Hawaiian Traditions for this PNW Elopement

Mt Rainier Elopement with Hawaiian Traditions | PNW Elopement Photographers

Bride and groom portraits for a PNW elopement

The Couple and Their Decision to Elope at Mt Rainier National Park

Life has its magical ways to put people in our lives for a reason. When Kimber and Keali’i reached out and I read their story, I immediately saw how similar they are to when my husband d and I got married. I knew I have to photograph their day, their story we just had to find the right place to do it.

Kimber and Keali’i wanted to elope in August. Right away I knew that I had to share with them Mt Rainier National Park. Summertime is by far the best time to visit Mt Rainier with all its wildflowers in bloom and the beautiful weather and clear skies. After we got on the phone and I talked with the couple, they agreed that there was no better place for them to elope than in this beautiful Washington National Park.

The week Kimber and Keali’i eloped, Washington was on fire. I spent hours researching and making sure their trail was still ok and not covered in smoke. Thankfully, the fires did not affect their elopement and, to be 100% honest, it couldn’t have turned out any better. 😭❤️

Bride and groom kiss while holding lanterns at Mt Rainier National Park

From After-Ceremony Shots To Sunset Views of Mt Rainier, this Is How To Elope In the PNW Adventurously

Something that was important to Kimber and Keali’i was including their loved ones in their elopement day so they brought their family and their Hawaiian culture to their PNW elopement. They got ready with the support of their loved ones before heading over to the first location for their first look and ceremony.

One of the things I love most about Kimber and Keali’i’s day was that they kept a bit of their Hawaiian culture with their elopement in the PNW. Before the ceremony, the couple passed out leis and we all got love.

The ceremony was super intimate and I remember crying like a little baby while clicking that shutter button to document their love. Afterwards the couple celebrated with some unity tequila shots before putting on their hiking boots to go up the mountain for their sunset photos.

From Seattle, we couldn’t see Rainier because of the haze but as we started hiking up the mountain there she was, standing majestically in front of us. We photographed till the night got dark (as always 😘) and you know a Henry Tieu elopement isn’t complete unless there are lanterns! haha

Kimber and Keali’i, your sweet souls are meant to be together and it’s heartwarming to see the amount of love you have for each other and for your loved ones. Thank you for such an amazing day and for allowing me to be there capturing your day. Congrats on your beautiful elopement and marriage!

– Henry

HE WAS OUR BIGGEST FAN

I don’t know what word or phrase to describe how phenomenal our experience was with Henry!!! If you are reading this review, and are thinking wether to book with Henry, I’ll help you out… “YES!”. But not just take my word for it, read the rest of the reviews from his other clients and you’ll already be in awe of how great he is as a photographer and person! We obviously chose Henry because of his amazing work, and we felt like we connected with him, the way he approached us on our first call, we immediately knew we wanted him to be apart of our elopement. We booked Henry during the pandemic last year of 2020 and held our intimate wedding this August 2021. With a lot of time between the booking and our special day, Henry did such an amazing job making sure to check in with us, offered all the help possible and giving us options along the way. Once we signed our contract, he went ahead and sent us a resource site where he created all the help/questions couple might have for their elopement, and I’m telling you that site sure saved me a lot of time researching on my own because it got everything!! Henry also made sure to send us emails checking in how we’re doing and the wedding planning and made sure to let us know that if we’re ever need anything, he’s just an email or call away. Henry was also such a patient photographer to work with alongside Viet (our wedding planner and his husband). Throughout our planning process, we made couple or few changes from our original plan and they were both so understanding and patient throughout everything. They both made sure to remind us that it’s all about us, and to do whatever make us happy on our wedding day. Comes our special day, everything felt a little chaotic or I felt just overwhelmed but also so damn excited. When Henry got in, we felt like he took all the stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed away. He made sure to capture all the photos that were important to us, made sure to take his time capturing not only the big things but the little things as well. And let me tell you, HE WAS OUR BIGGEST FAN haha. Whenever he would click the shutter button, all we could hear was “omg I love that” “so beautiful” “yesss do that again”. It made us so comfortable and really enjoyed our intimate couple photos after our ceremony. And the most important part… the photos… OMG STUNNING BEAUTIFUL BREATHTAKING. Once we got our sneak peaks, we could not stop looking at them. Even our family and friends could not stop scrolling through the album. It was like a story telling photos, so magical, so beautiful. It definitely left all of us at awe. Henry, we wanted to say thank you again for everything. You made our special day so much more amazing and the photos you took are million dollar memories.. We know 2,5,10 years from now were gonna look at them and have the biggest smile and butterflies. We miss you and Viet already and we can’t wait to see you guys again. xoxo

Kimber & Keali’i

PNW elopement