Kellie + Mike (and Millie the pup)

All images by Kalla Ramberg Photography based in Canmore (hey, that’s me!)

The bride and groom arrived separately to the lake. As Kellie put on her dress and touched up makeup, Mike was tucked away in the trees of Upper Kananaskis Lake to avoid a run-in with the bride before the ceremony.

Dogs at elopements are my favourite thing in the world. Like just look at Millie the pup! The flower crown- are you friggen’ kidding me?! If I could only be as half as cute as Millie in a flower collar, I would be ecstatic.

These two wanted to not see each other before the ceremony, but were conflicted because they also wanted a moment to share with each other before the ceremony. I offered up a good compromise with a ‘blind reading’. Essentially, it’s an exchange of vows, notes, or just a quick chat with your backs turned so you can speak to each other without spoiling the surprise of seeing each other quite yet. They held hands around the tree, and read notes to each other.

I brought Mike down to the shoreline of the lake and we set up for the ceremony.

Just moments before their first look:

Mike’s reaction to seeing his bride- cheesin’ hard!

The lakeside was a beautiful location for the ceremony. With no one else but the bride’s mother and our lovely officiant, we enjoyed the peace of the lakeside on a sunny day.

A few of the moments from their ceremony:

Much love to the best hiking officiant out there, Married By Cole (Cole Hofstra.) I always recommend him for elopements. Cole excels in customizing how he conducts the ceremony and has the most uplifting energy. He’s always game to hike a mountain for your wedding no matter how difficult, although he’s like 90 feet tall so realistically it only takes him a dozen steps to get up a mountain. But still, props to him!

A champagne pop is always a fun idea!

Warning: if your elopement includes your dog, you will absolutely get an extraordinarily large sized gallery of photos of just them because I have exactly zero self restraint with cute pups.

A moment of Kellie with her mother as they honour a lost loved one. He was there in spirit and absolutely celebrating alongside his daughter on this day.

Sunset picnic, anyone?! Fun elopement tip: Just because you’re eloping doesn’t mean you can’t have a wedding cake. I recommend couples bringing a small sized cake/dessert so they can still cut into one and celebrate.

The mountain peaks were lined with glowing warm light as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

A few photos from our adventure through Kananaskis:

Look closely- I swear that Kellie and Mike are in the photo! It’s like a game of Where’s Waldo since it was such a wide shot, but I love incorporating the scenery into the elopement day.

Driftwood, downed trees, and roots along the shoreline made for some dramatic photos, I love the texture that it added to the images:

BEHOLD. One of my favourite elopement photos ever. The full moon rose overhead and I positioned them on a hill and crawled down some rocks to align them directly below the moon. It’s funny, it was actually Kellie and Mike who pointed out the hill and suggested that they stand there. Honestly, I owe them for playing such a big part in composing this image!

Testimonial

“We really really appreciate all the thought and care you put into scouting locations and putting together the timeline. It was so nice knowing we could trust you 100%!

We put a few of our elopement photos up and the wedding and everyone LOVED them, especially the moon photo.” -Kellie and Mike

Now, let’s talk about YOUR elopement!