Arcade Bar Elopement (Calgary)

Taylor + Jeff (Dec 30th 2021, Downtown Calgary)

If stopping at an arcade on your wedding night is an option… Do it!

Fun fact: This real-life Calgary elopement was planned in less than 20 hours! 

What would you do if your flight to Las Vegas to elope was cancelled last minute? You could mope about it, oooorrr you could shift gears and make the best of it! That’s exactly what Taylor + Jeff opted for when their original plan was cancelled last minute. It was just the three of us romping around downtown all night, and it was incredible. And just LOOK at those coats, they’re giving me mob boss, old money, Hollywood A-lister, Cruella de Vil (but make it cute) energy. FANCY.

When flying to Vegas to get hitched was suddenly off the table due to a flight cancellation, Taylor reached out to see if I would be free the following night to cover their elopement. If you know anything about me, it’s that I go with the flow and THRIVE on operating on a last-minute basis. Some may say that I’m a procrastinator, but I prefer to think of it as working well under pressure.

We jumped right into planning on the call. Since they originally wanted Vegas, I wanted to think up something fun and original in Calgary that could help to fill the neon-light/good-time/party vibe that Vegas would have brought. I suggested that we plan to stop at Greta (a rad bar arcade in downtown YYC, 10/10 would recommend) after the ceremony. And let me tell you... If you ever have the option to piss-drunkenly play Mario Kart on your wedding night, you 1000% NEED to take that opportunity!

Here’s a photo of Mario finally getting his Princess Peach.

Let me paint a quick picture that shows the sheer level of determination and badassery of these two. In the middle of a week long stint of FREEZING December weather (-30 that day, and colder at night) these two were still game to traipse (okay- maybe more of a Fireball induced stumble) down the Stephen Ave strip in downtown Calgary. Wanna know what’s colder than a week long stint of freezing weather? THESE TWO. These two are record-breakingly cool. Someone contact Guinness World Records because we have a new contender for World’s Coolest Couple.

ICE COLD, BABY.

Here’s Jeff, the new character in the Space Invaders game. Yes, they stepped up their graphics. Very lifelike, no? (Behind the scenes- me sitting on the ground to frame Jeff with two neon Space Invader’s seats.)

The word ‘elopement’ generally conjures up images of mountain-tops and hiking boots and being far away from people and isolated in nature. Now, don’t get me wrong- a LOVE me a good mountain elopement… But that doesn’t mean that you have to hike up a whole ass mountain to elope. Really, you can do it just about anywhere you please! After this session, please give me ALL of the urban elopements!

Did we hire a limo to whisk us between locations? Noooope. Did we see one on our walk down Stephen Ave and I kindly asked if we could hop in for photos? YUUUUUP. I figured it would be on-theme for the faux Las Vegas vibe I had in mind. Shoutout to the driver, you’re the MVP of the night.

-30 degrees and still rockin’ a short dress + heels? This is what an unstoppable woman looks like. Respect her, fear her, aspire to BE HER.

Despite the cold this was hands-down one of my favourite things I’ve EVER photographed, mainly due to who Taylor + Jeff are as people. Absolutely hilarious and fun-loving people with big hearts and even bigger senses of humour. Have you ever met someone and just immediately wanted to be friends? Because they’re like that. So much love for these two!

Taylor + Jeff’s Testimonial

“Literally I don’t have enough words to describe how RAD Kalla is. She did our elopement shoot last minute and got on board with our vision immediately. She was a perfect choice for us, but really she’d be a perfect choice for anyone. She’s got incredible vision and creativity and most importantly she’s FUN!! I never felt posed or fake and our pictures show it. She went above and BEYOND. Our wedding photos look like no other I’ve seen before. Unique, beautiful and truly authentically us. You can’t ask for more in a photographer. I wish I could take her everywhere with me forever! Maybe that’s over the top lol but it’s legit. She’s awesome.”

-Taylor