Lake Coeur d'Alene Winter Elopement || Coeur d'Alene, Idaho || Hannah + Flynn
It was still dark out when we awoke at 5:30am, rubbing the sleep from our eyes as we gathered everything we needed for the day. Their dog, Finley, ran excited circles around us while we packed the dress, suit, and flowers. Despite the stress of the morning, there was an air of calm in the house.
“I’ll see you guys in Idaho!” I called, as we pulled out of their driveway in Wenatchee. As I drove east, the frost covered fields and hills turned pink in my rearview mirror. Ahead of me, the vast wheat fields were turning gold.
When we got to Coeur d’Alene, we decided to split up to pick up all of the finishing touches; Hannah and Flynn went to purchase a cake, while I went to Hansen’s Florist and Gifts to find greenery to complete the bouquet. The day so far had been a dreamy adventure of a road trip, but things started to go awry.
The hotel that Flynn had booked for their stay that night was not what it had seemed online. “I can’t bring her here,” he said, “she deserves so much better than this.” While Hannah was having her makeup done, we desperately searched for something else, and the Coeur d’Alene Resort came through with an amazing suite that overlooked the lake. Hannah finished her makeup appointment and joined us at the hotel, getting dressed while I put the finishing touches on the bouquet. I asked to see the cake for photos, and Flynn went to the fridge to get it.
“It’s gone!” Flynn said. Frantically, he called the front desk and found out that housekeeping had taken the cake, assuming the previous occupants had left it behind in the room, while we had gone to retrieve that dog from the car. It was December, and by the time we had gotten the cake back, we were losing light quickly.
“We need to go. Now.” I told them. “If we want to do this, this is our last chance.”
In a rush, we gathered everything we needed for the ceremony and photos and headed to Tubbs Hill, next to the resort. As we went, they both texted their vows to my phone, and made their elopement playlist on my spotify, because their phones were both threatening to die mid-elopement. We found a bluff overlooking the park and the lake, and got everything laid out. With the temperature being in the twenties and less than an hour of light left, we did the portraits rapid fire in less than ten minutes. Hannah’s burgundy dress stood out like a gemstone against the December colors of Idaho. Flynn was ready to read his vows, but we had one last surprise for him. Days before we left for Idaho, Hannah had told me that she was worried she wouldn’t feel like a bride, so I brought a wedding dress and veil with me.
As he waited with his back turned, Hannah changed into a white dress. When he saw her, in that moment, none of what had happened that day mattered anymore. In that moment, it was just the two of them. As they read their vows, they cried and held each other. They stood close and wiped away one another’s tears, in the most intimate ceremony that I have ever been lucky enough to witness. He held her as he told her about the moment he knew that he wanted to marry her, as they ice skated on Lake Padden.
And in that moment, the two of them, being there together, were all that mattered.
