Washington State's wedding venue landscape divides between the wet, maritime west side of the Cascades and the drier, sunnier east side — two climates separated by a mountain range and within a single state's borders. The west side, anchored by Seattle, has the Salish Sea's island geography — the San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, Bainbridge Island, and the Olympic Peninsula — and the Puget Sound's relationship with the Olympic Mountains across the water. Mount Rainier, visible from Seattle and from the Pierce County foothills, is the dominant geographic landmark of western Washington, a 14,411-foot volcanic peak visible from ceremony venues across a 100-mile radius on clear days.
East of the Cascades, Washington's agricultural and wine country character takes over. Walla Walla, in the far southeast, has developed one of the Pacific Northwest's premier wine country wedding destination clusters alongside Yakima Valley and the Columbia Gorge wine region. The Methow Valley in the north-central Cascades provides a mountain-valley venue setting distinct from the west side resorts. The Columbia River Gorge's Washington shore — the Skamania Lodge setting and the Hood River views from Washington State — provides dramatic river-and-cliff scenery.
