GOLDEN GARDENS WEDDING | KARI & RYAN
Seattle is an amazing city and there are countless wedding venues available to engaged couples that boast iconic PNW views. One of these such places is the Golden Gardens Bathhouse, just north of the city. The bathhouse itself is a classic brick building and is well known to frequent visitors of the popular park as it stands in the very middle. Directly outside is a beautiful sandy beach with spectacular views of the Olympic Mountain range to the west. This beach is especially popular in the summer time because of the large metal fire pits built into the sand, which are perfect for sunset bonfires and lots of s’mores. It’s pretty safe to say that a Golden Gardens wedding is pretty much as Seattle as you can get.
Kari & Ryan are two very special people. They are both from Ohio but fell in love with Seattle and moved out west several years ago. When they started planning their wedding this year, they knew that they had to get married in Seattle and that all of their friends and family would understand why they traveled many miles for this event once they arrived and witnessed for themselves how amazing it is here. Golden Gardens was a perfect venue choice for these two as they wanted to capture the scenery and vibe of a quintessential Seattle summer.
The day started out with Kari getting all dolled up at the Gary Manuel Aveda Salon in downtown Seattle with her friends and family members. We took some fun “getting ready shots” as well as some awesome close up photos of the bride and groom’s gorgeous wedding rings. Kari slipped into her gorgeous blush wedding gown and put on her shoes and jewelry. After spending some time with the ladies, I jetted off to Ryan & Kari’s home where Ryan was getting ready for the big day with his brother and sister. The Dietrich siblings opened a bottle of champagne and shared a toast before heading out for the festivities.
This super fun couple love Seattle, especially quirky bars, farmers markets and other local spots. They especially love Ballard and were planning to stay their wedding night at Hotel Ballard, so they thought it would be super fun to have their first look down there as well. We found an awesome building on a corner that joined the street at a pretty cool angle, so Ryan stood on one side of the corner and Kari on the other, and then turned to see each other at the same time. After a few intimate moments, we headed down to the Ballard Farmer’s Market where the two lovebirds strolled through and picked up a few market essentials to pile into their basket.
Next stop was the venue, the infamous Golden Gardens Bathhouse. I hung out with the bride and groom and took some fun photos around the property and on the beach before taking the family formal shots and tucking the couple away before guests arrived. Ryan and Kari had a lighthearted ceremony full of laughs, tears and ear to ear grins. Afterwards, their guests enjoyed some ridiculously good food from a Skillet food truck, one of Seattle’s best food truck offerings. Everyone in attendance was stoked on the food and it did not disappoint. I’ve never been so excited to eat, ohhh my goodness.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, there was an ice cream truck by Parfait Seattle!! What?! Oh and then there were s’mores on the beach! All was well in the world on this lovely September evening, let me assure you. We capped it off with an epic sunset and I was even able to steal the bride and groom away for some lovely golden hour portraits. Everything about this day was absolute perfection and I will not soon forget it.
Please enjoy these photos from Kari & Ryan’s beautiful Golden Gardens wedding. Cheers!
