This gorgeous wedding shoot at Anker, who changed their name from Kingston House, on Washington’s Olympic peninsula proves once and for all that sustainable weddings are beautiful, chic, and here to stay! Featuring a second-hand wedding dress, foam-free floral displays, all vintage and rented tableware, local foods, wines, and favors, and a whole fleet of environmentally-minded vendors, you’d never know by looking at the photos that every bit of this day was selected for sustainability as well as beauty.
Daniella and Daniel’s crew came together to celebrate with them at Anker with an intimate ceremony, tree planting, and cocktail hour complete with a gorgeous grazing table and adorable mobile bar trailer. Then, their closest friends stayed for a cozy yet refined candlelit dinner where they toasted with local wine and enjoyed a meal together. The design was centered around the venue’s organic and natural beauty, aiming to create something special while still being understated. The elegant possibilities of sustainability aren’t really talked about in the wedding industry, and we wanted to challenge that and show off what can happen when you plan something wonderful with intention guiding the way.
Read on to browse this gorgeous day and get some inspiration for your own environmentally-minded celebration!
Daniel & Daniella’s Story
Every detail of this Anker wedding shoot was planned with so much intention. What I especially loved was that this wedding weekend pushed back against the stringent timeline of a traditional wedding day. We opted to show off a slow wedding weekend rooted in authenticity.
Bringing together close friends for a relaxed weekend getaway, this shows how to celebrate your marriage through a more casual ceremony and cocktail reception. Then, we ended the weekend with an intimate, candlelit dinner after other guests departed. Building the timeline of the shoot to be more laid-back allowed us to have a quiet, private morning, and to soak in every piece of the experience we created.
Kingston House Wedding Design
Inspired by the natural beauty of the setting, the design incorporated colors in seasonal fall flowers and foliage. The feel was natural and organic, but still so elegant and joyful without being overstated. This goes to show that even a wedding that heavily emphasizes sustainability doesn’t sacrifice beauty or aesthetics.
“Sustainable” and “elegant” are two words I rarely see associated with each other, so Daniel and Daniella’s wedding shoot at Anker was the perfect example of achieving the absolute best of both. It wasn’t extravagant by any means, but neither was it minimalistic! Another pitfall to dreaming up a sustainable celebration is the pull to make it a rustic aesthetic or have an overtly “granola” feel. But sustainability can be refined and classy!
Vendors for Daniel & Daniella’s Kingston House Wedding
In planning this day, finding a venue and other wedding vendors that focus on and even prioritize sustainability was a must. Here’s the incredible team that helped put this celebration together:
Organization: Emerald Hour (the sustainability organization for wedding professionals that I co-founded!)
Planning: Hummingbird Event Co.
Venue: Anker (formerly known as Kingston House)
Photography: Marla Manes Photography
Videography: Ochoa Wedding Films
Hair & Makeup: Anne Timss & Elizabeth Dolan
Dress: Brides for a Cause
Floral Design: Manette Flower Co
Rentals: Celebrations for Every Season
Officiant: Officiant Grace
Grazing Table: Gema Collective
Bartending: Hitched Mobile Bar
Cake & Desserts: Alpenglow Baking
Jewelry: Adrienne Key Studio
Linens: Pedersens Event Rentals
Calligraphy: Clover Society Sign Co.
Candles: Debae Candles
Seed Paper & Ribbon: Of the Earth
How to Plan Your Wedding with Intention
By planning with intention, we were able to avoid a lot of the unnecessary waste that comes with a traditional wedding.
Intentionally choosing vendors, buying from local businesses, cutting out extraneous items that don’t add value, and keeping your wedding small are some of the easiest ways to minimize the footprint of an event. An added bonus to creating a smaller guest list is that you have the opportunity to be more thoughtful with each choice you make for your wedding. This creates more time to focus on personal details, too!
Here’s just some things we looked for that both venue and vendors were able to provide:
- Offering on-site equipment for use like tables, chairs, linens, etc.
- Offering recycling and composting on site
- Environmentally-sound landscaping (this conserves energy)
- Nothing disposable used at the bar, only rented glassware to clean and reuse as well as purchasing alcohol and cocktail ingredients made locally
- Foam-free floral design utilizing flowers from local flower farms and foraging, and then repurposing items from ceremony to reception
- Buying wedding attire from second-hand (or rental) shops
- Buying jewelry, food, desserts, favors, and stationery from local businesses that utilize both sustainable and ethical creation practices. Including both labor and materials/ingredients!
- Rent, rent, rent! Wherever possible, renting is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste at a wedding, from tableware to linens to decor
- Where renting isn’t easy, thrift! Buying second hand gives new life to items in good condition. And, donating them again when you’re done means someone else can thrift them, too!
I’m Marla, Washington Wedding Photographer
Beyond just photographing one of the greatest days of your life (so far!), I’m here for way more than that. I want to guide you through the whole process — from choosing your perfect ceremony spot and selecting vendors to crafting your timeline, all while helping you create a celebration that emphasizes sustainability and lessening environmental impact.
My own elopement was the single best day I’ve ever had. It was an honor to photograph this styled Anker wedding, and it would be my honor to do the same for you, too! Reach out to me here and let’s get started 🙂
These Photos are absolutely STUNNING! I loved all of the flower details and how beautifully you captured the couple
I love that Kingston House is focused on sustainability—it really adds a special touch to weddings and events there! 🌿 In a place like Kingston, surrounded by nature, it makes so much sense to go eco-friendly. From the local catering options to minimizing waste, it’s inspiring to see how venues can make a positive environmental impact. I wonder if they use local flowers for decorations? That would be such a lovely touch. Anyone else know of other venues around Kingston that have embraced sustainable practices? It’s definitely the way of the future.