Stephanie and Scott’s Snow-to-Beach Elopement
Stephanie and Scott planned an intimate elopement that started off in the early morning on a glacier and ended at Tree Island for their intimate ceremony. This couple’s elopement was simple, romantic, and perfectly reflected who they are as a couple, reminding other couples to embrace nature’s simplicity when elopement planning. Get all the details below.
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About This Elopement
Photography by Latitude 49 Photography
“We started the morning with a helicopter ride to a mountain top near the glacier. We were able to capture some stunning sunrise photos with an incredible view. The bride was an absolute trooper to brave the cold while we took photos. Her something borrowed was a blanket from her sister-in-law, which worked out perfectly. After we were finished on the mountain, I met the couple at the Comox Marina where we took their boat to get married on the water in front of Tree Island. It was very intimate with only the bride’s parents in attendance. The ceremony was tailored to the couple and there wasn’t a dry eye on the boat. It was so special. We stopped on Tree Island to take some more photos of the couple and her parents. A proper snow-to-surf elopement.” [Sarah, the photographer]
Permits and Top Tips At This Location
“This location was chosen by the helicopter pilot. He is a close friend of the couple and gave this experience as a gift to the newlyweds. He obtained the permissions required to fly to this location. We didn’t change any of the landscape and the only way to tell someone was there was the footprints in the snow. Once finished atop the mountain, we took the couple’s boat to a beautiful sandy island where the only trace of us was our footsteps in the sand.
If able, scout the location at different times of the day. Watching the sunrise on the mountaintop was a sight to be seen.” [Sarah, the photographer]
Deciding to Elope
“We wanted the day to be about us. We have seen/gone to a lot of other weddings and there are always a lot of opinions. By telling a few people and keeping the ceremony to us and our witnesses, we were able to do things exactly the way we wanted to do them. We are also no-fuss people.
Choosing our location was very last minute. Our wedding was two parts – sunrise photos in the mountains with the iconic Comox glacier as our backdrop and the actual ceremony in the afternoon on our fishing boat. For the first part, we had the help of our friends (the pilot and another photographer) who flew around the mountains and found the perfect location for our sunrise photos. I didn’t even know where we were going until the evening before! We knew we wanted to incorporate boating into our day as it’s been an integral part of our relationship, we chose the location (floating on the water just off of Tree Island) because it’s a beautiful and nearby location. We also chose this a day or two before the wedding as the location was weather dependent.” [The couple]
Elopement Planning Details
“The planning process was both easy and difficult at the same time. We had a rough idea of when we wanted to get married – March – but this depended on Scott’s work (he works away) and the weather, so we didn’t actually decide on the date until 6 days before the wedding. We were able to arrange most of the details without a date (dress, suit, rings, etc) and we are very lucky that our friends (again, pilot, photographers, officiant, and witnesses) were able to be flexible and work with us. I’m such a planner, so not having a date was the hardest part for me. By the end of it, if I heard “it’s weather dependent” one more time, I would have gone crazy!
We plan to do a mini reception with close friends and family in a month and we haven’t planned our honeymoon yet, but that will just be an excuse for a trip in the future.
The entire wedding was under $3,000 – we were able to keep costs very reasonable by having friends gift us their services. There’s no way we could have kept it under that price if it weren’t for them. (Let me know if it would be helpful to include more specifics. We don’t mind sharing, I just don’t think it would be very relevant because we were able to call in favours from everyone!)” [The couple]
More planning details from the bride:
- The dress was custom-made by a family friend
- Ordered her boots online (on sale)
- The suit was from a local menswear store (on sale for grad season)
- The rings were ordered online
- Bouquet was from Thriftys
- Hair/makeup – DIY with some help from Sarah (Latitude 49 Photography)
- Helicopter – owned and flown by our friend
- Photographers – both dear friends of ours
- Officiant – family pastor (who also married the bride’s brother and will be marrying her sister)
- They own the boat where they did the ceremony on
Memorable Moments From This Elopement
From the photographer:
“I love that they brought their dog on the boat to watch them get married. Knowing the groom personally and watching him marry his bride was emotional and intimate and funny. They used his grandparents rings to get married, the same ones his mom and dad wore on their wedding day too.”
From the couple:
“Thinking about this question – ‘What was the most memorable part of this unique experience for you?’ – we both looked at each other and said the entire day! I always describe it as the most perfect day. Everything came together beautifully.
A couple of moments that stick out though is that it was FREEZING at sunrise, I’m so lucky I was able to borrow the blanket from my sister-in-law (pictured in photos) as my “something borrowed”. We had brunch after the photos with my parents (our witnesses) and my mom asked if we had a just married sign. I said no, that we hadn’t thought of that. She had my dad make a live edge, hand-painted sign for us that we hung from the boat. I love that he made it with so much love for us. Everyone cried during our vows, everything was so personal and intimate and meaningful.”
Final Words of Advice
From the photographer:
“When booking a helicopter elopement, be flexible. Weather plays a huge part in being able to access your location. Don’t be afraid to wake up early and catch the sunrise. Being able to ‘go with the flow’ as their photographer was a huge benefit to being able to capture these special moments. Also, don’t be afraid to see multiple locations when eloping and choose a photographer who’s excited to be a part of that.”
From the couple:
“If you’re considering eloping, do it! It was the best decision. Whenever I tell people about our elopement, they either say they wish they had done that, that’s the way to go, or they want to elope as well! Every single part of the day was so special and revolved around us and our love.”
Photos From This Elopement
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