Banff Sunrise Hiking Elopement

Jessica + Mike travelled from Windsor, Ontario to have an incredible Banff hiking elopement. They wanted to summit a mountain as they tied the knot and dreamed of having an adventurous, intimate, and majestic day. Jessica is a very talented photographer herself (Jessica Tanchioni Photography) so the pressure was on to really deliver and make sure their dream came to life! They invited two of their friends who live in Banff to join them, so I met up wth the four of them at the trailhead at 4am and off we hiked! I also invited Cole Hofstra along to second shoot for me, and to be there in case I needed a sherpa seeing as how I was 25 weeks pregnant!

This hike in Kananaskis is quite a grind right from the start with no breaks in elevation. The plus side is, it usually only takes about an hour and a half to reach the top. We trudged steadily upwards in the dark, guided only by our headlamps and a handy trail finding app. This hike in particular doesn’t have a well defined route, so it can be challenging staying on the correct path, especially in the dark.

Jess and Mike were troopers and very fast hikers! We made it up to the top just as the horizon started seeing some colour, and they quickly started getting dressed and ready. We soon realized that the sky was going to give us an incredible light show, so we decided on some portraits before the ceremony to take advantage of the incredible sunrise. It will definitely go down as one of the most amazing mornings of my career. The colours were spectacular and we couldn’t have asked for better weather!

After a few portraits, they went ahead and made it official and said their “I do’s”! The beauty of an elopement is that there aren’t any rules to how your day or ceremony needs to go. We had the flexibility to navigate how the morning went, and made sure it was exactly what Jess + Mike wanted. They had a beautiful ceremony filled with laughter and tears as they both had written personal vows to each other. We finished up portraits on top of the mountain and it ended up being a perfectly cloudy day giving us perfect light for pictures.

It was truly a phenomenal morning, and reminded me yet again why that 2am wake up call is always worth it! Nothing beats having an entire mountaintop to yourself as you marry your best friend. Thanks Jess + Mike for the great day!

Vendors that helped make this day spectacular:
Second Shooter: Cole Hofstra
Hair + Makeup: Sam Marvell