Christina and Skye‘s Pyramid Lake Wedding was perfection. The Rocky Mountains were stunning as usual, the sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and these two beautiful souls promised themselves to each other. Jarusha Brown Photography was on hand to capture every sweet moment and every lovely rustic detail.
Christina + Skye
Pyramid Lake, Jasper Alberta
May 31, 2014
Why did you choose the Mountains for your wedding?
My husband and I both love being in the mountains. We both lived in Calgary, Alberta but decided to move even closer to the mountains where I grew up. We both enjoy hiking, snowboarding and camping with family and friends. Plus Jasper is just beautiful.
My husband proposed at the top of Mount Edith Cavell. After a long hike of me complaining about bears and bugs, he still proposed.
Wedding Day Weather
A sunny blue bird day
Number of guests that attended
80
What was your theme for your wedding?
Rustic meets elegance. We used a combination of wood, burlap and home made pies mixed with a bit of bling, soft white flowers and a stunning white cake.
Since my husband is from Australia and I’m from Canada we tried to incorporate elements from each country throughout the reception. We had animals from each country with little unknown facts as table numbers as well as a red wine from Australia and a white from Canada at each table. My husband LOVES pie and I love cake so we had to have both. My mom made 40 mini strawberry rhubarb pies that were delicious.
Where did you find your inspiration?
The woods. Our ceremony was outside on Pyramid Lake Island and most of our guests stayed in cabin style rooms at Pyramid Lake Resort. I loved the idea of wearing a long beautiful white wedding dress and walking across the bridge to meet my husband for the first time.
Your budget
$20,000
Biggest Splurge
Venue (including the food & drinks)
Biggest Savings
Wedding Cake
How did you choose to personalize your wedding?
It’s a graphic designers dream to be able to design everything from the invites, table cards and wedding thank you’s for your own wedding. I was also lucky that my friend who is also a designer did our wedding cake and she created our crest out of fondant. It was stunning!
What was your favorite part of the reception?
There were a couple surprises that both Skye and I were unaware of. First, was the shoe game which was a lot of fun and secondly, there was a surprise video from Skye’s family in Australia. Since not all of Skye’s family could make it for the wedding, they played a video of them congratulating us and telling us to have a safe trip. We went to Australia for our honeymoon.
What are three things you’re super glad you did?
- We got to sample the food for our wedding before the reception so we knew what to expect.
- We jumped into a row boat after our ceremony for pictures. Some of the boat pictures turned out being our favourites.
- I got my make up done, just another thing I didn’t have to worry about.
What was the biggest challenge in planning your mountain wedding and how did you overcome it?
To be honest, it was the guest list. When we found out we could only have 80 people, which turned out to be perfect, it was hard to choose who not to invite. Unfortunately Skye’s family being from Australia, a lot of his extended family couldn’t make it. We celebrated with them when we got to Australia for our honeymoon, so it all worked out.
How did you find and choose your vendors?
I was fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to help out with the wedding. I did all the design work, we made most of our decorations, my friend Donna made the cake, my cousin Richelle was a make up artist and my mom Linda made the pies. The flowers were from a local florist but other then that it was all taken care of.
What is your best piece of advice to other mountain brides who are planning their weddings?
I would say, don’t be afraid to completely pamper yourself. Get your hair, make-up, nails, eye lashes, really whatever it takes to let your day be completly yours so you don’t have to sweat the small stuff.
Pyramid Lake Wedding Vendors
Photographer: Jarusha Brown Photography | Venue: Pyramid Lake Resort, Jasper, AB | Second Photographer: Jeanie Ow | Aisle Song: performed by Chris Gheran | Makeup Artist: Richelle Leigh | Hair Artist: Tara Lehoux | Bride’s dress: The Bridal House, Edmonton | Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Allure Collection, The Bridal House, Edmonton | Flowers: Leyah Manke | Cake Artist: Donna Holesworth | Groom & Groomsmen’s Tie Clips: McAdams Co. | Groom & Groomsmen’s Leather Suspenders: Etsy |