I’ve been meaning to post more about our wedding, but time has been dedicated to so many other things since this incredible day.
June 6, 2017 was the day that I started a new chapter of my life with my best friend by my side. And coming from someone who has been to more than 350 weddings, I wish someone told me how hard the whole process was going to be!
Jon and I always knew that we wanted a destination wedding during random discussions of marriage during our relationship. After having shot weddings for over a decade, we had been exposed to so many different things in the industry that we had a really good idea of what we wanted (and didn’t want!). We were fortunate to have that experience behind us, as I feel it made us keenly more aware of how to approach some things, but I was so completely wrong in thinking that it would be an “easy process” for me. I help couples every year figure out their timelines, help them with hiccups and problems that arise on the day. I always act as an “unofficial planner” because I’ve done so much for my couples and I’m never just a photographer! But no one truly prepared me for how frustrating it was to contact so many venues and vendors only to never hear back, or for everyone to be booked. It blew my mind!
Our main goal for our day was to find an incredible wedding venue. We explored locations in the US, Europe and Asia. We had grand ideas, but many ended up being too expensive, too far away for family to travel to, or we were concerned with planning and language barriers. We quickly realized that maybe staying in our own beautiful country of Canada was something to consider. So we began our search in Alberta and BC. Now, we had decided to get married on a Tuesday – because, why not? We knew all our guests had to fly to our wedding anyways, and that most would make a vacation out of it so a weekend wasn’t a priority for us. We also loved that it was a different day of the week and we didn’t want to stick to anything typical or traditional. However, that also meant that we had about 7.5 months to plan our wedding from the time we got engaged.
Our search of venues was tough. I explored so many different ideas and looks – we knew our guest list was less than 30 people, which made it fairly easy to find places, however, many venues have a 50 person minimum, so that made it tough since we’d be paying for 20+ extra people that we didn’t have. Some venues were too far from hotels, some were too far from the airport, some didn’t have a good ceremony location or would require a logistical nightmare to get everyone from point A to B. Then I came across photos of the Banff Gondola on top of Sulphur Mountain. They had completed a massive renovation only a couple months before and it was stunning! From the gondola ride up the mountain, to the gorgeous rooftop viewing area and my favourite part was the restaurant, Sky Bistro, which was decorated with the most perfect decor and has the most jaw dropping view for dinner and dancing.
We were fortunate to be one of the first weddings at the venue after their renovation and it was truly the location of our dreams. Jon and I got ready at the Elk + Avenue in Banff the morning of the wedding and then met at a field for our first look. Jon had driven around trying to find some locations we wanted to use for photos and came across this field that had an incredible view of the mountains. What he didn’t tell me was that it was a migratory path for lots of wildlife and came with a lot of animal droppings. It’s a funny story for us to look back upon as I had to try to walk/dodge it in my heels and dress to get to him! Our first look was extra special as neither of us knew what the other was wearing. I know it’s traditional for a groom to not see the brides dress, but since we didn’t have a bridal party, Jon also wanted his custom suit to be a surprise to me. He was able to pick all the details for his 3 piece suit and shirt and he even designed the custom fabric that lined the jacket! Our day went off as smoothly as we could have expected (considering I was also 7.5 weeks pregnant with terrible morning sickness ), and we even experienced sunny, clear skies with 26 degree temperatures – which in the mountains out west, you just never quite know what you’re going to get, even in June. It actually snowed a few days after our wedding!
Since we wanted to be less traditional here are some things we did: We had 21 guests join us in Banff. We did not have a formal wedding party, but each of us had our best friend as our Best Man/Man of Honour who witnessed and signed our documents (which we did inside away from guests). We did not have a cake or a desert table. I walked myself down the aisle solo. We did not have a DJ or any dancing outside of just our first dance and dances with our parents/my son. Our venue closed down at 9:30pm (it’s in a National Park), so we actually all had to head back down before the gondola closed down (and this was fine with us, although our one regret is that we didn’t pay to keep it open for one more hour!). Only I had a bouquet – we didn’t do boutonnieres or corsages for Jon or anyone else. We also played Rock, Paper, Scissors to figure out who read their vows first (you can see that photo below!). We DIY’ed so much of our day; Jon made all our favours for the guests (customized cutting boards) and he also made so many wood features from our day – from the ring, cufflink and watch boxes and even parts of our centrepieces for the table. Our theme for the day was wood, copper and grey with accents of greenery.
I was so happy to see how those months of work played out on our day and it honestly did go by in such an incredible rush. When they say to take a moment and soak it in, please take that advice!
Photography by: Sarelle Photos
