Mount Rainier Elopement Guide

Mount Rainier Wedding & Mount Rainier Elopement Planning Guide

So you’ve decided you want to have your very own Mount Rainier Elopement/wedding – now what? How do you actually plan this sort of wedding? Where do you start? I’ll cover all of that and more in this resource for you!

How Far Out Should You Plan A Wedding at Mount Rainier?

As a professional wedding and elopement photographer, I recommend couples start planning their Mount Rainier elopement/wedding a year or so in advance. Planning a wedding takes time and there’s lots of steps to take along the way. Wedding vendors and lodging can get booked 6-18 months in advance, but couples have done it on shorter notice in the past. While it isn’t necessarily recommended, it certainly can be done. If you plan on eloping just the two of you, there’s usually much more flexibility!

Step 1. Picking A Date

The first thing you’ll need to do is pick a date, or a range of dates, that you’d like to get married. While planning a larger, more traditional wedding – picking a specific date is necessary for booking things like your venue, planner, etc. Adventurous weddings can be different though, because a lot of couples will choose their date based on things like when the scenery looks the best, if their favorite vendors are available, when the weather tends to be most optimal, when the park is the least crowded, if they can get time off work, etc.

For example, my wife I got married on Thursday, September 12^th, 2024. We chose a Thursday because  we wanted to have a celebration on a Saturday with a day off in between. That Friday was Friday the 13^th, so we could sign paperwork on Friday the 13^th, making it more of a fun holiday for us (we’re edgy goofballs). Weekdays tend to be much less crowded in national parks which was a big determining factor as well. Peak tourist season is typically late June through early September, when schools are out in Western Washington. Mid September weather can be a bit of a gamble, but it can also be sunny and 75, like our wedding day was!

The Best Time of Year to Get Married in Mount Rainier National Park

While there may be 4 seasons in the year, Mount Rainier basically only has 3. Winter, summer, and fall. Spring is so short it hardly counts!

Winter in Mount Rainier National Park

Winter is long and wet in Mount Rainier. Rain and snowfall typically picks up halfway through October, and stays consistently through May. The snow doesn’t start melting until May or June, and trails don’t typically clear up until July, making spring feel short and sometimes nonexistent. The winter wonderland vibe can be beautiful, but there can be logistical issues in the winter. Sometimes, the snowfall is so heavy that they don’t open the gates passed the Longmire area, and showcasing the mountain is impossible in that scenario. Rain and snow at high elevations can be dangerous as well, and trying to have a wedding around that can be difficult!

Spring in Mount Rainier National park

As I mentioned earlier, Spring is pretty short in the park. Temperatures are typically cool and mild. Snow is still melting, so rivers, streams, and waterfalls are full. Greenery & foliage are lush, but flowers won’t be coming until mid summer. The park is getting busier as the weather gets warmer and tourist season starts to pick up.

Summer in Mount Rainier National Park

That leads us straight into summer. Summer at Mount Rainier is absolutely stunning. Wildflower season starts mid to late July, streams and waterfalls are flowing, the snow melt has completed and trails are bustling with wildlife. Marmots, Roosevelt elk, along with lots of birds and other wildlife can be seen at any time. The park smells of fresh mountain air, old growth forest, wildflowers, and a hint of campfire. It is truly a magical time and is absolutely stunning.

Summer in Western Washington can get pretty warm and dry. We usually have sunny weather in the 70s and 80s from June through September, with heat waves in the 90s and 100s in July & August. Mount Rainier is typically about the same, minus about 10 degrees given it’s high elevation. It’s mostly dry during the summer months, but June & August have been known to have a few rainy, foggy days.

How to Navigate Tourist Season

Summer is also peak tourist season, which can create it’s own challenges. During peak season, Fridays and Saturdays in the park can be unbearable. At it’s worst, there will be a line of cars for an hour or two at the entrance gate, and hardly, if any, available parking. Short trails will be packed with people and large groups of families and tourists alike. Mornings are a bit quieter and more tolerable, especially if you can get up early for something like sunrise. Sundays tend be a little more favorable, especially towards sunset and the evenings.

Which brings us to my next point…

Weekdays are best for getting married in a national park.

There will be a lot more available trails. Parking will be much more widely available. Lodging and vendors are easier to find. Chances of getting a permit for the location you want are much higher. You can plan your wedding for a Thursday and have a long weekend. Or, plan a week long vacation and have your wedding in the middle of the week! Overall, there’s much less pressure and much more flexibility.

Now, back to the seasons…

Fall In Mount Rainier National Park

Fall in Mount Rainier is also beautiful. While the evergreens maintain their beauty, the rest of the foliage will change to different shades of orange and red. Sitka mountain ash and red huckleberries bloom, and it’s still common to see marmots and deer. Tourist season has died down a bit, so the park can be easier to navigate. Rain is more common, but isn’t nearly as intolerable as winter.

Want to see a real example of an intimate Mount Rainier Wedding? Check This Out!

The Best Months to Get Married in Mount Rainier

With all of the aforementioned in mind, the best time to get married at Mount Rainier is July – October. If you like sunny weather, alpine lakes and wildflowers, then I suggest July or August. If you’re more into moody weather, fall colors, and don’t mind the rain – September or October are best.

Step 2. Making a Guest List

For couples that are eloping and having a “just us” experience – this part is pretty easy, skip to the next step! For couples that do want to have some guests, keep reading.

The next step for planning your Mount Rainier wedding is determining your guest list. Generally, it’s fairly difficult to have a ceremony within the park with more than 2 dozen people. Around that number, it becomes more difficult to find lodging or will allow that many people all at once, or will have sufficient parking. Most AirBnB’s or VRBO’s do not have proper permitting or zoning by the county to host large events, so I encourage couples to keep the guest list to “non-negotiables” – the people you absolutely must have at your wedding. For some couples, that’s just the two of them and their photographer, for other couples – it’s a couple of their closest friends and their parents. Everyone is different, so think about what’s most important to you and your partner and plan your guest list around that.

In the context of planning a wedding at Mount Rainier, I do suggest keeping it below two dozen.

Once your guest list is decided, start chatting with them about their availability and start letting them know you’re planning your wedding! Be prepared to formally invite them when the date and location are settled.

Step 3. Make a Budget for your Mount Rainier Wedding

How much are you comfortable spending on a wedding? How much can you afford? Are you fortunate enough to receive financial assistance from family? Asking yourself the hard questions early on can make it a lot easier to plan your wedding down the road!

Step 4. Hire Your Mount Rainier Elopement Photographer & Other Vendors

Now that you have your date or date range in mind, along with a rough guest count, you can start hiring your most important wedding vendors. Typically this includes your Mount Rainier Elopement Photographer, florals, hair & makeup, an officiant, and catering.

I suggest hiring your vendors as soon as you have your date set because we do tend to book out a year or two in advance. At the very least, you can start inquiring with them to gauge their availability, and start booking their services when the time is right. Photographers such as myself offer planning assistance to our couples, so hiring us earlier on in the process can help move things along!

Want to see a great, real world, example of a Mount Rainier wedding? Check out this PNW Cabin Wedding!

Step 5. Picking a Location – The Best Locations for a Mount Rainier Elopement

There are lots of different factors to consider when picking the right location for your wedding ceremony! Most couples will decide based on the view/scenery that they’re looking for, but there are logistics to consider as well. If you are having guests, what’s their hiking capability like? Would they be able to hike a trail with you to your ceremony location if it’s a few miles, or should it be something short and flat?

The National Park Service has a list of pre-approved ceremony locations and trails that are available to choose from. If you already have a trail in mind, you may be able to provide it on the application form and see if it gets approved. Otherwise, check out that link, and look up pictures of the trails you’re considering and see if it has the scenery and views you’re hoping for.

https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/permitsandreservations.htm

Do you want to spend your wedding day hiking?

Some of the trails require quite a bit of hiking in order to get to the correct ceremony location, so considering your own physical abilities is important. Ask yourself if you want to spend your wedding day hiking and adventuring, or if you’d rather do a shorter hike. Some couples want to hike to a picnic location and spend time getting pretty photos taken, other couples want to get married and head back to the cabin! The choice is yours!

As an alternative, you might be able to have your ceremony at the VRBO/AirBnB/Rental you’re staying at, and just head into the park for an adventure or photos!

Step 6. Get Your Mount Rainier Wedding Permit

Once you have the date and location in mind, you can go ahead and apply for your permit. Most National Parks just refer to them as Special Use Permits, and at this point, are accustomed to wedding applications coming through.

https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/permitsandreservations.htm

Step 6. Book Lodging

I recommend booking lodging towards the end of this process (though still 4-12 months out) because Mount Rainier National Park is so large, and if you book lodging on one side of the park but get a permit for the other – you’ll be spending way too much time driving. So once you have the permit and your location nailed down,  booking lodging around that will make the whole day flow a lot easier.

There are 3 main areas around Mount Rainier to stay at. The northern, “sunrise” side, is by the town of Enumclaw. The southeastern side featuring Tipsoo Lake is closest to Packwood. Last, but certainly not least, is the southern side of the mountain; labelled “Paradise” – it’s closest to the towns of Elbe and Ashford.

The closest major city to the park is Tacoma, Washington. It’s about 30 minutes south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and about an hour south of Seattle.

Most couples will book a cabin or rental through something like VRBO or AirBnB. If you care about great photos, and I suspect you do, I suggest finding something with large windows, and an interior that you find aesthetically pleasing. If you don’t care or won’t be getting your picture taken at your lodging location, this doesn’t matter as much.

Step 7. Fill in the Details – Mount Rainier Wedding Attire, Decorations & Details

At this point in the process, most of the big planning steps are completed. You have your vendors and lodging booked, your location picked out, and your guest list. Next step is filling in the details. Who or how will your wedding ceremony be officiated? Are you going to be planning a celebratory dinner, will you want to get decorations for that? This is the time to sort out these details, along with ordering anything else you might need like vow books or other accessories for your ceremony (handfasting rope, heirlooms, religious items, etc.).

Picking a color palette for your wedding and sticking with it can make everything look/appear cohesive in photos, and can add to any type of theme you want your day centered around. If you have a hard time coming up with your own color palette, pinterest can be a great source of inspiration.

If a couple is going to order florals or a cake/dessert of some sort, this is typically when this happens. This is usually 3-9 months out from your wedding date.

Step 8. Elopement Timeline Planning & Planning Out Your Wedding Day

At this point, you likely have a ceremony time picked out, and the rest of your wedding day will likely be built around that. Some couples have their ceremonies in the morning with a quiet sunrise, and some couples will have their wedding in the mid-to-late afternoon so they can enjoy dinner and sunset.

Either way, you’ll want to plan enough time to get ready for your day, whether that includes hair/makeup or not. Getting dressed and putting on accessories takes time, and wedding attire usually includes a few more details than your typical day. If you are getting your hair and make up done, it’s best to talk to your hair/makeup artist about how long they estimate it taking, and letting them know when you need to be ready by. If you’re going to do it yourself, I strongly recommend adding an extra hour or two of extra time to make sure you can re-do something if it’s done incorrectly.

“Getting ready for your day” can also look a lot different to a couple that’s going hiking on their wedding day, in comparison to a couple that is going kayaking; or a couple that isn’t doing anything adventurous!

Pro tip: Creating a packing check list and packing everything into the car (that you can) the day before can make everything go a lot smoother.

Planning out your day depends entirely on what you want to do with it. If you want to have a long hike or ceremony, you’ll need to plan time for that! If you want to spend time having dinner and soaking in the hot tub afterwards, you can plan time for that.

Generally, when planning a timeline, I take the activities of the day and write them out in chronological order. There will be some activities that have a set time, such as the ceremony and sunset, and then we can build the timeline starting from those points.

For example, if we know the ceremony is at 5 PM, we’ll plan the rest of the day around that. First, we need to plan time for getting to the ceremony location and getting there by 5 PM. We’d look up how long the trail typically takes, and add in some buffer time. From there, we’ll add on the time spent driving to the trailhead from the cabin, time for the first look if you’re having one, and time for getting ready or any other events prior to the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we add in any other activities remaining for the day. Couples tend to want beautiful sunset photos, especially somewhere magical like Mount Rainier, so we can add that into the timeline as well. Googling the location & sunset time will usually yield fairly accurate results.

When planning out a timeline or an adventurous wedding day like this, I always add 10-15 minutes of buffer time in between activities. This will give time for people to breath, have a snack, use the restroom if need be, and if something does go sideways – it’s not as detrimental!

Some couples celebrate with a sunset hike, a picnic, or a dinner with their guests or popping champagne. How you end the day is entirely your choice.

Here are a couple o sample Mount Rainier Elopement Timelines!

Bonus Tips for Planning Your Adventurous Wedding

What to Pack for a Mount Rainier Elopement

Packing for an adventurous wedding includes some contrasting elements! Obviously you’ll want your wedding attire and everything needed for your wedding, but you’ll also want to be prepared to be out in nature. That means shoes/boots you can hike in, a skin colored base layer in case it gets cold (skin colored so it won’t show up in photos), and maybe a cute jacket or hand warmers as well. You’ll want to bring food and water, and a mobile touch up kit if you’re the type to work up a sweat (like me). A handheld mirror, bobby pins and hair clips can go a long way.

Planning for Adverse Weather

Nobody wants to admit it but we all have to talk about it – there’s always a chance for bad weather. Whether you are getting married at a venue with 200 people at a barn or just the two of you on Mount Rainier, there’s a chance you’ll get adverse weather. Hoping for the best and planning for the worst is the best attitude you can have. If you’ve checked the weather and it looks like it’s going to rain, pack the aforementioned clothing accessories (see section 10), and a bit more. You’ll want to make sure you have actual hiking boots, maybe a pair of gloves, and clear umbrellas. Clear umbrellas are very cute for photos, and will absolutely help you stay dry and comfortable on your wedding day. If your AirBnB/VRBO is cute, it can act as an alternate location for photos or a ceremony.

Most importantly – go with it! Have fun and be open minded. Rainy weather can be romantic and cozy, it keeps tourist numbers down, and the photos are gorgeous!

What’re you waiting for? Let’s plan this thing – inquire now to get started!