Canada Weddings
Destination Lake Louise
Christina & Bosco traveled from Toronto, Ontario with their friends and family to have a mountain destination wedding at beautiful Lake Louise. As snow and sleet rolled in across the lake, the couple braved the elements to get some fun photos against the stunning mountain backdrop beautifully captured by ENV Photography.
A Summer Wedding in the Canadian Rockies
From the bride, Ashleigh: I was most looking forward to finally being able to call Brian my husband. It had been a long time coming (almost 5 years) and this day couldn’t come fast enough, although it was over so quickly.
After looking through many Pinterest boards, I finally found a nice color scheme that reflected the soft yet classy vision I always wanted for our big day. The soft peachy colors combined with the gold brought all the aspects we wanted on our wedding day.
When the church doors opened, seeing Brian’s face when he could barely hold it together was something I will never forget. The look he had in his eyes was indescribable.
The day had a crazy mix of weather. It felt like the windiest day in history, but we were still able to have tons of fun taking pictures!
Looking back, we had the time of our lives, although it was over so quickly!
Ashleigh’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS:
Photographer: ENV Photography // Ceremony Venue: St. Michaels Anglican Church // Reception Venue: Bill Warren Training Centre at the Canmore Nordic Centre
A Ski Lift Vow Renewal on Castle Mountain
From the bride, Christine: We met on the red chair at Castle Mountain on a freezing cold day. We were the only two people left on the hill and did a few runs together. Mitch came back the next day and we skied together almost every weekend for the rest of the winter. We moved to Arizona to attend school, then onto Chicago. We legally married at the courthouse last year in Chicago, but because of demands on our time from school, we were never able to have a wedding. We finally got the time off and decided to celebrate at the very place that with met, Castle Mountain.
I chose to have a very bright bouquet to stand out against the natural background.
We held our ceremony under the chairlift loading area where we met. We had a close friend officiate and chose the words that we wanted him to say ourselves. My favorite part was our daughter and dog running around us the entire time.
I made the cake toppers to look like our family out of clay.
After dinner, we had our first dance outside on the grass and then everyone changed into comfy cloths and we had a big bonfire and dancing.
CREDITS: Photographer: Loree Photography // Ceremony: Castle Mountain // Floral Designer: Black Earth Floral Gallery // Cake Designer: Decadent Desserts
An Elopement in British Columbia
From the photographer, Karizma Photography: Ronnie & Aaron’s intimate elopement was full of romance. They designed a fun day just for themselves.
Ten minutes before the actual ceremony, Aaron got down on one knee and proposed to Ronnie. Later he explained that they were so in love that they always talked about wedding. Then they decided to get married and talked just about their big day. And at some point, he realized that he even did not asked Ronnie if she wanted to become his wife. That was the sweetest moment ever. We have never had a chance to photograph a proposal 10 minutes before the ceremony!
THE VENDORS
Photographer: Karizma Photography // Photo location: Sea to Sky Gondola // Venue: Beach House Restaurant
Vintage Whimsy in the Canadian Rockies
From the bride, Lisa: We love the mountains and spend a lot of time together in them; skiing, hiking, climbing.
Pretty much everything in the wedding was handmade or passed down. I wore my maternal grandmother’s gown. My earrings and one bracelet were family heirlooms from 1840, and the gold band was a traditional Chinese wedding gift from my mother-in-law. I designed and made my beaded headpiece myself.
A loud train came through just as the ceremony started and it really lightened the mood and made everyone laugh.
Our ceremony was fantastic. It was short, personal, quirky and completely non-traditional, which made it so memorable.
Looking back, I would not worry so much about the décor and hire a day-of coordinator.
My advice: Enjoy the process – if you aren’t enjoying it then what’s the point? We had a deal that if we weren’t enjoying something, we’d just eliminate it.
Lisa’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Loree Photography // Venue: Elk View Lodge
An Intimate Wedding in Banff
From the bride, Ivanna: I am from Ukraine, my husband is from Bulgaria, and we both moved to Canada after a long, long-distance relationship. We did not want to have a big wedding, but rather an intimate celebration with our closest friends. We definitely wanted a fairytale location with a breathtaking view, The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise was the perfect fit for us.
We brought my baby with us, a Scottish Fold cat named Gregory House.
It is kind of embarrassing, but I could not repeat my vows after the commissioner. I was so stressed and laughing as all this English seemed to me like a language I do not speak. Fortunately, everyone was laughing with me.
We Skyped the entire ceremony with our family so they could be part of the ceremony.
Since Anton & I met in Cyprus, everything Greek is special to us. So, after the ceremony, we went to dinner at a Greek restaurant. It was fun to reminisce about how we met and how we spent our first year together.
My advice: Splurge on your special day! You can always earn more money, but you can’t turn time back and order better flowers or pick a nicer venue!
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Kim Payant Photography // Ceremony Location & Lodging: Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise // Reception: Balkan Greek Restaurant // Flowers: Forget-Me-Not Flowers // Dress Designer: White by Vera Wang // Bridesmaid Dresses: BCBG // Men’s Wear: White by Vera Wang
See more: Canada weddings | Chateau Lake Louise weddings
A Winter Wedding in Lake Louise, Alberta
From the bride, Trina: Our wedding location was out of a fairytale, The Fairmont Chateau in Lake Louise. The sun broke at the most perfect time of the day to shine into the ballroom during our vows. I looked and felt exactly the way every girl should feel on their wedding day, like a princess marrying my prince, the man of my dreams. The vows we wrote made the day so incredibly special, because it was our words expressing the love we have for one another. Everything after was icing on the cake!
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Kim Payant Photography // Venue: The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise // Event Planner: Mane Productions // Floral Design: Elements // Dress Designer: Pnina Tornai
See more: Canada weddings | Chateau Lake Louise weddings | Winter weddings
Romance in the Cascade Mountains
From the bride, Kim: We wanted our wedding to be a true reflection of us as a couple. We also wanted the day to be a fun, laid-back event with lots of activities that reflected our interests and personalities.
For our first look, we hiked a short trail with two ends – Dale and the groomsmen started at one end, and I started at the other end with my bridesmaids. We met in the middle in a beautiful alpine meadow.
We held our ceremony at the cascade lookout surrounded by beautiful views of valleys and mountain peaks.
Looking back, everything came together perfectly and we had a wonderful wedding that completely reflected us as a couple.
Kim’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Charlene Stam Photography // Venue: Manning Park Resort // Flowers: Wild Rabbit Flowers // Dress Designer: St. Patrick