Mountain Elopement Wedding: From Cowboy Camping at Sunrise to a Bilingual Wedding Ceremony

When you meet bouldering, share a love for climbing, and get engaged on top of Mount Rainier, your mountain elopement wedding is probably going to feel as adventurous and joyful as all the summits you’ve done together. 

Wen and Canhui are avid mountaineers. They originally wanted to get married at Mt Rainier, but because the park has stricter regulations about wedding celebrations with guests, they decided on Mount Baker and Shuksan instead. They invited their parents and a few climbing friends—about 20 people total—and ended up with a two-day celebration that felt completely them.

Keep scrolling to see how their day unfolded.

Part One: The Private Mountain Elopement Adventure

Cowboy Camping and Star Photos 

Wen and Canhui are under the stars all the time. A lot of their summit adventures happen in the middle of the night, so capturing star photos was very important to them.

We started out early—well before sunrise—and headed up into the mountains. The sky was cloudy, but we had enough of an opening to get some stars, which was exciting.

Once we finished the star photos, we had about an hour and a half to kill before sunrise. We could have just sat in the car and waited, but we pitched them an idea: cowboy camping-style hangout. We asked them if they wanted to bring their sleeping bags and pads up the mountain, make breakfast and coffee as they would on any other adventure, and they loved the idea!

So they set everything up and made their morning coffee and breakfast, camp-meal style. This gave them time to just hang out for a bit and settle into the fact that they were getting married.

We always think it is so special to get to tell your story as a couple, not just your elopement day. Infusing who you two are into your elopement day creates the most meaningful photos + experience.

First Look and Private Vows at Artist Point

Once the light started to shift, they changed into their wedding attire and did their first look.

Then we headed over to Artist Point for their private vows, but the clouds were covering Shuksan.

Wen was disappointed, but something amazing happened. She asked the clouds to move—like literally saying “move clouds, move clouds”—and they started to move! Stoke way high, and a happy dance definitely concurred. We decided to quickly hold the ceremony before the clouds came back.

They exchanged their private vows right on the mountain trail, and it was very emotional. They were both crying and the whole morning just felt like a PNW hug—the moodiness, the cloudiness, and the quietness of being the only ones out in the mountains.

After their vows, we set out on a hike. Even though it was July, there was still some snow on the trail. They got to do some plunge stepping going down the hill—not technically mountaineering, but they still got to use their skills. We hiked to Iceberg Lake, and because they don’t normally hike outside of going to summit, it was fun for them to see views they hadn’t actually seen before in the Mt Baker area.

Part Two: A Mountain Wedding Celebration with Family

Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony + Cake Reception

After the private vow adventure, they had a break and headed to their Airbnb to get ready for the family celebration. Their loved ones had decorated the cabin—bingo cards with details about their relationship, a thank-you note section, and a Polaroid photo book. Even their cabin selection was very fitting as it had snowboards on the wall and that’s a mountain activity they love doing in the winter.

They started with a Chinese tea ceremony with their parents—a traditional custom where the parents make the tea, then the couple serves it to the opposite parents and receives their blessing. It was important to do this not only to honor culture, but to show gratitude to their parents and create union between the two families.

Then there was the cake.

In all our years of photographing, we have never seen a cake like this! Wen’s friend made it, and the very top had two anime figures of them in the exact outfits they were wearing when they got engaged. The first layer was Mount Rainier, with them heading toward it, setting out for the summit. The middle layer was the boulder they met at in Leavenworth. And the bottom layer was El Dorado Peak with them snowboarding down it – one of their favorite routes to do together.

It was a full storytelling cake.

After dinner, they had drinks, including a really special liquor Wen’s parents brought from China.

Wen surprised Canhui with a video made from sand art. The artist had used sand and light to tell their whole relationship story from meeting to their big adventures together across Washington and in the Southwest, to getting engaged.

It was fascinating to watch, but it was also very emotional. If you mountaineer together or do really intense adventures, your lives are in each other’s hands. It’s hard. You’re pushing each other, supporting each other, and seeing each other at highs and lows. So it’s not just about the cool things you’ve done. It’s about knowing you’ve put in the work and survived it together.

The room was silent, in awe of the art and storytelling. The gift moved Canhui to tears. We love this idea and that you can re-watch it after the elopement day as well!

Bilingual Mountain Wedding Ceremony

We headed back out to the mountains for their ceremony with family and friends. Wen and Canhui walked down the aisle together. Bill officiated in English, and their friend translated in Chinese so Wen’s parents—who had come from China and stayed for three weeks—could understand everything. Both parents said a few warm words in Chinese and bringing some joyful smiles + tears.

When Canhui proposed on the summit of Mt Rainier, we had the ring on a carabiner. So for the ceremony, their friend who officiated in Chinese, had the rings together on her belt loop on the carabiner. Another small intentional sentiment making their ceremony so special.

The handfasting was one of the most symbolic parts of their ceremony. They brought climbing rope and had the parents present it to them—it was really important to Wen and Canhui that their family be involved. Everyone put their hands together and then Wen and Canhui finished the figure eight knot together and kissed.

Next-Day Climbing Photos

We met them the next morning for about an hour for some rock climbing photos. Wen does pole dancing as part of her fitness, so watching her hang and rappel in her dress was incredible. She knew exactly how to move on those ropes and you could tell she was having so much fun!

We always like to remind couples, do not shy away from including elements of your story.

Let us worry about the logistics and how to make it happen.

When we first started talking with Wen + Canhui we thought climbing would be out of the question, because of how far away all the crags and alpine routes were. However, a new climbing crag has been being built in the Mt Baker area.

As an additional logistic, all of the routes are over 5.10+ right now – which can take a lot of time to climb. So their friends were so gracious to go the day of the wedding to climb the routes and set up ropes so we could all easily + effectively jug up the routes to do hanging rappel photos.

We are so honored that this photo from Wen and Canhui’s mountain elopement wedding was awarded Junebug’s Best of the Best Wedding Photos for 2025.

What We Loved About This Mountain Elopement Wedding

What we loved most about Wen and Canhui’s mountain celebration was how they found a way to include who they really are—mountaineers, climbers, adventurers—into their wedding day without actually summiting a mountain. They took time for themselves in the morning, then brought family into the celebration later. That combo let them have both the freedom to be fully themselves and the joy of sharing it with the people they love.

Want to learn more about how to plan a rock climbing elopement? Get our full planning guide here.

Or, if you’re interested in learning more about including guests while still having a celebration that feels like you, read all about how to elope with family here.

Vendors who made this Mountain Elopement Wedding possible:

Photography & Officiant: Adventure and Vow
Cake: Friend of the couple
Rings: Tiffany & Co.
Catering: Paella Works

Free Consult Call about your Mountain Wedding Elopement

Blog post written by Sonder Studio