Northwest Beach Engagement Session – Laura & Bobby

Oh I’m still pinching myself over this one! Laura and Bobby flew out to the Pacific Northwest for an Olympic National Park engagement session, and we chose Lake Crescent and Second Beach at La Push for the locations. There’s nothing else like the way the waves crash agains the seastacks, layers of pale fog obscuring the farthest standing rocks far off in the ocean. Closer to the shore, jagged cliffs push out of the soft sand, and the surf swirls and eddies in between in rhythmic bursts. The ocean coast of Olympic National Park is one of the places on earth that I feel most myself, somehow balanced between the eternal and the temporal realities of time. There’s something transcendent about the rugged, cold beaches of Washington and I was so honored to share it with this lovely pair.

Laura wore two gowns from Anthropologie, one in a soft sigh of palest blush, and the other a deep aubergine that brought out her striking coloring. Deanna of Twig and Vine Farm provided the breathtaking florals—two lush bouquets that incorporated berries, pods, and grasses to reflect the season. We began with a stop at Barnes Point on Lake Crescent, breathing in the mist and the fresh aromas of glacial water, Douglas Fir, and hemlock that always scents the air around the lake. A light breeze off the water created the perfect amount of movement in Laura’s silk skirt as she and Bobby strolled along the lakeshore and into the shadowy forested paths around the lake.

From there we drove another hour or so westward. Access to Second Beach is a journey, as you leave the parkinglot and venture into the dripping, mossy coastal forest. Tall firs soar above, their pointed crowns stretching into the clouds. As you trek closer to the water, the trees begin to show the effects of the coastal winds, their forms bent and twisted into windblown shapes. Lush ferns grow on every exposed surface, crystal beads of moisture glistening on their green fronds. The stairway winds down to the beach, narrow and uneven, forcing you to watch your footing and only occasionally lift your head for a glimpse of the golden waves crashing beyond the trees. Then suddenly, you emerge from the forest onto a tangle of logs thrown up from centuries of storms, the roaring, glistening expanse of the restless ocean before you.

The sun was just beginning to touch the water, turning the droplets of ocean spray an unearthly gold as we reluctantly departed the beach. Climbing back through the misty forest, twilight fell early under the feathery branches of coastal evergreens. Like slowly awaking from a particularly vivid dream, we climbed back into cars and turned the wheels towards civilization, the memory of salt spray and golden light slanting through the fog to carry us forward.