We can all agree 2020 has been WILD to say the least, and an absolute whirlwind for couples planning their wedding for this year and 2021.

Thankfully, this massive shift is creating space for people to dream up some seriously amazing celebrations. So, let’s look at what’s possible and the options you can explore together.

Vancouver Island is chock-full of incredible scenery, locations and possibilities for planning an incredible wedding experience, if you’re willing to get creative. So, where do you start?

We’ve been filming weddings for 5 years and have seen some amazing ways to celebrate. With more couples looking to get married and not worry about a big guest list, we want to share what we’ve seen work really well.

HOW TO PLAN AN ELOPEMENT

First, choose a time of year you’re drawn to: Summer is the most favoured month to get married, and with good reason! With long days, outdoor spaces and glorious sunsets, there are endless options.

Victoria BC offers a pretty striking Autumn season with the changing leaves and extended summer warmth well into September. If you choose to elope in Victoria late summer, you’re usually treated to 20 degree (celsius) weather in both September and early October.

Spring is beautiful with cherry blossoms blooming as early as March and warmer days appearing mid-April. Depending on if you’re willing to travel (and Whistler is definitely a spot we’d highly recommend exploring), snow can start as early as November.

The winter season is incredible if you’re looking to feel cozy, admire colourful sunsets and maybe even ride a chair lift up to the top of a mountain to share your vows.

Decide on 3 elements you want to focus on for your day: Are you a foodie? Are you excited to spend time with your family and friends? Do you adore hikes on new trails? Will you be over the moon if you can eat cake in your pj’s at 9pm?

Consider who you need to to have present on your wedding day. This article from Junebug Weddings gives you a few ways to include family and friends if you want to keep your guest list on the small side.

Where do you imagine sharing your vows? Sometimes, choosing the location is the toughest part, followed shortly by where you’ll have dinner and continue the celebration!

Eloping = endless possibilities. Downtown Victoria is touted for it’s romance, and if you’re after a more casual vibe, you can take a short ferry ride to elope on the Gulf Islands. You can extend your wedding to a honeymoon and cruise up to Tofino.

Choose the pace of your day: Do you want to be free from constraints of schedule? Do you want to have the space to enjoy a three-course meal? Can you imagine yourself waking up and climbing a mountain in time for sunrise?

We believe: You deserve to get married in a super fun, stress-free way. You deserve the freedom to decide how you get married, wherever in the world you want to.

EXAMPLE ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEO TIMELINES

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FULL DAY ELOPEMENT TIMELINE

Location: Victoria, BC

Best suited to time of Year: Spring - Summer - Fall

12:00 pm - Getting ready and prep at your Airbnb, photographer/videographer arrives (with fresh bread!)

1:00 pm - Travel to nearby beach for a first look

2:00 pm - Meet your partner for a first look at Dallas Rd + shared vows

3:00 pm - Leave beach and head to ceremony location

4:00 pm - Get married at local vineyard with just your 2 best friends as witnesses

5:00 pm - Cheers with a flight of wine and charcuterie outdoors on the winery patio

6:00 pm - Wine + champagne toast, Facetime celebration with friends/family

7:00 pm - Catered long-table dinner indoors at your favourite local restaurant

8:30 pm - Cap off the evening with handmade local macarons and a cozy hang at your Airbnb
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FULL DAY GULF ISLAND DESTINATION ELOPEMENT TIMELINE

Location: Salt Spring Island, BC

Best suited to time of Year: Spring - Summer - Fall

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1:00 pm - Getting ready in your cozy Airbnb with some croissants and mimosas

2:00 pm - You meet your partner for a first look at the beach + portraits

3:00 pm -Travel to local cheese factory for a pre-ceremony snack

4:00 pm - Hit up local brewery for a pre-ceremony flight and hang

5:00 pm - Travel back at Airbnb for Ceremony at your Airbnb 

6:00 pm - Champagne toast and Facetime celebration with friends/family  

7:00 pm - Private catered dinner long-table outdoors at your cabin

8:00 pm - First dance with each other at your Airbnb deck as the sun sets

9:00 pm- Star-gazing by the wood-burning fire plus a hearty slice of chocolate cake  

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HALF DAY ELOPEMENT TIMELINE

Tofino Elopement + Float Plane Adventure

Best suited to time of Year: Spring - Fall - Winter

2:30 pm -  Drive to float plane dock in regular clothes

3:00 pm - Arrive at Meares Island for a first look on the beach + portraits

3:30 pm - Depart by float plane, back to Tofino

4:00 pm - Arrive at Ceremony location on Mckenzie Beach + get married!

5:00 pm - Champagne toast and frolic on the beach

6:30 pm - Dinner at Wolf in the Fog for two!

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Your official to-do’s before the I do’s:

1. Research the type of ceremony you’d like to have. Are you looking for something easy or personalized. Explore a celebrant or secure an officiant to make your ceremony official. If you’re considering a wedding out of country, you can also become legally wed before or after your elopement day. Follow this link for more info on civil ceremonies.

2. Secure a wedding license. In BC, marriage licenses are valid for 90 days and can be found at London Drugs and cost ~ $100 CAD.

3. You’ll want to secure a few witnesses to legitimize your marriage. Fun fact: these can be your friends/family or even your photographer and/or videographer.

An elopement is your wedding day, inclusive of everything you want — you can make it your legal ceremony or an adventurous one, or both! Your day can include a hike, a dip in a river capped off with a fancy dinner. However you can imagine yourself celebrating the fact that you just got married, make it happen!

You can snowshoe to a hut in the middle of the woods and drink wine out of your pack. You’ll be able to indulge in sea, surf and sand — potentially all in one day if you’re up for the challenge.

Keep your heart and mind open: We know it can feel discouraging if you’ve dreamed of a big wedding your entire life, but there’s always the possibility of having a celebratory reception in the future. And, it’s safe to say when that happens, people are going to be pretty excited about it!

Deciding WHERE to get married is one of the hardest decisions you’ll make, closely followed by choosing how many people you’ll have join you on your wedding day. Grant yourself permission to explore ideas you’re drawn to. Everyone interprets weddings and what they mean, differently.

If you’re wondering what to do next and you’re in the planning phase of your elopement or intimate wedding, we’d love to help! Email us or watch our films and we’d be happy to share more ideas for ways to make your elopement day a stress-free, fun-filled and happy experience.

Early last Fall, as we tackled our mountain of editing we decided to embark on a creative recharge by heading down to Seattle for the weekend.

Sure, we would have been happy simply strolling the market, exploring the city or sampling enough chocolate to keep us going till the new year. But we don’t roll like that. We weren’t looking for a relaxing getaway, we crossed the border in search of a launch pad.

CreativeLive is our go-to for learning new skills, keeping our talents sharp and our creative reserves topped up. Chase Jarvis, founder and creator of the online learning platform, was hosting a live workshop about continuing your creative calling. This paired with the release of his new book, Creative Calling, designed to inspire and hold you accountable to your own creative ambitions.

Originally this trip was going to be a solo mission, but luckily Bre decided to join me knowing this would put us on the same page to finish the year strong.

Leaving room for spontaneity, we got creative with our accommodations, sleeping in our trusty Nissan Xterra along a nice quiet stretch outside of the city. Waking up to the sound of joggers passing by, waves stirring Alki Beach for the day and no parking tickets, we knew we were in for a treat. Especially knowing that later in the day we’d be staying at the Ace Hotel Seattle.

As we pulled into downtown and were greeted by the friendly front desk staff, something came to mind I’d heard (from none other than Chase say on his podcast) about the Ace being both the lowest and highest in a deck of cards. Turns out we were living their motto.

The workshop took place downtown Seattle with an in-person audience of 100 other creative minds and 10,000’s more watching live from around the world. Aka zero pressure when you ask a question during the class!

I can’t say enough good things about this workshop and the book so here are 2 key takeaways. This isn’t a book just for ‘creative types’. It’s for everyone – including you. Want to live a more fulfilled life and bring those big ideas to into reality?

Get this book and “make it till you make it.”

A few days in the big city were plenty enough to get ideas flowing on what projects to tackle next. But what to do with an overflowing amount of new ideas, connections and opportunities coming in from the workshop?

Fresh off a creativity high from the class at CreativeLive in Seattle, we knew we first needed to answer the call of the mountains.

Now it was time to let those ideas percolate over a couple days of mountaineering in Northern Washington. In particular, we were after a glimpse of the legendary Golden Larches. The trees and alpine would be the perfect medicine to get focused on what’s most important.

For our values, creative work and impact we can make in the world.

Fresh waffles,

fresh moves

+ fresh views.

Before heading east, we made a pitstop in REI’s flagship store in Seattle for some last-minute gear checks. Did you know they have a Park Ranger in-house?

We were delighted at the idea because let’s be honest, our route was planned over an evening or 2 spent going down the rabbit hole on Google. Here was a real live Ranger who walked the talk. Enter Ranger Dave.

Luckily, Dave had spent a few seasons in the exact area we were headed. He gave us a map and highlighted a couple of lesser-known hikes and a prime campsite to spend the night.

Note, our Ranger Dave not pictured.

Why am I focusing in on talking about some guy in a sporting goods store? Because Ranger Dave was our guide.

And when setting out on a quest, not unlike Harry & Lloyd setting out to Aspen, it always pays off to get advice from someone who’s done what you’re about attempt for the first time.

With map in hand and more confidence than we had started with that morning, we set out in our trusty Xterra, Bonnie, to find the Golden Larches.

Entering the North Cascade Mountains at night, we wound our way up, and up and down and up to our destination for the evening – Lone Fir Campsite – shortly after Washington Pass.

With the summer camping season having just wrapped up, we were in for a chilly night so decided to car-camp at our site, pulling in around midnight.

We didn’t know what was in store for us the next day on the trails, but were more than happy to have a safe, quiet space to spend the night and dream of our hike to come.