Welcome to Our Wedding Weekend

Thank you all for spending a whole weekend of your summer with us!

This is no Traditional Wedding... It is a Wedding Weekend!

The wedding will take place on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula (a beautiful ferry ride and a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle) at NatureBridge on Lake Crescent. We have cabins for everyone to stay in onsite, which are reserved from Friday at 4pm until Sunday at noon. Please join us for as much of the weekend as possible.

Accomodations

The Cabins

We have free accommodations on site at NatureBridge... You're Welcome! :)
These are Summer Camp style bunk rooms with three bunks per room. We will assign bunks and do our best to group families and friends together, but please know that these are not luxury accommodations. Bathrooms are shared with two bathrooms per 4-6 rooms in some cabins, and other cabins use a shared bathroom/ shower house which is very close, but does require briefly walking outside. Some of the cabins are ADA accessible so please let us know if this would make you more comfortable. Sheets, blankets, towels, and a pillow will be provided for every guest staying in the cabins.

Other Accommodations

If you would like to book other accommodations to enhance your stay then you are more than welcome to!

Lake Crescent Lodge

This Lodge is a half mile walk from NatureBridge and has fantastic accommodations available to reserve. Rooms in the Lodge cost about $200 per night. If interested in reserving a room here please do so as early as possible as the Lodge fills up quickly in the summer months.

https://www.nationalparkreservations.com/lodge/olympic-lake-crescent-lodge/

Shadow Mountain RV Park

Only 10 minutes from our venue is an RV park. This would be ideal for anyone that wants to extend their stay in the Olympic Peninsula and travels with an RV. Camping and RVs are not allowed onsite at our venue so please make a reservation here or one of the other sites nearby.

http://www.shadowmt.com/

Port Angeles Homes/Hotels

The closest major city to the venue is Port Angeles. Hotels and Airbnbs are available in this area to book. If you decide to book alternate accomodations please remember that ride share services are very limited in this area and there will be lots of booze involved so have a plan to safely travel between the venue and your accommodations.

Schedule of Events

Friday 8/16 4pm-6pm Guests arrive onsite at NatureBridge.
You will be greeted by a member of the bridal party who will help you find parking and check you into your cabin. Once settled in please join the Bride and Groom in the gazebo for a welcome drink.
6:00 PM Dinner is Served
A Taco Bar Buffet and Margaritas will be served in the main lodge
8:00 PM Bonfire and Toasts
Come hang out by the lake and enjoy a roaring fire! We will also have the opportunity for anyone that wants to give a toast, share a story or sing a song :)
Saturday 8/17 8:00 AM Marymere Falls Hike
Early Risers can join the Bride and Groom on an easy refreshing hike to a beautiful waterfall
9:00 AM Breakfast is Served
Hot breakfast will be served in the main lodge
10am-2pm Enjoy Nature
Naturalists will be onsite to lead guided canoe rides on the lake, there are also many hiking trails available in the area. Sign ups for specific canoe times will be available
4:00 PM Happy Half-Hour
Gather in the Ceremony space for a pre-ceremony cocktail or beverage
4:30 PM Ceremony
Come celebrate the official ceremony for Mr. and Mrs. Rakestraw!
5:00 PM Party Time!
All the typical wedding activities... eat, drink, and be merry
Sunday 8/18 9:00 AM Breakfast is Served
Hot breakfast will be served in the main lodge
10:00 AM Out of Cabins
All personal belongings must be removed from the cabins
12:00 PM Time to Leave
You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here :)


Travel Details


Thank you to everyone coming far and wide, we definitely did not pick the easiest location to get to, so we appreciate the extra effort from everyone!

For detailed advice about your personal travel logistics we are definitely happy to help, but here I will cover the two most likely travel plans of driving vs. flying

Driving
If driving from the Seattle area you have two options: 1) Drive around the water South through Tacoma and then back up North or 2) Take a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge (leaves every 30 mins or so) and then drive from Bainbridge to NatureBridge. Both options take 3 - 3.5 hours with limited traffic. I personally think the ferry is more fun and enjoyable, but wait times can be long on Fridays so use your discretion and Google Maps :) Please remember that traffic can be bad on Friday afternoons so plan to leave early if possible.

Flying
If flying you will arrive at Seatac airport. From there you will need to rent a car. Once in your rental car the instructions are the same as the driving instructions above. Seatac is about 30 minutes south of Seattle though, so it may be faster to drive around South through Tacoma (but not as much fun!). Please be aware of rush hour traffic when deciding on flight times as this can add 1-2 extra hours to an already long drive.

Arrival
Once you have finished your long journey and pull off highway 101 you should follow signage to NatureBridge. You can pull in the car loop where the entrance is marked on the map and a member of our bridal party will be there to help you unload your belongings, check you into your cabin, and park your car for you so we can make sure to fit in as many vehicles as possible.

You have made it so let us take care of everything from here. Kick back, relax, have fun and start the weekend right with a welcome drink!

Weather

The Olympic Peninsula weather is unpredictable so check back closer to the date for a weather forecast.
In the meantime, since we are major nerds, we requested some detailed weather data for the region to create some weather statistics for everyone to enjoy :)


 
Daily Temp Max- Aug Daily Temp Min- Aug
Average 71 52
Record High 94 60
Record Min 59 42
90% C.I. (59, 82) (46, 57)
 

Rainfall: Average 4 days with any rainfall in August (11.7% chance)
Average 1.5 days with non-mist rainfall in August (4.5% chance)

Packing List

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