Lena + Hunter
Wedding Date & Location:
October 19th, 2024, at Gold Creek Pond in Snoqualmie, WA
For Lena, the vision was western boho meets the quiet beauty of the Pacific Northwest—simple, intentional, and rooted in nature. Inspired by her favorite elements from her Pinterest board, Lena and Hunter chose an elopement-style wedding at Gold Creek Pond in Snoqualmie, surrounded by misty mountains, still water, and soft overcast skies. Keeping things beautifully understated, they focused on meaningful details rather than excess: cowboy boots, touches of turquoise, a rust-toned sport coat, and a ceremony space grounded by a western-patterned rug and cowhide accents. Seeing each other for the first time as Lena walked herself down the path to the altar made the moment even more powerful, with heartfelt vows exchanged against a backdrop that felt straight out of a dream.
The day unfolded effortlessly and authentically—separate mornings getting ready at a cozy cabin, rain that paused just long enough for vows and portraits, and a willingness to embrace muddy paths and a well-loved wedding dress in exchange for being fully present. As Lena and Hunter wandered the pond for photos, passersby offered congratulations, and nature itself seemed to join in when two geese landed gracefully on the water nearby, creating a moment neither of them will ever forget. Unplanned, intimate, and deeply peaceful, Lena’s wedding was a beautiful reminder that when you let go of the small stuff, the most meaningful moments have space to find you.
What was the vision for your wedding?:
My Pinterest board was more styled to be western boho in the outdoors on a mountain somewhere. I knew I was going to pull ideas of my favorite things and use them during our wedding. Our wedding was very simple since we did an elopement at a public location. Our wedding day turned out perfect, exactly how we expected! Our photographer was selected as soon as she did our engagement photos. And had my hair and makeup done.
How did it go on the day-of?:
Our wedding was very non-traditional but with some hints of traditional aspects. Our wedding was an elopement style at Gold Creek Pond in Snoqualmie. We got ready separately at our rental cabin. While I had my hair and makeup done Hunter was doing his detail and getting ready shots, getting his sport coat on and his cowboy boots. Then it was time to get into my dress which my best friend who was ordaining our wedding helped me get into. Hunter and I still hadn’t seen each other, the plan was for him to see me the first time in my dress walking to him at the ceremony location. So we drove separately to our ceremony location. Once I knew him and my best friend were settled and ready I walked the path up to them and walked myself up to the altar that we made out of a western boho pattern rug and two cow hide rugs. The view of the pond was magical. The water was clear and the fog in the mountains was the most beautiful nature scene. It was the best overcast PNW weather. We had our ceremony and exchanged vows with each other, I of course cried during his and definitely my own. They were everything I wished for and more. The ceremony was not overly planned or lots of decorating and detail, there were simple details here and there. Like the rugs for the altar, we both had cowboy boots, and I had a couple of touches of turquoise, while Hunter had on the perfect shade of brown rust colored sport coat. We walked round the path of the pond to take the rest of our pictures. Which it had been raining earlier in the day while we were getting ready and on our way to the ceremony location. We had a window of time before it was going to rain again in which I said if it does let’s go with it! The path was wet. I knew my dress was going to get very dirty, I didn’t care. We were so in the moment it was the last thing I was concerned about. As we walked around the pond to take our photos we were congratulated by other walkers on the path and some even stopped to watch us take some of our photos. We wanted to take every moment we could in during that time walking around the path. As we came back to the front where the ceremony took place we stopped for a couple of photos to end the time there. To our surprise as we were standing there taking in the last few moments two beautiful geese flew right in front of us and landed in the pond. They sat in the water for a few moments before taking off again. There’s something about animals in the wild that just calms the soul. In that moment those geese did exactly that for us.
What is your #1 tip to future brides?:
Don’t sweat the small stuff. If it is not something you can control, try to breathe through it and let it go. Regardless, your day will turn out perfectly!
