SEATTLE WEDDING ROADTRIP STORY
Just a couple of weeks after moving back to Utah from New Zealand, I was still figuring out what my life looked like again — settling into Salt Lake, catching up with friends, trying to rebuild my routine. Out of nowhere, my photographer friend Abby (WildAbbyPhotos) reached out and asked if I wanted to second shoot a wedding with her in Seattle. She said she’d pay me, she’d drive her car, and we’d make the whole thing a roadtrip.
I said yes — mainly because something in me needed to. A new opportunity, a new city, a new chapter. Why not? I had no “job” and needed the cash.
We met up in Logan, Utah, loaded our bags into her old Subaru Outback — the kind of car that already feels like a roadtrip even before you start it — and started the 14-hour drive to Washington. Although Abby and I were friends, we hadn’t spent a ton of time together, so I was a little nervous. But within minutes, we were deep in conversation, playing good music, and laughing way too hard at a mysterious stinky smell while waiting at a Dutch Bros drive-thru. At one point I took methylene blue, which temporarily made my teeth bright blue, and it set us off laughing again.
By the time we rolled into Seattle late that night, exhausted but energized, we checked into an old, charming-but-questionable vintage hotel — squeaky floors, rusty corners, the works. But honestly? It made the whole trip feel even more like a story.
The wedding was for Chris and Shane — a well-balanced, queer couple who met in Hawaii, built big corporate careers in Seattle, and were finally ready to get married after years together. Their day took place at Woodinville Lavender, a dreamy field lined with soft purple rows and warm sunlight. Not a cloud in sight — a rare gift for Seattle.
The energy was young, queer, and joyful — a community of friends who genuinely loved being together. They thought of every detail: a retro phone booth where guests could leave voice messages for the grooms, hand-embroidered suits, beautiful flowers everywhere, and a full dinner featuring fish, shrimp, and some of the best food I’ve had at a wedding. They had an open wine bar, a giant cardboard cutout of their cat (who couldn’t attend), and danced all night while waving it through the crowd.
The next morning, they hosted a donuts-and-coffee meet-and-greet at their high-rise apartment, overlooking the Seattle skyline. We captured their espresso cart, stacks of donuts, warm hugs, and gentle, slow morning moments that felt like the real beginning of their marriage.
Cris and Shane at their coffee meet and greet the morning after the wedding - overlooking the city of Seattle
Throughout the trip, Abby and I explored thrift stores, visited local coffee shops, and even squeezed in a bit of learning — I practiced improving my Lightroom workflow and learned how to create more intentional Instagram carousels using the GoDaddy app. It felt like a mini creative retreat.
After Seattle, we drove straight to Glacier National Park to photograph an engagement session, and then all the way back to Utah — tired, fulfilled, and changed in the way that only travel + art + friendship can do.
It was one of my first major travel photography gigs after returning from New Zealand, and it taught me so much about what it means to say yes, to trust that everything will unfold, and to let the road reshape you.
