The word “pivot” has most definitely been overused these last couple of years, but there really isn’t a better way to describe what this couple had to do to make their beautiful beach wedding day come true!

One of the first things that I learned about Britni when I met her about a year ago was that she and her fiancé, Keagan, loved to go hiking and be outside in the fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine. So, it was no surprise to me when they reached out for wedding photography and filled me in on their plans to do have a micro-wedding, in three months time, at the top of God’s Thumb in Lincoln City, Oregon.

I was stoked! I had never been up there before, but I also love to hike and having such an adventurous wedding sounded amazing! As soon as they signed their contract I was booking a hotel for myself and ordering some new hiking shoes to start breaking in… and then the VERY next day I badly sprained my ankle and got a nasty bone bruise on my foot. I ended up being confined to a boot for a month and was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to make the hike.

Here’s where the first pivot came in… I reached out to my amazing network of wedding photographers and found someone willing to be my “back up” if I wasn’t able to recover in time. I know how important photography is on a wedding day and wanted to make sure that my clients were well taken care of if I wasn’t physically able. (These two had no idea this was happening in the background of their wedding planning… so, Britni and Keagan, if you’re reading this, there was NO WAY that I was going to stress you two out any more than you already were. lol).

The next pivot came a couple of weeks before the wedding date. Britni and Keagan headed down to Lincoln City to check out the hike and make sure it was in good enough shape for their guests to manage (there had been a LOT of rain recently). When they got to the trail, they discovered that it was very muddy and slippery. Having invited guests that were not regular hikers, they decided that it was not a good idea to have them attempt the hike. So, plans changed to having the ceremony on the beach at Roads End (also in Lincoln City).

And then the weather report came out…

Meteorologists were predicting substantial downpours throughout the weekend, and 50+ mile per hour winds. A little wind and drizzle for an outdoor wedding is one thing, but streaming rain and dangerous wind levels was another story. Just a couple of days before the wedding, Britni and Keagan had to pivot AGAIN.

After some Airbnb and VRBO searching, Keagan was able to find Changing Shores, a beach-side vacation home near Logan Road Wayside that was still available to rent for the weekend. If they couldn’t be down on the sand, at least they could see it!

The house turned out to be a wonderful location for their small wedding ceremony — with big windows that looked out to the ocean and plenty of room for them to both get ready individually without seeing each other before Britni’s dad walked her down the aisle. There was even room for their boxer to roam around mingling with guests.

Though some homes in the area lost power for awhile that morning due to the weather, the vacation rental maintained and the ceremony went off without any issues!

The rain and wind died down right around the time Britni and Keagan said, “I do”, and we were able to venture outside and down the stone staircase to the beach for some photos of the newlywed couple… just like they had originally hoped for.