“You found parts of me I didn’t know existed and in you I found a love I no longer believed was real.”

He asked me to be his wife while flying over the Puget Sound on our way to Victoria, BC in a tiny Kenmore Air seaplane. We decided to stay true to ourselves and exchange vows, privately, on top of a “mountain” overlooking the Cascades on a beautiful summer afternoon. We asked a photographer who is a family friend to join us, picked a day he was available, and started planning the details. I made an appointment at BHLDN and took a break from the office to pick my dress.

On Wednesday morning, August 9th, the flowers were delivered to our doorstep. We packed up our fancies and headed toward Rattlesnake Ledge to meet our photographer and start the hike to the top. At the top, we found a little space to change into our wedding duds – separately, so we could do a little reveal! We climbed up on the ledge, exchanged vows and rings, kissed, and voila! I have a husband!!!

Just one week after our beautiful day, an amazing photographer friend was in town from Vegas and wanted us to help her out with a styled shoot. Duh! Drew and I are both huge suckers for beautiful photos, especially nature photos. This was a no brainer. We met her at Snoqualmie Falls, hopped the fence past the No Trespassing sign, changed into snazzy wedding attire right out in the open, and the rest is history.

My husband makes a pretty good model.

Before exchanging vows, we snuck in an engagement photo session as well. While we were in Colorado, we took advantage of the beautiful landscape, and were able to have our love captured. Honestly, while having three sessions in a matter of a month was daunting for Drew, he ended up feeling grateful for how romantic it was. It was just another moment highlighting how much we love each other and how deep our love runs. And, seriously, Stephanie, is incredibly talented in so many ways.

I love that our intimate moment was just that, intimate. We were focused only on each other and the commitment we were making. Our first conversations about getting married years ago included this type of “wedding” and I’m so glad we did it.

A year later, we hiked to the top again, to kiss and remind ourselves why we chose one another. After the year we had, there are so many more reasons!