on the summer solstice and hopped in my car to drive down to Tolmie State Park near Olympia. From there we hiked into the park to a beautiful spot under the forest canvas. While everyone else assembled the beautiful homemade arch, I took Dustin & Lysa down to the beach to get some couples photos. Dustin was rocking an amazing floral-esque shirt from LINK while Lysa had a stunning nightscape themed veil. They both incorporated PNW flowers in Lysa’s bouquet and Dustin’s boutonnière, both from LINK.

After their couples portraits we headed back to meet the others and proceed to their ceremony. With Dustin’s sister Emma leading the way we walked into the forest with Dustin’s parents antique lanterns lighting the way. Under a homemade arch and with their closest family looking on, Dustin & Lysa said vows to each other and then held a handfasting ceremony to literally tie the knot.

We headed down to the water for some “just married” photos on the beach where we came upon dozens of adorable tiny crabs. It started raining just as we got to the beach but thankfully these two had thought of everything and had clear umbrellas standing by. Thankfully the rain only last a few minutes and then we were able to head back into the forest for some family photos before heading out.

When I think elopement, this is what I think of. Not a way to avoid having people at your wedding, not running away from it all, consciously choosing all the details you want included including the people and having your wedding day exactly as you want it. Thank you Dustin & Lysa for having me along on this special day.

Check out the photos from their Tolmie State Park sunrise elopement below.