Romantic Banff Elopement

I absolutely love being a Banff wedding and engagement photographer! I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t she just post Kelsey + Joel’s engagement photos last week?” SURPRISE! I was so excited when Kelsey and Joel asked me if we could switch their wedding to this year and have a secret elopement in Banff. I absolutely love elopements since they are so personal and powerful. I feel absolutely honoured that they chose me to share in their wedding and capture the intimacy of that day.

 

How did you meet?:

 

We both were in the music program at the University of Lethbridge. While we knew each other in our first year, we didn’t start dating until our second year, when I pursued him! It worked out pretty well if I do say so myself J. Our first date was at the Cheesecake Café in Lethbridge!

 

Engagement story:

We had plans to see the symphony on Valentine’s Day 2016, so we decided to have a nice dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 15^th. Joel told me he was going to go swimming earlier that day, but instead he had to go to the mall to pick up my custom-made engagement ring! I had no clue as I made us a nice steak dinner and set the table for our post-Valentine’s date. After dinner, he told me to close my eyes, and he turned on a song that we had quite the discussion about before we were even dating (it was by the Black Eyed Peas hahaha). I had no idea why he was playing this song until he told me to open my eyes and he was on one knee in front of me, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course I said yes, and we celebrated the night by making phone calls to family members and watching the Grammy’s on TV!

 

While we didn’t really have a theme, and colours didn’t play a big part on the wedding day, I did want a little splash of dark purple in the mix if I could. Originally, when we were planning our big wedding, I fell in love with that vintage dusty lavender colour. When we decided to elope, I still wanted to incorporate as much as possible. So we had some purple limonium in my otherwise colour-neutral bouquet, and Joel’s tie had the same colour purple in it to match. Just enough of a colour theme for us!

 

Our wedding was the most perfect, amazing day and we wouldn’t have done anything different. My favourite part of the day was the ceremony. This may be cliché, but it was extra-special for me because it was just he and I declaring our love for each other on top of a mountain. Even with a few unexpected onlookers, I felt like we were the only people in the world at that moment. Finally being declared husband and wife together, just the two of us, was the best thing we could have done for ourselves. Joel says his favourite moment of the wedding was the moment he was able to say, “I do”. We were both just happy to have been married in the best way possible for us!

 

Favorite Details:

 

My bouquet was AMAZING. I honestly could not have asked for anything better. I was given exactly what I asked for, which was a bouquet that was a bit wild and a bit crazy with a lot of greenery and big white flowers. With our wedding ceremony outdoors and my short wedding dress, it was the perfect accompaniment to our day. My second favourite thing was definitely my hair. Again, it was exactly what I asked for, with braids and flowers all tied together. I couldn’t have gotten anything closer to what I asked for. Our final favourite wedding detail was definitely the venue. We scouted out a few outdoor locations for the ceremony, but when we found the Norquay Lookout Meadow, we knew that was the perfect location for us. It is absolutely stunning there and what better place to get married than on top of a mountain!

 

Honeymoon:

With me starting a new job at the end of August, we decided not to take a honeymoon this year. Soon we will begin planning an amazing honeymoon to take place next summer. We are thinking Hawaii, the Bahamas, or even a grand European adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Photographer: Nicole Sarah Photography