Olympia Wedding Photographer | Intimate Forest Wedding

Beauty in the midst of a pandemic. People say that marriage consists mostly of compromise, working together and over coming things that life throws at you. Well, planning a wedding the middle of a global pandemic gave Aunika and Micah a dose of all three. Their friends and family came together and helped plan the most gorgeous intimate forest wedding near Olympia, WA. As fast as it went by, and as different as they had imagined, it was still the most perfect day that this Olympia Wedding Photographer has ever photographed.

Read more about their love story!

Aunika and Micah met in high school through mutual friends at the young age of 15. They spent their first two years flirting, getting closer, and eventually becoming best friends. Within those two years, Aunika was in denial that she liked Micah and that he would even like her. While Micah spent those two years patiently waiting for her to realize what was happening between them.

The Proposal
Aunika being the planner that she is, made it very clear to everyone who would listen, that when Micah did propose, she really wanted it to be a surprise. At this time they’ve been together for almost 10 years and Aunika figured that it wouldn’t happen for maybe another 2 years. Ten years together seems like enough time before getting engaged, but they were just about to move to a bigger city, while finding new jobs, and Micah was going to start at a new college, so life was pretty crazy at the moment. Aunika thought that Micah was going to propose after he finished his degree and were established in the new city.

The week before the proposal Micah took Aunika to this beautiful spot that over looked the water in the town that they lived in. They were expecting Micah’s sister and brother-in-law to stay with them that weekend, and Micah told Aunika that he wanted to bring them with them while they were visiting. Aunika had also been slightly suggestion to Micah that she really wanted to get photos done, so Micah also suggested to invite one of their best friends to take photos of them while they were there. During one of the poses, Micah grabbed Aunika’s hand and she remembers thinking, “Oh, the awkward prom pose, okay, we can do a couple funny ones!” But then he turned to her and the other hand in his pocket. As he was getting down on one knee and was pulling the ring box out, she immediately pulled her hand out of his hand and took a step back. She saw what was happening, but it took a moment for her to register what was actually happening. With her mind going blank and hand over her mouth, all that she could do was nod her head and had to be reminded that she was supposed to be her gorgeous engagement ring on!

Details of their wedding day
When it came to finally planning their wedding, Aunika wasn’t the person who dreamt of their wedding day growing up. But what she did know was that she wanted to get married in the forest or on a mountain. She loved the idea of eloping somewhere, but Micah wanted a bigger celebration with all their family and friends. When they were looking at venues, the one that immediately jumped out to them were Fern Acres in Forks, WA. They figured that they could have the best of what they both wanted. They booked the venue, sent out their save the dates, and then covid happened. They briefly thought about postponing til next year, but with everything up in the air, they figured why wait? What was originally planned to have 140 guests changed to only 30 guests at a friend’s family property in Olympia, WA.

Aunika and Micah were both drawn to the richness of emerald and when her mom given Aunika a set of gold-rimmed champagne glasses, she knew these were going to be her colors. Her pinterest boards were filled with styles of old Hollywood, gothic glam, and a lot of natural wood accents. They had planned for long wooden tables, emerald green runners with matching napkins, black and gold candelabras, and emerald and white candle sticks.

Aunika and Micah opted to not do a first look as Micah was really adamant about seeing Aunika for the first time as she was walking down the aisle. So being able to finally see each other as Aunika walked down the aisle was one of their favorite moments.

I asked Aunika and Micah if they had any advice for couples who are planning their wedding, here’s what they said:

Aunika: Both of you should decide what are the top three things that are most important to you and go from there. Our top three things were photography (Vikki is the best!), good food, and a great honeymoon. Those three things were the things we were willing to spend money on, and were the only things that we put pressure on ourselves to be perfect and everything else will fall into place.
Micah: Understand that this is you and your spouse’s day. Do things the way you want to do them. That being said, be respectful to everyone help; this may be your day however you still need the eyes in the crowd to look at you and make you feel one in a million. Those eyes will cherish being there and make the experience better if they are also feeling respected and happy.

Being their Olympia Wedding Photographer was an absolute honor. There was so much love and happiness all around, each image captured was filled with so much emotion!