Artist Point Elopement
Desirae + Simon
Desirae and Simon’s Artist Point elopement brought them all the way from Louisiana back to a place that was already a huge part of their story. Simon proposed to Desirae at Artist Point during a week-long trip through the North Cascades, after secretly carrying her engagement ring around in his hiking bag the entire week and convincing her it was not actually ready yet. On their final hike, they stopped for lunch with the snowy mountains behind them, and Simon proposed on an awkward, slanted rock because Desirae loved the view too much to move somewhere flatter. Coming back to the same area to get married made the whole night feel incredibly full circle.
Their elopement started at Picture Lake, where Desirae and Simon arrived in bride-and-groom baseball jerseys with their 13-year-old pup, Stonewall, aka Stoney, along for the adventure. They changed into their wedding clothes at the lake and had their first look on the dock while birds swooped around them and Stoney howled nearby for bacon and snuggles. Desirae’s high-low wedding dress was so much fun to photograph, especially once the wind picked it up while she ran across the dock and moved around the lake. There was also one slightly terrifying moment when a wedding ring slipped between the boards of the dock after detail photos. Everyone froze, I pulled the crochet hook out of my fanny pack, and Simon managed to fish it back out with every diamond still accounted for.
A friend officiated their ceremony at Picture Lake, where Desirae and Simon exchanged their traditional vows and officially got married. I signed their marriage paperwork as one witness, we found another witness nearby, and then we started making our way farther up toward Artist Point. On the way, the haze in the sky created these gorgeous beams of sunlight coming through the mountains above Heather Meadows, and there was absolutely no way we were driving past that. We stopped so Desirae and Simon could wander through the meadow while the light streamed through behind them, giving us some of the most dramatic portraits of the evening.
From there, we continued to Huntoon Point, close to the area where Simon had proposed years earlier. This time, they stood together as newlyweds and exchanged their private vows while Mount Baker and the surrounding mountains started turning pink with alpenglow. They spent most of the evening barefoot, popped champagne, and shared cupcakes that Desirae had made herself while Stoney continued providing his own very vocal soundtrack. It was quiet, gorgeous, and exactly the kind of simple mountain evening they had traveled across the country for.
They finished the night with an eight-minute choreographed first dance they had practiced together in their living room. Desirae and Simon went through dips, twirls, lifts, and even something called the pretzel, surrounded by the last light of the evening. Between the movement of Desirae’s dress, the pink mountains, and the two of them completely committed to this very long and very impressive dance, it was such a fun way to end their elopement.
Long before Artist Point became part of their story, Desirae and Simon met while working as nurses in Louisiana. They first crossed paths in 2019 when Desirae was on a travel assignment at Simon’s hospital in Lafayette, and one of her earliest memories of him is Simon scaring her at work. They ended up working together again in Baton Rouge in 2021, realized they made a pretty great team, and nine months later Desirae asked him on a date. Simon is still adamant that he was about to ask her out that same day. Now they are looking forward to more hiking, more adventures, and growing old together, with Simon fully intending to keep lovingly scaring the shit out of Desirae along the way.
Vendors: Photography: Works by Sarah Jane Photography / Wedding Rings: Jared Jewelers //
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