March 21, 2023

Friday Harbor Wedding Photographer

Item: Orcas Island Intimate Wedding
Rating: 5
Author: Brittley

Elopement Locations, Washington

A bride looks out at the ocean while a groom admires her and the wind catches her veil.

Salt Water Farm Wedding | Friday Harbor Wedding Photographer

Getting Married at Friday Harbor, WA

A bride gets her hair done sitting in Salt Water Farm.

Where is Friday Harbor? Why Get Married Here?

Friday Harbor is a town with a ferry port that has transportation between San Juan Island and Anacortes, WA (aka the main land). Friday Harbor is probably the most visited town among the San Juan Islands as a whole. It is a small town with pacific northwest island vibes. However, it is a gate way for adventures in and around the ocean for people in Washington and from afar. Visitors have been coming here since the 1890’s! So what is the draw? Why should you visit and plan your wedding here?

Friday Harbor is accessible and has everything you would want or need when visiting the San Juan Islands. Friday Harbor and the San Juan Islands in general are a great place to get married if you want a wedding that is like a few or some of the bullet points below:

Coastal
Mountain views in the distance
Activities to do for all on the day of or during your trip like biking, walking/hiking, kayaking, whale watching, sea plane rides, sunset sail boat tours, etc.
Slow paced + peaceful
Away from a city // small town vibes

A couple writes their vows on the ferry.

A couple puts together a puzzle while on the ferry.

How to get to Friday Harbor?

To get to Friday Harbor you can use the public transit to walk onto or drive onto the Washington Ferry that leaves from Anacortes, WA. To drive on you will need to book a reservation in advance and plan to arrive at least 1 hour before the sailing time.

Taking the ferry to the island is a great time to add photography coverage to your elopement or wedding. The ferry is great for taking in views of the islands and Mt Baker while in transit. You can enjoy the views from the ferry deck outside or from inside in one of the booths. Some folks get lucky enough to even see whales from the ferry. Outside of sight seeing on the ferry, you can play puzzles together, sit and talk over coffee or put together puzzles often left on the ferrys for folks to enjoy. I think it is also a great time to sit down and write your wedding vows.

Alternative ways to get to the island can be via a Sea Plane or small crop plane which leaves from Seattle, Bellingham or other areas.

You can also arrive via your own private boat or a different private boat charter.

Do you need a car at Friday Harbor?

Yes, you do need a car to get around San Juan Island. If you plan to not leave the port town of Friday Harbor then you can walk everywhere. However, most wedding venues, stays and outdoor things are only accessible if you have a car.

When to get married at Friday Harbor?

If you are considering getting married near Friday Harbor you may want to consider April to October! During off season, which is Winter, many of the stores, places to stay, venues and tours are closed. Visiting in Spring or Fall you are likely to avoid the summer crowds making your trip easier, but really anytime during those months is a great time!

Where to stay on Friday Harbor for your wedding?

You will notice a lot of the wedding venues on the island offer stays as well. So if you are utilizing a venue then you likely will not need another stay. However, if you are eloping or staying longer than the wedding you may want to book a hotel, resort or Airbnb stay. Here are our favorite three Airbnbs near Friday Harbor:

How to get married at Friday Harbor?

Friday Harbor is in a town within Washington State, so therefore all of Washington State marriage laws apply. Washington does have a three day holding period on marriage licenses so make sure you plan for that in advance when scheduling to get your paperwork.

The local clerk office if you wanted to get your paperwork online can be found at:

350 Court Street
1st Floor
Friday Harbor, WA 98250

If you go in person we recommend making an appointment. Your appointment would take around 15-30 minutes.

Or you can also apply online at here! No matter if you are in person or online you can expect to pay $62 for your paperwork.

In the state of Washington you can get your marriage paperwork from any county.

A couple walks together at sunset in their wedding attire looking out towards the mountains.

Getting Married at Salt Water Farm in Friday Harbor

Salt Water Farm is truly an epic, stunning and wonderful wedding venue to consider for your wedding day or even an elopement with guests. Here are a few of the top reasons we love this wedding venue on Friday Harbor:

Eco-friendly, striving to have a small foot print and source locally
When you book here you are booking the entire space, so the small cabin stays and the larger space. We love this because it can essentially be a wedding weekend get away for you and your closest loved ones. The venue becoming a space for the wedding itself, but also a home base as you explore the island(s) and have a honeymoon vibed weekend!
Garden Party anyone for a long farm table dinner, lunch, brunch with your guests!? If you ask me, it screams romance.
The view – from the rooms, the ceremony space and getting ready space you have views of the islands and ocean.
The getting ready space/stay – these nooks are beautiful, cozy and unique.
Privacy – the farm is tucked back and it feels like you are on your own island while there.
Creative opportunity for your gallery – the design of the space is incredible which means a lot for photography. The rooms have great light and clean design. You can tell from the image we captured there spread throughout this blog how wonderful the space photographs.

The Salt Farm offers stays for their venue ranging from 1 day (12 hours) to 4+ day stays/events. They can aoccomodate elopements with 20 guests to bigger weddings with up to 200+ guests. It is truly a great space for a large array of different types of weddings.

A bride looks out the window before seeing her groom.

Other Wedding Venues near Friday Harbor

Roche Harbor Weddings

Roche Harbor is a popular destination on San Juan Island. It is on the opposite side of the island from Friday Harbor. This is a popular area because it is a resort a lot of the sea planes land/dock as well as private boats. It is a resort with a few restaurants, gardens, an artist market on the weekends during season and kayak rentals for exploring the bay area here. You can get married here! This venue can host weddings up to 300 guests. There are also condos, cottages and suites you can rent for stay accommodations.

San Juan Island Gange

This option is more budget friendly and really only ideal for a small wedding or an elopement with guests. For this I would only recommend renting the deck. On the deck you can have a total of 26 people. I would recommend using the deck for the ceremony and then a private chef or catered dinner. This is wonderful, if you want to explore for the day, go on tours with your family, etc then come back and celebrate for the evening somewhere private overlooking the boats.

BrickWorks

This wedding venue is located within Friday Harbor town limits. This venue is much more along the lines of a traditional indoor barn like wedding venue. They can host up to 150 people guests.

Friday Harbor House

This is a popular and might I add delicious restaurant in Friday Harbor and an inn for accommodating stays. They have packages for small weddings/elopements to medium sized weddings, hosting a guest count of 8 people to 80 people total. They offer different options, but we love the idea of rooftop ceremony and private chef prepared dinner. They have a great view of the ocean with incoming boats and the ferry. This would feel cozy, romantic and easy as they really help take care of everything.

Lakedale

Lakedale is a popular destination on San Juan Island just outside of Friday Harbor for camping in the summer. We ourselves have tent camped here over a fourth of July holiday! The farm is 82 acres and you guessed it – you can stay here as well during your wedding. However, you get a choice between tent camping, rv camping, staying in a yurt, log cabin, cottage or at the lake house. There are also activities on site like enjoying the lake on a canoe and more! This is a great option if you want to do a camp style wedding or elopement with guests!

The couple poses for a moody portrait near Roche Harbor. — Public area near Roche Harbor Wedding Venue

Working with Adventure and Vow as your Friday Harbor Wedding Photographer

We are a husband and wife team offering photo, video, officiating and assistance in planning your dream wedding day. We are based near the North Cascades of Washington, but work all over the Western United States and beyond. Since first coming to Washington the San Juan Islands have held a special place in our hearts. We love visiting all year, kayaking in the bay, hiking around on a clear day to see the peaks from afar and more. We love the slower pace, the ability to bring your loved ones along for the adventure here and variety of things to do.

We offer packages for adventure elopements and small weddings ranging from 6 hours of coverage to multi-day elopements/weddings. We offer video as an add on to any of our packages.

Most of our couples book a split day or multi-day for the San Juan Islands. Here is an example timeline of what a wedding day with us often can look like from a real wedding we planned and photographed in 2023!

Meet in the AM for Kayak/Vow writing/etc – 5am

Finish Kayaking – 6:30am

Break/Eat Breakfast/Grab coffee from in town

12:30 Sea Plane Pickup at Roche Harbor

1:00 Depart

1:00-1:20 – Tour San Juan Islands

1:20-1:55 – Travel to Lake Diablo

2:00 – Land at Lake Diablo

Lunch Picnic + Portraits

3:00 – Depart Lake Diablo

4pm – Flight back to San Juan Islands | Roche Harbor landing

15 min drive

4:30pm Dinner at Friday Harbor House on the Rooftop

6pm Head to coastal location for ceremony, portraits + fire at blue hour for toasts + s’mores

Coverage ends at 8:30pm

Learn more about what we offer

Orcas Island Intimate Wedding

Brittley

My wife and I decided to have a small elopement for our wedding day and after extensive research of looking through all the pros in the business, we found Adventure & Vow. After initially chatting with Traci and Bill, we immediately felt connected to them and quickly learned how thorough and professional they are to work with. Traci was so communicative and provided us with multiple options and ideas that fit not only our dream wedding day, but also was able to schedule a last minute engagement photo session in Yosemite with us prior to our elopement.

Every aspect of our experience with them was phenomenal! Traci and Bill plan out every detail and are willing to go above and beyond to make your day what you want it to be. They took a ferry to Orcas Island, WA (check it out!), woke up at 4am, and got in a kayak for us to have a sunrise photo session to start our unforgettable elopement. They even had to deal with another vendor of ours who ended up being terrible. They handled it with grace and in the best interest and support of us, as their clients, when they didn’t even need to.

Our family and friends loved Traci and Bill’s energy and focus! They, to this day, continuously gave us compliments about their work and how excited they were to see the photos and video. Traci and Bill truly planned and facilitated our dream wedding, and I couldn’t have been happier with everything. I truly recommend Adventure and Vow!! Upon your first interaction with them, we know you will see and feel how wonderful they are!