Naturebridge

Naturebridge is a nonprofit on the shore of Lake Crescent, within the boundary of Olympic National Park. They run hands-on environmental science programs for kids, and host weddings on weekends.

Housing

We're really excited to offer everyone the opportunity to stay on site and spend the entire weekend together. Naturebridge accomodations are a combination of standard and historic cabins, with bunk beds and a combination of private, semi-private and bathhouse restrooms. As part of booking the venue, we were required to book all of their accomodations for the whole weekend. If you stay at Naturebridge with us, you will need to pay for your weekend food and housing when you RSVP next spring. If you choose to sleep elsewhere but still dine with the gang, we would love to have you; you can commit to this option next spring as well.

If you prefer more traditional accomodations, Lake Crescent Lodge is a 10 minute walk/2 minute drive away; note that we anticipate that they will book up quickly.

In order to help us organize lodging, we'd like your input on what housing options you prefer. If possible, please fill out our housing survey by June 1, 2021, even if you're not sure yet whether you can attend. This will help us promise people rooms of the types they're interested in or advise them to book elsewhere.

Schedule

We hope that you can join us for a long weekend! We plan on organizing activities on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, with the ceremony held late Saturday afternoon.

We will post a more detailed schedule as the festivities approach, but we have collected a sample of options we're excited about. If you're excited too, we encourage you to let us know you're interested in leading something!

Hiking

Water

Lodge

Getting to the Olympics

Airport

The best airport to fly into is Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), which is a 2:45 drive from the venue.

Carpooling

There are no good public transit options for getting to the park: a combination of Greyhound and city buses takes over eleven hours. We will help organize carpools for those interested.

Timing

Before buying flights, we encourage you to consider whether you want to spend more time in the area before or after the wedding. There are wonderful backpacking opportunities in the Olympics, and we intend to organize a fireworks party after the wedding for the evening of July 4 (details to be determined).

Attendees

Can I bring a guest?

You are welcome to bring a plus-one, but please let us know!

Are kids welcome?

Absolutely! We anticipate 10-15 kids under 12 and a few teenagers. The same way that we hope to schedule fun activities for our adult guests, we welcome ideas for the under-18 crowd. One thing we are considering is running movie nights after dinner. We have a building that we're intending to use mostly for kids, and are happy to help parents organize a rotating kid-watching schedule so that they can enjoy other activities.

Can I bring pets?

NatureBridge does not allow pets in any of the buildings. Dogs can be on leash on the campus and on certain designated trails, but none of the major trails. If the weather is good, we anticipate that much of the activity will be outside, so please talk to us if you'd like to bring a pet and stay elsewhere.

Safety

How are you planning on addressing the pandemic?

For everyone's peace of mind, we ask that all guests receive covid vaccines at least two weeks before attending our wedding. This is very important to us.

The venue is also requiring that we send everyone a survey shortly before the event with questions about covid symptoms.

What is the weather like in the park in July?

Average highs in early July are in the low 70s, with average lows in the high 40s. However, the weather can be unpredictable. Be sure to bring layers so you will be prepared for all kinds of weather, especially if you intend on hiking. Sunrise will be around 5:20am and sunset around 9:20pm.

Venue

How do I make hotel reservations?

For now, fill out our housing survey! More details will be posted here in June, 2021.

When can I check in and out?

If you are staying at Naturebridge, check in will be at 2:30 pm on Friday July 1st and you will need to check out of your room by 10 am on Monday July 4th. You will be able to stay on campus until 1 pm on the 4th.

Will there be wifi and cell service?

Free wireless internet is available in the main buildings, but it can be intermittent. AT&T wireless devices generally work on campus and Verizon has been occasionally spotty. An emergency landline phone is located in the Fireside Room in Rosemary Inn.

What do I need to bring to stay in the cabins?

Generally, you would need to bring what you would to a stay at a hostel. NatureBridge will provide towels and bed linens. Guests will need to bring PILLOWS and BLANKETS, washcloths, soap, shampoo, and hair dryers. If you remember your college days and will be using the bathhouse or a hall bath, you might want to bring flip flops, a robe, and a tote of some sort to carry items to and from the showers.

What is the plan for other meals during the weekend?

Besides our rehearsal and reception dinners, guests will be provided 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 additional dinner.

Meals are served buffet style in the dining hall at pre-arranged times.

Naturebridge staff will wash dishes, but you will be responsible for bringing your own dishes to the dish tubs near the kitchen.

They can accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten and dairy-free special requests.

A refrigerator will be available near the kitchen to store small items of food. There is also an ice machine available for our use.

Can I camp?

Unfortunately, Olympic National Park only allows camping in designated areas. The NatureBridge campus is not a designated camping area and therefore, RVs and tents are not allowed. The closest campgrounds are Fairholme Campground (approximately 6 – 8 miles west of campus on Hwy 101), Shadow Mountain (approximately 6 – 8 miles east of campus on Hwy 101), and Log Cabin Resort campground (approximately 8 miles from campus on East Beach Road.)

Does the National Park impose any other restrictions?

• No candles indoors
• No helium balloons
• No throwing rice or birdseed
• No fireworks or sparklers
• Garbage and cigarette butts need to be disposed in a waste container

Activities

What should I do if I think of an awesome activity that I want to run?

Fill out our activity signup and let us know! There's no commitment yet, since we'll reach out as we create a schedule. Of course, you're also welcome to organize impromptu events once the weekend arrives as well.

Will there be activites for kids?

Yes! Whether you're a parent or not, you're welcome to organize activites that kids might be interested in. We're planning on using the classroom building for kids events.

Will there be canoeing?

Yes! Two Naturebridge educators will be running canoe trips in their 17 person canoes both Saturday and Sunday. There will be an opportunity to sign up next spring when the schedule of events is posted.

Is there anything I should bring to make the weekend more fun?

Feel free to add items, either those you're planning on bringing to share or those you hope someone else might bring, to our communal spreadsheet. Note that content posted there is publicly viewable, so don't include anything sensitive!

Ceremony & Reception

Who is in your wedding party?

We have decided that since we have a matching set of siblings, we’ll each have our brother and sister stand up with us during the ceremony.

What is the dress code?

We hope our guests will take advantage of the wonderful adventures to be had in the National Park. Part of adventuring is being comfortable and so we ask our guests not to fuss too much over their attire on the day. To give you some information you can use to decide what to pack, our plan is to have both the ceremony and reception outside, weather permitting. We plan to serve most meals outside if possible. We plan to dress for the ceremony/reception as follows: Allison plans to go full bridal but with some sort of flats, David in slacks and shirt/vest with no tie. The rest of the weekend, we plan to be wearing shorts and t-shirts

Will there be food after the ceremony?

We will have a reception dinner after the ceremony, with salmon! Rosemary chicken and chana masala are also available if you don't want salmon

What will be available to drink?

The National Park Service and Washington State have licensing requirements around serving alcohol. We plan to provide a small assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with dinner but do not plan to have alcohol outside of meal times. Coffee and tea will be provided by Naturebridge throughout the weekend.

What's the plan for dancing and music?

Music is cool and we haven't decided yet whether we are organizing dancing.

What was your runner-up wedding hashtag?

Before we settled on #Roeling-down-the-aisle, we were amused by #Allison-got-Davided.

We are so excited to celebrate with you and hope you will be able to make it to the wedding, your company being the most important gift to us.

Specifics of our registry will be available here by next spring.