Cambodian and Chinese Wedding Traditions on Ruby Beach | Helen & Tommy

Ruby Beach Washington Elopement Complete with Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony | Olympic National Park Elopement Photographers

Bride and groom holding hands and lanterns on Ruby Beach

The Couple and Their Decision to Elope at Ruby Beach, Washington

From the moment they inquired, I knew that Helen and Tommy’s wedding was going to not only be beautiful, but also include all the elements that were important to them. This sweet couple started dating when they were just 14 years old and they have been together ever since.

They had started planning a large wedding, but as can often be the case with large weddings, it got too stressful and was starting to look like something that the couple didn’t even want so they decided to ditch the wedding plans and have a small ceremony with their family and closest friends. This is why at Henry Tieu Photography we love elopements! If you follow our work, you know we do a lot of elopements where the couple travels with us to beautiful places. But an elopement doesn't mean it's just you and your fiance. You can elope and still have your family there. It's your wedding day and you get to do it 1000% your way.

The couple knew they wanted a location that was easy for their ceremony and for all their family and friends to attend but they also loved going down to the beaches in the Olympics so they wanted to incorporate that into their day as well. That is how we landed on the beautiful Ruby Beach, Washington for their elopement!

This magical Ruby Beach elopement is now featured on Junebug Weddings

From a Traditional Wedding Tea Ceremony To Running Around on the Beach til Dark, this Is How To Elope In the Olympic National Park Adventurously

Since Helen and Tommy were planning the wedding they had always dreamed of, they knew they wanted to incorporate traditions and moments that were meaningful to them.

Their day started off at the cutest little treehouse cabin in Olympic National Park. The couple got ready with their closest friends and family and then held a ceremony overlooking the beach. Helen wanted to pay tribute to her Chinese culture by including a Chinese wedding tea ceremony where she and Tommy paid respect to their elders and, in return, they gave the couple special gifts and blessings to their marriage. This was truly one of the most emotional moments of the day and we all cried.

After spending some quality time with loved ones, Helen and Tommy spent the rest of the evening adventuring on Ruby Beach with us. They changed into traditional Cambodian wedding outfits to honor Tommy’s heritage and I was just in awe of the way the light complimented everything they wore. After a little while, we switched back to their other outfits so they could run around in the water and get wet!

If you’re familiar at all with our work, you know that an elopement with Henry means we end when the night is dark and that’s exactly what we did! We ran around together on the beach until the sun had disappeared so this couple could soak in every last minute of their beautiful beach elopement day!

This day was truly magical and one that will live on forever in my heart! Thank you Helen and Tommy for giving me all your hearts, dancing till dark, running into the ocean, and just truly living every second of your elopement day to the fullest. I am so honored you picked us to plan and document your day.

Kind words from the couple:

All I can say about Henry is WOW! His work, WOW! This is his passion; during our session you can see him climbing on logs, running around in the sand and in the water just so he can capture that perfect shot and moment. My husband and I are awkward when it comes to photos, I mean it takes 100 photos for us to even like one! But Henry made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera, there were no awkward moments at all, and the pictures truly showed. He is so amazing I must list why he is amazing: -Right when we signed our contracts, he immediately sent us an elopement brochure that he made himself and even sent out floral, hair and makeup recommendations; he is the resource (His husband (rain and pines) did all our florals, and he was sooooo amazing!) -He created our whole entire timeline from start to finish (he ended up making 2 timelines for us because we wanted to change locations last minute, he was so kind about it and quickly created a whole new timeline for us and even made a PDF for our families) -No matter how busy he was, he always made time for a quick check in (he literally called us right after a long flight just check in before the actual day, he could've waited until after he settled in but NOPE, not Henry, he called us right when he got into his car.) -We decided to do an intimate ceremony with our families and close friends, he was so patient with ALL of us because that day was a bit chaotic -He is detail oriented, he loved all our ideas and extra-ness (I am talking about outfit changes, traditional tea ceremony, traditional door games, western ceremony etc.) -It has been 3 days since our ceremony, and he already sent us about 100 finished sneak peek photos and some GIFS! I can't even imagine how the rest will turn out because the ones that he sent over are GORGEOUS!!!! -Lastly, he and his husband are great people! My husband and I were so comfortable around them that our families thought they were our good friends. If you are feeling on a fence about booking, please don’t because his work and support throughout this process is truly priceless! Thank you Henry!!! H&T