A Washington Desert Elopement at Frenchman Coulee

washington desert elopement frenchman coulee

Jackie and Andrew planned a last minute but stunning elopement at Frenchman Coulee in Washington State. When they booked me for their elopement, I had no idea how cool the desert in Washington could be. Their florist, Kelly Sullivan of Botanique, created a stunning one-of-a-kind bouquet with flowers grown from her garden, which was such a cool idea. The ceremony set up was thanks to Jackie’s mom, family, and friends. We explored crazy rock formations, sand dunes, and they said their vows as the sun set over the desert. It was PERFECT. And let me tell you, these two were so pumped to get married. I am so honored that I was able to travel to Washington and document this epic day.

Here is some Q&A from the gorgeous Jackie…

How did you and your significant other first meet?
We met at work! I think we both noticed each other in the hallway on separate occasions. We knew *of* each other way before we formally met.

What is your proposal story?
Andrew proposed to me on the beach down the street from our first apartment together 🙂 When I got home from work that day he was waiting in a blazer with flowers, candles, and cheese and crackers, and a love letter. We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood and then for a walk on the beach where he told me all the things he loved about me and that the year of us together was the best year of his life!

What are your favorite things to do together?
We love to go to concerts, eat at our favorite restaurants, travel, go on outdoor adventures, play with our kitty Romeo, spend time with family, and the little things like eating dinner at home together or going on a walk around the neighborhood.

Why did you decide to elope/have an intimate ceremony?
We’d put all of planning on hold due to covid, as we were originally going to do a 100 person event that summer. One day while hiking out in the mountains, I just had the idea what if we brought our families out and had a ceremony outside somewhere beautiful? When we got home and started looking into it, we realized all of the possibilities and got super excited. Who knew adventure elopements were a thing? We had about 5 weeks to plan, and it ended up being so fun and turned out amazing. We will always remember that day and we are so happy we decided to start our marriage journey in spite of the circumstances.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding/elopement day?
Just overall how romantic it was. Being together outside somewhere beautiful, saying our vows, looking into each other’s eyes googly eyed all day, being near family, watching the sunset.

What advice do you have for other couples that are thinking about eloping?
DO IT!