Elopement in Austria’s Karweldel Nature Park – Victoria + Alaina
Disclaimer - Some posts on this website contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase using my links, which I'll almost certainly use to buy more skis and climbing gear.
The weather hasn’t been kind to my 2025 elopement couples. For some, it was heatwaves, while for others, like Victoria and Alaina, it was consecutive days of rain on the forecast. And there’s a well-known saying in the outdoor industry – “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. However, when it comes to an elopement in the mountains, the weather naturally plays a huge role. Wedding clothing is quite obviously NOT suitable mountain clothing! So when unfavourable weather is on the forecast, sometimes there do need to be adjustments in the plans.
For Victoria and Alaina, we stuck as closely to the original plan as possible, but we knew that the weather was going to be a challenge. To make the most of the weather window on their first day, I suggested that we switch their vow exchange from sunrise the next morning (where clouds and rain were forecast), to the evening before. The following day, we knew heavy rain was forecast in the afternoon, so we’d need to move quickly and efficiently through the mountains to return back to the valley before the worst hit.
When the weather throws you a curveball, and plans (and let’s face it, expectations) need to change, it can be stressful. Even though I’ve been a photographer for 10 years, I still get nervous when I know the weather will be bad. But when I get to work with couples like V and A, it’s a true breath of fresh air. They fully embraced the weather and the changing plans and threw themselves into simply enjoying the adventure. And as their story below shows, that allows you to fully immerse yourselves in the adventure and create memories you’ll never forget.
I’ll hand you over to them to tell you the rest…
How did you get engaged?
Being in a same-sex relationship, the “rules” on engagement are essentially unwritten… Does only one of us propose, and then we’re engaged? If we each propose, what if those proposals are months apart? Details aside, Alaina and I both knew we each wanted to be proposed to… and she told me, “You have to go first. Oh, and we HAVE to be in a National Park.” With a trip to Alaska’s National Parks on the horizon, I secured a ring… and I thought MAYBE she had too…
I had a plan that was so epic and involved a float-plane ride into Lake Clark National Park, salmon fishing, and bear watching… but when it came down to logistics… between the slimy fish guts and speedy boat rides, the time never felt right to get down on one knee and propose… understandably. I decided to hold off until our next National Park visit on the trip. On August 29th 2024, when we reached the top of Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, I asked Alaina to be my wife!
No longer carrying her ring around and with the anxiety of proposing off my shoulders, I felt like a newly engaged woman! So the next day, when we hiked the South Fork Valley Trail to Eagle Lake in Chugach State Park, I had no expectations! When we reached Eagle Lake, we set up my camera on the tripod for pictures like we always do. Little did I know, I was capturing a picture of Alaina holding my ring box behind my back. All of a sudden, she knelt down, and I thought she must be kidding… she asked me to be her wife! The day after I proposed to her! I was so genuinely surprised and excited. When I asked her how she knew this was the place to propose, she said, “Something in the clouds just spoke to me that day… and really, how can you get somewhere more beautiful than here?!”
Any funny stories leading up to your wedding day?
I (Victoria) do have a way of putting things off until the last minute sometimes… in the rush of getting packed and finalizing last-minute details for our 3-week trip to Europe, I never made time to get my nails done. I grabbed a “wedding day” nail color from TJMaxx the day before we left and tossed it in my suitcase. We were in Austria for 3 days before our wedding day…. I never did my nails… I figured, what the heck, I will paint them in the mountain hut that night before our wedding day… but then, change of plans, we are getting married TODAY because of weather concerns. Soooo we painted my nails in the car 15 minutes before we met up with Cat to hike up to the hut…. in the rain. Needless to say, my nails required some photoshopping.
How did you decide on your location?
After talking with Cat about the Dolomites vs. Austria for our elopement, we knew that Austria was right for us. We wanted to feel alone and surrounded by beautiful mountains– not sharing photo spots with several other groups of people.
When we received our locations proposal from Cat… we wanted to pick all of them! We were blown away by all of the locations, but we knew we wanted an elopement that felt like an epic adventure, which for us meant staying in a mountain hut. We looked for a location that not only had the natural features we wanted (light colored craggy rock, some greenery, expansive views) but also one that had a hut we were excited about visiting. We selected Lamsenjochhutte in the Karwendel Mountains, and we are so happy we did! We felt like we got an authentic mountain hut experience but with a little bit of added luxury (private rooms, very yummy food).
What were the biggest challenges you faced in planning your wedding/elopement?
I think our biggest challenge was all the indecision along the road that eventually led us to our first meeting with Cat. A traditional wedding never felt authentic to Alaina and I. We were never excited about spending 20k+ on a wedding, just to listen to each person’s opinion of the food or the bridesmaid dresses, or the venue, etc. We loved the idea of getting married in the mountains of California/ Washington/ Colorado, but this would have required family members who are airplane-phobic to drive across the US. We felt so conflicted trying to pick between what we truly wanted and what others wanted from us.
We took a step back from the planning process to weigh our options and really consider how WE wanted to celebrate. It was during this time that the idea came to me… *What if we got married at the beginning of our honeymoon?” We had already agreed that our honeymoon would be in the Dolomites– that we could agree on. Google took me to Cat’s site where I read her “About Me” page and imagined us in any of her incredible pictures. I booked a call, thinking it all just had to be too good to be true.
Alaina and I met with Cat, and we knew eloping to Austria and having the most incredible adventure was how we wanted to celebrate our marriage. After we locked down a date, it was all smooth sailing and daydreaming… *except packing two wedding dresses into a carry-on, that is.
What is your favourite moment/memory from the day?
V- My favorite moment was… oh man, there are so many, big and small… but if I am picking one….one moment in particular, I couldn’t help but feel some magic at work. We had been in and out of a mix of clouds and rain all day until just after our first look. And I mean CLOUDS… concealing EVERY mountain face. As we prepared for our vow exchange, Cat spotted a break in the clouds, and blue sky was peaking through. As we read our vows, the clouds parted to show the mountains behind us… revealing to us the wedding venue of our dreams.
A- Alaina agreed with the magic at the moment of our vow exchange, but also mentioned our first look. We had been keeping our dresses a secret from each other since Dec ’24/ Jan’25 (married Aug ’25), and we were both so excited to finally show each other. That moment when we both saw each other was unforgettable. Alaina also loved that there was just this perfect little chapel near the mountain hut and that we could incorporate it into our wedding day in such a special way.
Is there anything you are really glad you did? Or didn’t do?
We are so glad that we selected Austria for our elopement. We fell head-over-heels in love with Austria and the pristine natural untouched beauty there. We felt emersed in a culture that we were so grateful to experience. We already dream about returning.
While the Dolomites were a great place to visit, we are so happy that we trusted Cat’s advice to have our elopement in Austria. Many of the destinations/ areas that we visited in the Dolomites later in our trip felt a bit corrupted (maybe too strong of a word?) by over-tourism, and the peaceful alpine energy just was not as potent there.
WE ARE SO GLAD WE BOOKED MAGDALENA FOR HAIR & MAKEUP! Hanging out with Magdalena was so fun, and we appreciate how above and beyond she went for us on our wedding day! I sincerely don’t know what Alaina and I would have done without her.
We are so glad that we hosted a small send-off party with our family and friends before we eloped. This gave us the opportunity to feel surrounded and supported by all our loved ones, filling our hearts with love and gratitude before our wedding day. This way, on our wedding day, we had the best of both worlds… we felt the love from home AND we were alone on a mountain, making our dream wedding a reality.
What advice would you give to other couples planning their wedding?
Do things YOUR WAY! There should be no rules when deciding how you want to celebrate your love and this next chapter of your life with your partner. Don’t be afraid to dream big and chase down what feels most authentic for the both of you and your love story.
Many of our loved ones were disappointed that they wouldn’t have the opportunity to celebrate our wedding with us, so we decided to throw a send-off party a month before we left for our elopement! We hired a pizza truck, threw up some bistro lights in the backyard, and invited 40 of our closest friends and family to celebrate with. We had an excuse to buy another pretty white dress, AND we filled our hearts with love and gratitude from our loved ones before we eloped. Don’t make things too complicated, just do what feels right!
What wedding planning resources did you use whilst planning your elopement (if any)? (Instagram, Pinterest, Wedding Blogs, Magazines etc)?
Our attitude was, “In Cat we trust.” We did not look for outside inspiration (beyond Pinterest for “wedding updos”). We were sold on Cat’s vision and we completely trusted that she would take us on the adventure of a lifetime on our elopement day.
What was your favourite thing about working with Cat?
It’s hard to pick a favorite thing about working with Cat… I would say it really comes back to our mantra “In Cat We Trust.” From the moment we first met her over video call, we trusted that Cat saw our vision and that she would make our dream a reality. Throughout all the steps of planning our trip (not even just our wedding day) Cat was a PHENOMENAL resource for us… even when I felt like asking for hut and trail recommendations from our wedding photographer could be asking too much… Cat responded with the most thoughtful and unique suggestions. She was more than “just” our wedding photographer. Cat was incredibly communicative, and we loved that we could feel her excitement. We felt so comfortable with her, and she feels like a friend to us.
When we saw rain on the forecast for our wedding day… “In Cat We Trust”… we felt complete trust in whatever Cat decided. Even when the clouds seemed to linger and surround us completely… Cat remained calm, and we all made the best of every incredible moment that was our moody, cloudy wedding day.
Cat’s photographs are absolutely breathtaking, and I still truly cannot believe these are our wedding pictures… but maybe even more importantly, the elopement experience that Cat curated for us… all the magic and wild adventure… that’s what we cherish most about our wedding day.
I know we are going to work with Cat again in the future… thinking 10 year anniversary trip… just for the opportunity to experience another wild, crazy, beautiful, INCREDIBLE adventure with Cat.
