Real Wedding: Beth + Joe’s Seattle Wedding on a Ferry – in the Rain

This wedding just screams Seattle – and that is exactly what the couple wanted. With gorgeous photography by Michele M. Waite, Beth + Joe had the perfect wedding. A bit about them from Beth: I was born and raised here in Seattle and Joe moved here almost 6 years ago. We both love Seattle and the Northwest and wanted to highlight our city. Most of Joe’s family travelled from the Midwest for the wedding, so what better place to have the ceremony than on a retired WA State Ferry on Lake Union with a view of the city skyline? We wanted the day to be a reflection of us as a couple, but we also wanted our guests to feel how important and integral we consider them to be in our lives. The day of the wedding was gray and rainy. While it wasn’t the weather we hoped for, it actually felt perfect and really gave our out of town guests the true Seattle experience. The rain stopped just long enough to have the ceremony outside and didn’t return until the last few moments. Oh, and she just happens to be wearing green wedding shoes also :)

rainy wedding with bella umbrellas

rainy wedding with umbrellas

Love the umbrellas they rented from Bella Umbrella – really makes the photos that much better!

peony bouquet

wedding in seattle

seattle ferry wedding

seattle ferry weding

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? For both of us, it was exchanging our vows. We expected our vows to be a blur of emotion, but when the time came our nerves went away and we were both incredibly present and felt nothing but joy and excitement. We both remember it with total clarity. Joe adds that he will never forget the ever-present smile on my face that day.

green wedding shoes ferry wedding

wedding on a boat

Any advice for those planning now? Splurge on your photographer. Be creative and make sure the celebration feels like a reflection of you as a couple. We also highly recommend taking a moment during your ceremony to turn and look out at your guests. We both did this and will never forget seeing the faces and making eye contact with all our friends and family who were there to support us.

As described above, our vows were the most memorable part of the day. However, we will never forget posing for photos with the Knights at Gas Works park. We were at the park for our pre-wedding photos and noticed a group of men dressed as medieval knights engaged in a serious battle with weapons and shields. The guys couldn’t help but approach them for a photo and, before I knew what was happening, Joe and his groomsmen had the weapons in hand and were charging through the rain at our photographer as she bravely held her position and snapped photos. The chivalrous knights then held the ladies’ parasols as they took their turn posing with the battle gear. It was a hilarious encounter that left us all smiling and laughing and prompted one groomsman to delcare, “That was the most fun I have EVER had taking wedding photos!” A truly unique experience.

groomsmen with knights

Thanks you guys and big congrats to you both. You can see more from the wedding on Michele’s blog here. Michele M. Waite is based in Bellingham, WA and available for travel worldwide.

Vendor List
Venue: Skansonia Charters
Wedding Dress: Carolina Herrera (purchased at Belltown Bride, a designer bridal outlet in Seattle)
Hair and Makeup: Swink Style Bar
Shoes: Nina (Design Your Own)
Umbrellas: Bella Umbrella
Bridesmaid Dress: They all found their own dresses from various stores/designers
Hairpieces: My earrings and hair pins were from Rhinestone Rosie, a vintage jewelry store in Seattle. I found the earrings there and they converted two broaches to hair pins, replacing some of the stones to match the earrings.
Groom Suit: Z Zegna from Nordstrom
Floral Design: Jean Louise at Juniper flowers
Cake: Sweet Cakes (Kirkland, WA)
Music: DJ Mark, Seattle Parties
Bridesmaids Gifts: Emroidered handkerchiefs purchased from MutantAngel on Etsy and handbags from Laura Bee Designs

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