Guest Spotlight: Kenia and Kyle on Eloping in the Cascades

A woman in front of her Cabana van on a bright sunny day, by the water.

This year has been filled with unconventional celebrations, from Zoom birthdays to virtual graduations, but weddings might be at the top of this list. Many couples have had to delay their big day, maybe even a few times, or rethink their ceremony all together. 


For Kenia and Kyle, who have always been on the spontaneous side, a Washington elopement in the mountains was a serendipitous dream. We spoke with the bride, Kenia, about spending their special day in the Cascades.


Because when it comes to your big day, the most important parts don’t require planning.


Cabana | Did you always want to elope?


Kenia | We always did have plans to elope, yes. We weren’t really big fans of big weddings, so we wanted something more personal, just for us two.



C | As a couple, are you big planners?


K | We’re not big planners to be honest. We’re kind of just go with the flow, you know, we have certain ideas like, “Let’s go to this state this week,” “Okay let’s go!” It’s more fun for us. Otherwise we get too caught up. We don’t make agendas when we go to cities, we just say “Alright let’s head over there and see what finds us!”

Romance in the Forest (Photo Credit: @lexi_nickplusdanee)

C | How did you choose Washington?


K | We always wanted to have a forest-y backdrop to our photos. We found Nick and Danee, the photographers, on Instagram, and we fell in love with their work –– and the whole pacific coast. The mountains called us!



C | How did you plan for the big day?


K | I think the planning process was about 6 months. We wanted to have everything done beforehand, but we kept having to postpone or put more time into the planning because the pandemic started happening. 


My husband’s father actually married us. We had a little plan to get married in the Everglades with our immediate family, and then we’d go off to Washington to do our own hike, but that didn’t happen because we couldn’t gather on the beach. We ended up winging it, deciding “Let’s just get married in your dad’s backyard. Just us three, that’s it.” And then we went off!

The big day (Photo Credit: @lexi_nickplusdanee)

C | What was your itinerary? 


K | We were in Washington for 4 days. When we got there, we got situated with the van and where we’d stay. The second day we met the photographer and did the hike. After that we spent the rest of the time going up the Cascade Highway. It was super fun! We stopped at different hikes and camped on the side of the road and in campgrounds. 



C | Did you do any of the usual wedding things?


K | We wanted to do a first look for our photos. We just got married in our gym shorts –– super super casual, because we wanted to save that moment for Washington. So we hid our suit and dress the whole ride there and had a little first look and our first dance on the mountain. That was our little moment for us that we wanted to have

Taking it all in (Photo Credit: @lexi_nickplusdanee)

C | What was your favorite moment?


K | I think probably our first look. We were very concerned with the weather, that was the first worry we had, because the fires had just started to dissipate. But that day it was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, we had natural sunlight, it was great. So that was really beautiful, and it was a very quiet hike. There was one other older couple that ended up playing the piano for us on their iPhone. It was so cute. It was a super sweet moment.



C | Do you have any advice for anyone who’s planning to elope or whose wedding plans have been interrupted by COVID?


K | My advice would be to not have any expectations, or high expectations. It was hard for me to decide on a spot to have the hike, I started thinking, “Oh I don’t like the color of this mountain, or I don’t like this, or the weather will be bad,” but at the end you just have to trust the spur of the moment –– and your photographer. It’ll all come out fine. 


I feel like I spent a lot of weeks worrying about little details that when you’re there with your spouse don't matter anymore. It’s about you and them. We’re super happy with the outcome and happy that we didn't worry about it towards the end, just let it be. And it was perfect.


Whatever you do will be beautiful. Especially because you have the most beautiful backdrop ever in nature. 


If you’re looking to book an elopement or honeymoon, you can find Cabana’s availability calendar here

The best wedding backdrop (Photo Credit: @lexi_nickplusdanee)

We all know it’s true: what matters most is being with the one you love –– and breathtaking wedding photos are a pretty good bonus.

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