How to Elope in the Summer in Olympic National Park

They originally are from a small town in Pennsylvania and wanted something more scenic. Which, typically Washington is the best state to elope in in the summer (being a little bias). It’s got less mosquitoes than Alaska, less hot then 99% of the rest of the country, and pretty much has no fires. Most of the time that is…

In all my years of living in Washington, I have experienced maybe 3 wildfire summers, and this year just happened to be one of them. We did the best we could to embrace the haze. Thankfully we ended out up in the mountains up above the smoke and could see the sun!

But like I said, this is abnormal. Typical weather in the Olympics in the summer are amazing.  When we talk about how to elope in the summer, what most people think of first is heat.  As I said above heat isn’t too much of an issue in western Washington. 

The other big concern can be the crowds.  In some parks, such as Rainier, North Cascades, or other parks in the area, people flock to see the gorgeous mountains up close.  One of the biggest advantages of Olympic National Park is that the amount of people visiting the park is relatively low.  There can still be a lot of people at the more popular spots.  If you want to check out some popular spots check out my Top 5 places to elope in Olympic National Park.

Slight detour here.  You will want to check out the NPS website to get your permit and check out the current conditions for road closures, campground reservations, trail permits, ceremony permits, etc. so here it is.

Aside from picking a location that isn’t as visited, there’s a few other things you can do to avoid the crowds if you want to elope in the summer.  You can pick a date during the week.  The main spots are not as crowded during the week for the most part.

You can also choose to have your ceremony (or even the entire shoot) earlier or later in the day.  Some spots are best in the morning, while some are best in the evening.  The best shooting times are in the morning or evening in Washington.  That makes things a lot easier, right?

I could go on and on about how to elope during the summer but I think you should check out my How to Elope in Olympic National Park guide that has a ton of information that you’ll probably be needing soon anyways.  

Let’s get to the core of the matter here.  When we talk about how to elope in the summer, we’re talking about being adaptable.  One of the main parts to eloping (as  you can see in my guide you just read, if you haven’t done so, I’d suggest it now 😉 is letting go of the stress.  The easiest way to do that is to recognize that things never go 100% as you plan them. 

 If you’re wanting to elope in the summer, you will have to deal with a lot more variables (crowds, permits, harsher light, etc.) than you would during the other seasons.  Being able to adapt to these changing variables can make your big day so much better.  I can help some with my punny humor and crazy-white-girl dance moves, but when you let go of your fears and let yourself enjoy your day, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

How is this relevant to this elopement of Sophie and Jonathan? They’re pretty much the best example of adaptability there is.  When they first came to me they asked that same question of how to elope in the summer in Olympic National Park.  I basically told them that same answer about adaptability and they were completely on board.  Little did they know…

Fire season is the summer.  Ok, yeah I know, “thanks Captain Obvious” but hear me out.  I hinted at it above but Olympic isn’t usually hit with fires so when it was this year, we had to adapt and pivot (you’ll get the reference when  you check out the first photo below…haha sorry I had to).  

We were able to work it out so that we didn’t have to be near the fires and so we were completely safe.  Safety is my highest priority so there were some slight concerns but I knew that as long as they were up for it, we would “punch today in the face” as it were and make the most of it.  

We killed it that day and the results are gorgeous.  Let me know what you think and let’s talk.  If you’re ready Contact me now and we’ll get it started!

Now you know how to elope in the summer in Olympic National Park but that’s not the only season.  Make sure and stay tuned for the rest of the series of how to elope in Olympic National Park during the other seasons.  If there’s something else you would like me to write about, let me know and I’ll get it out there for you!

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out my other blogs here.  I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed shooting them!