Vancouver Wedding Photographer / Winter elopement at Lighthouse Park

Jason and Nicole’s intimate “Plan-C” wedding

Like so many couples this year Jason and Nicole hadn’t initially planned on eloping. In fact we tried multiple times to come up with a new plan each time restrictions changed and in the end what felt best was just setting aside all of the planning stress and just GETTING MARRIED. I mean, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? So they put all of the original plans onto the back-burner for now and instead opted for an intimate elopement at one of my favourite Vancouver locations: Lighthouse Park.

Jason and Nicole started their day getting ready at The Westin Bayshore in Coal Harbour. Jason Zoomed with his friends and Nicole got ready in the next room with her guest of honour, her mom.

Once everyone was dressed and de-nerved I escorted Jason out into the rain for a first look that was lush with leftover fall colours and soft light filtering through the clouds. I wish I could blame the rain for my wet face but it was most definitely my own tears that made it hard to see through my camera when these two saw each other for the first time. You could literally see the stress of wedding planning through a pandemic melt away and pure joy finally took over.

We strolled along Coal Harbour and into Stanley Park for some portraits and when it was time we loaded up into separate cars and were off to Lighthouse Park for a simple and perfect exchange of vows with only the four of us.  Well, okay, there were cheers from some onlookers, but it was mostly just us.

By now we all know that planning a wedding during Covid-19 is no easy task. Restrictions keep changing, guests can’t cross borders, and what used to be normal is now out the window (for the time being). But after shooting a bunch of micro weddings and elopements over the past year it’s so wonderful to see so many couples adapting and finding new ways to celebrate. From tiny backyard elopements to mountaintop ceremonies couples are finding all kinds of creative solutions to help reduce stress and say I do. 

So if you’re contemplating going ahead with your Covid-19 wedding or elopement and you need some ideas, let me know! I’m here to help, and I’m ready with mask in hand 🙂