Hannah and Daniel's Chilled Out Woodland Elopement in Washington by Beginning and End Photo

Hannah and Daniel were married on 17th July 2023 at fernacres in Washington. ‘We love Washington so much! I’ve been there 8 times in the past four years to visit my sister and her family. Daniel has been there twice now. It was the perfect halfway point between Illinois (where me and my immediate family are from) and Hawaii (where Daniel’s family is from). We had 15 guests and it took 6 months to plan. It was great because we booked an elopement package with Beginning and End Photography which came with vendors like photography, hair, flowers, make-up and the venue! It was the best because we didn’t have to go out and find the vendors ourselves and risk not getting a good one. Everyone was fantastic to work with and made the whole experience easy! Since 80% of the wedding was done, all we had left to do was plan activities for the weekend like going to Victoria, Canada, a lavender farm and more!’ Big thanks to Beginning and End Photo for the planning and photography.

The beginning of an adventure of two souls joined in an intimate sacrosanct ceremony before God, family, and friends. It was better than anything we could have imagined!

How they met
We met through an online dating app and dated for two years before getting married. He and I had both been on there for quite some time. I had matched with many guys, but it never felt right. Halfway through our first FaceTime date, I knew immediately that I wanted to get to know him better. And despite our first date involving a lost wallet, sitting in three feet of snow waiting for the restaurant to open and a dog attacking me, I knew he was the one! I even texted my friend that I wanted to marry him!

The proposal
I went with my sister and her family to Washington DC to see the sites! She mentioned that she had found a scavenger hunt online that we would do on Sunday. She said that after the scavenger hunt, we would go to a nice dinner so everyone needed to get dressed up. I hadn’t taken history in a long time so I had no idea of the answer to the first scavenger question, but thankfully the kids did to keep up with the illusion. We went from site to site and saw some pretty incredible things. The last stop was at the national arboretum. We got off the city bus and my niece’s leg fell about two feet into a pot hole that was partially covered. She was wet and banged up. After a few minutes of consoling her, my sister hurried us on what I thought was her timeline, but ended up being a different timeline entirely. As we walked up to the Corinthian columns, I noticed quite a few people smiling at us. I walked around the corner and saw Daniel in a suit standing there surrounded by flower arrangements (that he made himself) and a small box. After a beautiful speech, he got down on one knee and proposed! I said yes! Afterwards, we went to the restrooms where my sister produced my make-up bag that she snuck into her bag and took pictures at the arboretum.

How did you allocate your budget?
We really didn’t want to have a huge, traditional wedding. Daniel’s and my family both live far away and we didn’t want to bring them all the way here and not get to spend any time with them. So we ended up having four smaller, low key celebrations. We had our wedding in Forks, Washington with just immediate family. Then a small celebration in my home town (Bloomington, IL) and the place where Daniel went to school for several years (Iowa City, IA) and lastly, in his hometown of Honolulu, HI. We were very thankful to get to bring the party to everyone and get to spend time with the people that we love.

Where did you splurge and where did you save? 
I definitely splurged on my dress. I knew that this would be the most that I would ever spend on a dress. As soon as I put it on, I knew it was the one! We saved on desserts! They were all homemade!

How did you choose your photographer? 
We wanted a photographer who we would work well with and had a photography style that we liked. She was recommended to me in a Facebook post and when she posted an elopement package, it just all came together perfectly! She had vetted, highly recommended vendors already lined up. I had thought that planning a wedding halfway across the country would be hard and stressful, but Beginning and End Photography made it so easy! Throughout the months, I kept thinking I should be more stressed than I was. It made the day all that much more calmer as she took care of everything!

The dress
I bought my dress from Cloud Nine. My bracelet was a gift from a co-worker, earrings were Etsy, shoes were Amazon and my wedding ring is a family heirloom

The suit and bridesmaids
The suit was from Men’s Wearhouse and my sister got her dress from Amazon!

Theme or colour scheme
We had a sort of a colour scheme. It wasn’t super important to me when we were talking about it because I had planned on the colours showing up only in my bouquet. But by the suggestion of my sister, we asked the guests to wear one of the colours which made the photos look really cohesive!

Decoration
We had very low-key decorations as the venue itself was beautiful! We had some glass bowls that we bought at a thrift store and then put some baby’s breath in them. Fake wreaths that we bought off Facebook Marketplace. And lastly, borrowed some things from my sister as well!

Food
We had chicken, beef, potatoes, bread and other things!

Wedding cake
We didn’t have cake! We had homemade blueberry bars, strawberry shortcake and oatmeal raisin cookies.

Entertainment
We just had music playing through a speaker on one of our phones! Daniel and I had come up with a playlist together of songs that we liked.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went to Mt. Rainier and Leavenworth.

Personal touches
I got to do my mom’s make-up! That was fun!

Special moments
Daniel and I wrote each letters that we read to each other during our first look. Additionally, we had written our vows together. However, I had them translated into Korean and memorized it as I wanted his family to hear my promises in their native tongue!

Advice for other couples
This day is about the starting of your marriage. It’s important to start it off with a celebration, but that is going to look different for you and your significant other. Don’t go into debt for a stressful day just to appease people in your life.
Also! Have a wedding photographer who is talented and works well with you! We can’t thank Ashley (Beginning and End Photograph) enough for all that she did! She coordinated so much and took out so much of the stress out of planning that I just go to enjoy the process!
And have a sister who is extremely organized and will make your whole life easier (like handing you mimosa when you need it most). Thank you Debbie and Jason! The weekend wouldn’t have been as perfect as it was without you!

Biggest surprise of the day
My to-be husband and his friend was going to bring the ladies smoothies to enjoy while we got ready. However, half of them were spilled all over the vehicle! Thankfully, no pants were stained and the remainder of the smoothies were delicious!