Earthy + Natural Forest Wedding | York, Pennsylvania | Kate + Hale

featured, Portfolio, Weddings

January 6, 2022

Kate and Hale’s earthy, natural, wedding was such a fun day. With a flash mob during the father daughter dance, a sword to cut the cake, and a choreographed first dance, every moment of the day was so them. They truly made their wedding their own.

Rock Climbing Engagement Photos

Now before we get too far, I have to tell you a little bit about Kate and Hale. They went rock climbing for their engagement session. If you haven’t seen that post, stop here and go check that out. These two are incredibly adventurous and are so much fun to be around. Their smiles are contagious and if you spend any time around them, you’ll instantly know how much they care about each other.

Their Story

Here is the story of how they met and fell in love. It’s a good story, so I’ll let them tell it in their own words:

“It all started with a swipe to the right on a dating app. A simple Hello from Kate and a “Hey” from Hale was all it took to launch two weeks of non-stop texting, a Facetime, and plans for our first date!

Our first date was a Monday evening at home. Hale arrived bearing groceries and we ate home-made pizzas. After a whirlwind week of dates, Hale had to move to to Seattle for work. Hale left for a soft landing in Seattle, taking out belongings and hoping to secure lodging. There, instead of an apartment, he acquired the Elysian Pearl, our 38ft sailboat and Hale’s floating home in Seattle. A week later he arrived back in Pennsylvania, and drove straight from the airport to York for a weekend getaway to our cabin. Hale was due to start work in Seattle a week later, but we decided to give this dizzying but promising romance a chance. Hale postponed his start date at work for an extra month in Pennsylvania.

Kate spent the summer in Seattle with Hale. We spent the summer teaching ourselves to sail in the Puget Sound, watching seals and orcas, boat-camping at Blake Island, and backpacking in Mt. Rainier National Park. We had the best summer ever! When the summer came to an end Kate flew back to PA, and Hale started a travel project for work; jet-setting to California weekly, and a trip to London and Boston. Kate got postcards, and Hale got jet lag.

After thousands of miles and months of counting airline status points, Hale called Kate with important news. In November Hale would move home to Pennsylvania permanently, putting an end to the miles and long distance dating.

Together took on a different meaning in September of 2020. Hale diligently worked on custom designing an engagement ring in secret, and Kate planned a weekend climbing trip just to get away. Though the engagement wasn’t planned for that trip when the jeweler called and said the ring was ready, plans were set in motion. The ring was shoved into a grimy climbing chalk bag pocket, but carefully tied to a string to prevent accidental drops! In the morning we set off for climbing. Kate was excited to climb, and Hale was desperately hoping his plan would work, as the last-minute proposal all hinged on Kate agreeing to his plan.

While Hale normally climbs first and belays Kate next, he worked extra hard to convince her that he should belay her from the top of the cliff; citing the need to practice mountaineering skills. Once at the top Kate stated she was content to only reach my heels, and as anyone who has climbed knows it only counts as the top once you hit the chains. This time Hale’s persistence failed, and Kate hung by his side as Hale snapped some photos and fumbled with his gear and words. Moments later, after transferring the ring on a string, we were engaged! Kate immediately lost all awareness for her surroundings, focused exclusively on the ring, and laughed herself into hyperventilation and sweating. The romance was real!

The phrase “climb a rock, get a rock” was used, and though Kate was loath to remove the ring from her hand they continued on with a fantastic day of climbing, and a fantastic meal – steak and lobster over the open fire!

Their Wedding

The inspiration for their wedding was simplistic elegance with very natural and earthy elements. As I mentioned, every element of the wedding was so true to who they are. They also had a very environmentally sustainable wedding, with reusable glasses and bamboo cutlery.

Without further ado, here are some favorites from Kate and Hale’s wedding day. Enjoy!

First Look

Ceremony

Reception

Kate and Hale fully choreographed their first dance together. During Kate’s dance with her dad, they had a flash mob. Hale cut the cake with his sword form his time in the military.