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Real Micro Wedding submitted by Susan at Celebrations for Every Season who provided all the table decor and florals for the event. Photography by Marla of Marla Manes Photography.
If you’ve been considering having a destination micro wedding in Washington state, let Cheyenne and Tim’s intimate affair be an inspiration! They chose a romantic garden vibe for an elegant, yet relaxed, ceremony and lunch reception held at the Agate Beach Lodge with 16 of their closest friends and family.
The Illinois couple knew from the moment they were engaged that they “wanted to do something intimate where we could enjoy being with each other and with a select few people who we genuinely love and not have to worry about all of the people and all of the little details and really just be in the moment. We also wanted to go do something different and new and exciting as opposed to getting married locally.”
They had a longer engagement which gave them plenty of time to explore the different types of weddings to find exactly the thing that spoke to them. Eventually they came across some posts on social media talking about micro weddings and adventure elopements and knew they’d figured out what they wanted to do. The couple was drawn to Washington so they immediately went to planning their destination micro wedding and researching elopement photographers that served Olympic National Park.
It took just one phone call with Marla of Marla Manes photography for the couple to be convinced that not only had the found the perfect photographer, but having a destination micro wedding in Washington was going to be the perfect way to celebrate their love story. "We both looked at each other grinning ear to ear after the phone call because for the first time in 5 years, something spoke to us and just felt right."
"We fell in love with Marla (Marla Manes Photography) and Susan (Celebrations for Every Season) and both of them were almost as excited for our wedding as we were! Both were genuinely passionate about their craft which made everything 100 times easier to plan and way more fun. It felt like we were working with friends/family as opposed to working with strangers." Cheyenne adds, "I was almost more excited to meet them on my wedding day than I was my other guests!" That's when you know you've found the right wedding vendor team!
The couple chose Agate Beach Lodge which is located just west of Port Angeles, Washington and just north of the small town of Joyce. The property sits in Agate Bay which gets its name from the large amount of natural Agates found on the shore. The quaint beachside venue offers numerous locations for your ceremony and reception of up to 75 guests including the beach, forest , or meadow, and lodging for up to 8 people.
The couple says, “In some regards it was so much easier to plan than we imagined a traditional wedding would be but we were surprised at how difficult it was to plan things without being there in person and getting to scout out vendors and places without any in person knowledge. But that was made easier with working with Susan and Marla since they knew the area and were able to help out when needed. I would definitely recommend doing it that way as opposed to trying to figure it all out yourself.”
“It was all so completely perfect because I just remember feeling like I was walking on clouds with my new husband by my side as we took pictures and shared stories with our loved ones. It was so much easier and I feel like it was way more meaningful to only have about 10 other people with us,” says Cheyenne.
“I was really surprised at how smoothly things went because even if there were little hiccups here and there it didn’t really matter because we were with our close friends and family so it was something we would just figure out and laugh about it as opposed to stressing about it and letting it ruin your mood. It was also magical to see everything come together the day of because until that moment, everything just seemed like a dream made up in my head.”
The bride and her friends got ready in the morning at Agate Beach Lodge and then the groom and his best man got ready in one of the bedrooms in Agate and were kept separate for most of the morning/afternoon.
Cheyenne recalls this special time with some of her closest friends, “I remember giddily greeting my in laws when they arrived to Agate and we shared in our excitement for the big day. After that though either my fiancé or my girls took care of most of the greeting and working with vendors so I could just have fun and get ready. When we were taking getting ready photos we were located in a loft like area right above where our guests were waiting before the ceremony and we all couldn’t stop laughing.”
Here at microWED collective we encourage couples to take the traditions that resonate and leave the rest. It’s easy to get caught up in feeling like you have to do all the traditions or include all the details you’ve seen at other weddings but that’s just not the case. Some of the traditions Cheyenne and Tim kept were to wear traditional wedding attire, they got ready separately, and they had their ceremony on the beach.
Starting with their invitation suite, they focused on the beauty of nature with soft blues, greens, and wildflowers, and then added PNW touches like tiny ferns tied into the napkins. They kept the focus on the stunning natural setting, local flowers, foods, and an elegant but easy going style throughout the day. Their personal flowers were created and delivered by a local floral designer.
The bride shared, “I'm pretty sure I was just in a trance because the moment I got downstairs and watched all of my friends walk down the aisle and slowly found myself alone and prepared to walk down everything is just a blur. I remember making eye contact with my friends and family as I walked down the aisle and some were crying happy tears and some were giving me the biggest smile that I simultaneously started sobbing and giggling. It all went so fast that I feel like I didn’t make eye contact with Tim until I was right in front of him and saw that he was sobbing as well and burst out in another round of teary laughter and greeted him with a watery “hi” in the attempt to ease our nerves. It honestly was so magical and had its fair share of hiccups (such as my best friend and officiant forgetting to tell everyone to stand as I walked down the aisle which was also my cue to start walking down the aisle or how she lost our vow books in the wind as she tried to hurry out of the way for our first kiss so we all stood there laughing with her as she tried to frantically pick them up and move out of the way.)”
The couple rented vintage dishes with whimsical, wildflower patterns and heirloom goblets etched with delicate flowers to match the mountain floral design of their invitation suite. They wanted locally grown foliage and flowers that echoed the PNW location of the wedding, so Susan from Celebrations for Every Season foraged from her own garden and purchased some flowers from a local flower farm collective to create lush table runners for a relaxed garden vibe. Tiny ferns were tied into each napkin for a PNW forest touch. They had charcuterie for snacking, main course food and their cake delivered from small local companies.
From Cheyenne, “When I finally got to see the finished product as Tim and I walked inside it blew me away. (Thank you Celebrations for Every Season). The reception was really laid back and relaxed and we were able to make our own timeline and work it around our photography schedule which took a lot of stress off of our plates because at the time we were stressed about spending time with our loved ones who went out of their way to fly to Washington but also wanting time for amazing pictures and utilizing our photographer to the fullest extent.”
From Cheyenne, “I honestly don’t know if I could pick a favorite moment. It was so fun getting ready with my best friends and then the ceremony itself was perfect even though I was in a bit of a daze through it all. Dinner was so much fun because everyone was able to just talk and have fun and get to know each other and I really felt like Tim and I were able to get the most important people in our lives from all of the different areas and stages of our lives together at once and just really be surrounded by love and what our relationship represented. I was sad to leave our family and friends but then when we went out for pictures with Marla, it really felt like the adventure aspect kicked in and we were able to be goofy and in love and just enjoy being a newlywed couple and capture such amazing moments that we will have forever.”
Cheyenne and Tim share so much great advice. Here’s what they had to say:
Thank you to Susan from Celebrations for Every Season, and to Cheyenne & Tim, for sharing their magical destination micro wedding with us.
Vendor team:
Venue: Agate Beach Lodge, Port Angeles, WA
Photographer: Marla Manes Photography
Table Decor & Florals: Celebrations for Every Season
Flowers: Farm & Flower, Port Angeles, WA
Cake: Middle Name Baking Co., Port Angeles, WA
Food: Drake’s Pizza & Subs, Port Angeles, WA
Charcuterie: Sea to Summit Charcuterie, Port Angeles, WA
Wine: Olympic Cellars Winery, Port Angeles, WA
Dress: Bri’Zan Couture, Naperville, IL
Seamstress: Olga King, Geneva, IL
