How to Elope in Washington State
How to Elope In Washington State
Elopement planning can sometimes be a little bit overwhelming, that’s what we’re here for!! As a Washington State native and experienced nature enthusiast, Roo has spent decades exploring the great outdoors in the Evergreen State. Castlehouse Videography we provide Elopement planning, elopement photography, and elopement videography for all of those happy couples eloping in Washington state! The video above and the subsequent article will walk you through everything you need to know about eloping in the great, wet and wild Washington state.
Getting Your Marriage License iN Washington State
To start off with arguably the most important part about getting married in Washington state, let’s dive in to everything you need to know about getting your marriage license in Washington. While this may be an intimidating process we’re here to tell you that it actually may not be as complicated as you might think. You can apply for your marriage license directly through the following links if you’re ready to get started right now. Below you’ll find the websites to three counties marriage license offices in Washington State where you can find all the info you need to know about getting your marriage license here:
San Juan County Marriage License
Essentially, there’s a short checklist you need to complete to have your elopement be legitimate in Washington. It starts off with how you receive it. Once you are approved and get that marriage license you have three days before you’re able to use it. This three day waiting period is actually a bit of a blessing in disguise. This grants you an amazing opportunity to explore all of the amazing elopement locations in Washington State and hit up some awesome hiking, kayaking, ferry boat rides, rock climbing, paddleboarding and farmers market before the big day begins. This is also an awesome time to maybe hit up some of the hiking trails or beautiful vistas in Washington’s national parks and that you may not be able to visit on your elopement day.
Once you have your marriage license and complete the ceremony there are a few important people that need to sign it. Most importantly, you and your partner must fill it out in addition to your officiant two witnesses. If you’re choosing to elope alone and not bring two witnesses with you, your elopement photographer and videographer can serve as witnesses or, if you opt to not hire any other vendors, even strangers passing by on the trail can sign as witnesses. This is a fun way to include others on your elopement and become fast friends with some other hikers on your special day. Finally, once everything is completed you have 30 days for your officiant to return it to the county office so you can make that fancy piece of paper legal.
Getting Your Marriage License Checklist
Apply Online
Wait a Minimum of 3 Days After You Get Approved To Get Married
Have a Licensed Officiant Perform the Ceremony
Obtain Two Witness Signatures
Return the Marriage License within 30 days of your big day!
Best Time of Year to Elope In Washington
Next up, we’re going to chat about the best time of year to elope in Washington state. The Pacific Northwest gets the reputation for being wet and rainy all year which is definitely not true. We here at Castlehouse a Videography have traveled all over the world; Peru, French Polynesia, Japan, Bosnia, and even the long hop across the border of Washington state into Canada (a whopping 6 miles from Roo‘s hometown on Orcas Island). While we definitely feel fortunate to all the beautiful places we’ve seen, none are as great as Washington state in the summer. We know that is a big claim but we stand by it. It’s not too hot, it’s not too cold, there’s not many bugs, it stays light very late into the evening and there’s all sorts of fun parades, festival, hiking opportunities, and dry coast lines to explore.
So, while we would say that summer is probably our preferred time of year to be in Washington state that doesn’t mean the other seasons are any less beautiful. In the winter the snow in the mountains is absolutely magical, you can cozy up in a great Airbnb with amazing snowshoe, cross country skiing, or resort snowboarding. On the coast line the waves are a little bigger and the rain a little more consistent but that means the forests are an incredible dense, dark green color that really brings the soul alive. Plus if you’re fortunate enough to find waterfalls, creeks, and rivers they are incredibly large and stunning in the winter time.
Eloping in Washington state in the winter it’s definitely not a bad call either. Our recommendation is always just to sit down with your partner and have a talk about what you want your goals for your loving to be. If you imagine shorts and no shoes on some beautiful rocky beaches while eloping in the San Juan Islands, then summer might be for you. If you’re wanting to explore some snowshoe routes and Alope at artist point in North Cascade National Park, then eloping in Washington state in the winter time may be for you. Ultimately, it’s all about your goals for the big day and what you want your experience to be.
Best Elopement Locations in Washington
This often seems to be everybody’s favorite part of reading about how to elope in Washington state so let’s dive into those elopement locations. Before skipping down to what our elopement location recommendations for Washington are, you may want to skim through this. Similar to picking the best time of year to elope in Washington state, there’s no wrong answer here. Each location offer something different and they are all spectacularly beautiful. These are more general recommendations and so making sure you talk to your elopement photographer, or elopement videographer (we can be both!!) about specific trails or things to do while you’re in these areas. We have a lot of experience planning elopements here at Castlehouse Videography and we can definitely provide you with a thorough location guide and awesome itinerary tailored to you for your specific day as well! Hit us up here to inquire about eloping to Washington state with us and getting more tailored and hands-on guidance to picking the best trails, waterfall hikes, kayaking beaches or alpine lake vistas. The final thing we will say here is that if you do more research on the Internet and find specific locations tagged often, either on Instagram or in other photographers blogs, be aware that those may be a popular elopement locations in Washington state and might be worth staying away from if you’re wanting something more off the beaten path and isolated. Alright, without further do here is our top four favorite elopement locations in Washington in order of our most favorite to still super freaking awesome but lower down on the list.
The San Juan Islands
This is a very biased list because the San Juan Islands is where Castlehouse Videography truly began. Roo, our lead Washington elopement videographer and elopement photographer, grew up on Orcas Island and this is still where he goes home to visit family. This is really one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. To get here do you have to take a ferry from Anacortes, Washington for about two hours which, and itself, is in a little bit location on its own.
The ferry ride is absolutely stunning! You pass through an entire archipelago of it many small and large island lake. There are a number of islands that you can use as a base for your adventure elopement in the San Juan Islands but our favorite is, of course, Orcas Island. There are amazing waterfalls, beaches, lakes, mountain views, and a cute downtown to explore during your elopement on Orcas Island. Check out our adventure elopement in the San Juan Islands film we made above when a happy couple chose to elope there last winter.
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is number two on our favorite locations list mainly because you get beach and mountain access in the same day. Choosing to elope in Olympic National Park will give you views from mountain tops, in fairy woodlands in the old growth forest where rain has softened the soil so it feels like you’re walking on a cloud, and let that salty seabreeze run through your hair as you watch the sunset over the ocean. There are a number of amazing elopement location in Olympic National Park and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula so without getting too in the weeds of exact places to go, just know that there is an endless amount of adventure and endless amount of exploration opportunities for your adventure elopement in Washington state on the Olympic peninsula. Located just about two hours from Seattle it’s not even too difficult to get to you if you’re coming from out of state as well!
North Cascades National Park
North Cascades National Park is really wear those mountain views start to come out in full force. Eloping in North Cascades National Park is just all-around epic! Famous for its jagged peaks, rugged landscape, and phenomenal alpine lakes, the views all around this relatively empty National Park are a sight to see. Known as being one of the least visited national parks in the country it’s not uncommon to have entire trails to yourself in this phenomenal landscape.
If you want to avoid people, be up close and intimate some crazy looking mountains, eloping in North Cascades National Park might be for you. Keep in mind that during the winter months many roads to the high alpine areas may be closed so it’s something worth planning around if you’re choosing to be up there in the snow, it shouldn’t deter you from eloping in North Cascades National Parks in the winter at all because it is absolutely gorgeous here but do keep in mind that they may not be as accessible in the snow.
Mount Rainier National Park
The final elopement location on our best places to elope in Washington state list is Mount Rainier National Park. Towering over other peaks this 14,112 foot peak is a sight to behold. Eloping at Mount Rainier gives you some awesome opportunities to be in the mountains with great accessible locations. If you’re wanting to elope with your family or with many guests that aren’t into hiking long distances (or hiking at all) Mount Rainier has some options for just driving up and being right at your elopement ceremony location. Similar to the rest of Washington, there’s no bad options within Mount Rainier National Park. Soooo many amazing places to have your ceremony or celebrate with some views!
Book Your elopement vendors
The final step in planning your adventure elopement in Washington state is booking your elopement vendors. Since we looooove filming and photographing elopements and our Washington elopement videographers and Washington elopement photographers ourselves we highly encourage you to reach out on our contact us page or by using the form below. We take pride in building an elopement experience that is not focused on the pictures or the videos but focused on creating a meaningful and memorable experience for you and your partner. As a Washington elopement planner, Roo tailors each and every film collection, planning guide and overall experience to the couples personality. We here at Castlehouse encourage couples to choose activities to guide their Washington elopement experiences because we believe that love comes first and in order to make a special experience for you, we should know your love story.
Check out our films here and decide if we are a good fit for you. If not, please let us know at hello@castlehousevideography.com on what type of style you are looking for and we can happily recommend other Washington elopement videographers and Washington Elopement photographers. If you have read this whole thing, definitely make sure to check out that video at the start of this blog post as well so you can get a sense of who Roo is and what eloping in Washington is all about!!!